I am a student percussionist, and the orchestra I am in is performing "Red Plum Capriccio", the Erhu concerto. I am having some difficulty deciphering the difference between the different listed cymbals in one of the percussion parts.
齊鈸 - Qi Bo
朴鈸 - Pu Bo
小鈸 - Xiao Bo
片鈸 - Pian Bo
Is anyone able to explain the differences between these, or point to a resource that better explains this? Most resources I have found just cite all of these cymbals as one instrument called 鈸 (Bo). Thank you.
There isn't really a lot of information online on these specific types of cymbals online (please correct me if you find any better sources), but I've found a few sources that mention/introduce them briefly.
I've tried to search these up separately are on Baidu (Chinese search engine). I didn't find any articles specifically on 齐钹, 朴钹, 小钹, or 片钹, though. (They're still the same characters: They were written in Traditional Chinese before and I've rewritten them in Simplified Chinese as I'm for familiar with Simplified Chinese. Sorry if this confuses anyone!)
However, after a little searching on "different types of cymbals" on Baidu, I have come across an article written on "大钹" which directly translates to "big cymbal". I'm not completely sure, but this might be just the same thing as "钹" by itself, (both being a name for cymbals in general) as there is a main section in the article that is titled to "钹的结构" and "钹的历史" which translate to "structure of cymbals" and "history of cymbals", respectively. Also, when directly translated off the page (if you right-click on a blank area in a page full of words without selecting anything, google has an option to translate the whole page, "Translate to English" if English is your default language.) This suggests at my guess that 大钹 is a name for cymbals in general, being the same as just "钹" by itself. Though, again, this is only a guess. Feel free to correct me.
In this article, there is a section which translates to:
"According to the size and weight of the cymbals, they are divided into double-light cymbals, water cymbals, Beijing cymbals, and small cymbals. Among them, small cymbals and Beijing cymbals have higher pronunciation, and are mostly used in martial arts or accompaniment in Peking Opera and other local operas. Qupai is often used in conjunction with Feng gongs and imitation Su gongs; double-light cymbals and water cymbals have lower pronunciation and are mostly used in literary operas, and are used in conjunction with tiger-sound gongs or Zhongtang gongs. Among them, double-light cymbals are the main accompaniment instruments of Cantonese opera. In ethnic orchestras or instrumental ensembles, double cymbals and small cymbals have also become important rhythm instruments."
The "small cymbals" referred to are indeed written as "小钹" (or "Xiao Bo") before being translated. The article's translation stating that Xiao Bo has a higher pronunciation just means that Xiao Bo sounds at a higher pitch. Apparently, Xiao Bo is (in China) usually used in Chinese Opera.
On another Baidu article titled "大顶钹" which directly translates to "big top cymbal"， there is mention of 齐钹 (Qi Bo), in a paragraph that translates to:
"There is a strict distinction between the cymbals used by Taoism and Buddhism in southern Jiangsu. Taoism uses Qi and Buddhism uses Gong. The common point between Qi (Qi cymbals) and Gong ( gong cymbals ) is that they do not have warped edges, but Gong is thicker than Qi, while Guang cymbals are thin and warped. The small Guang cymbals are also called Jiaguan cymbals because they accompany the Jiaguan dance. In addition to being used as accompaniments for waist drums and other songs and dances, the large Guang cymbals are also used to simulate the sound of wind and water."
Qi Bo seems to be a type of instrument used by the Taoism community, a religion and philosophy from Ancient China that emphasizes living in harmony with nature.
So far, I haven't found any mentions online on 朴钹 (Pu Bo) and 片钹 (Pian Bo). Though, Pu Bo translates to "park cymbal" and Pian Bo, strangely, just translates to "cymbal". If you were to directly translate character by character, Pian Bo is implied to be flat, if that helps in any way in finding what Pian Bo is.
I also agree that maybe there is no absolute answer here.
Note: I used google translate for the Pu Bo and Pian Bo translations + the two article translations.
