Friday, September 26, 2008

Di mo

The dimo is a special membrane applied to the transverse Chinese flute called ''dizi'' , giving the instrument its characteristic buzzing timbre.


''Dimo'', made from the tissue-thin membrane from the interior of a specific variety of bamboo, are supplied as tubular sleeves. Only a small rectangle is needed at a time, so for application, a small section is cut off the end of the ''di mo'' sleeve, and that small tube is cut open to make a rough rectangle of flat membrane.

The Korean transverse bamboo flute called ''daegeum'' has a similar buzzing membrane. The Korean ''sogeum'' and ''junggeum'' and the Thai ''khlui'' also once had membranes, but these are not used today.

Application


The ''di mo'' is applied to the membrane hole of the dizi using a special, traditional glue called ''Ejiao''. One of the advantages of ''ar jiao'' is that the glue is water-soluble, so that it can be wetted again to re-adjust the ''di mo''.

After applying the glue around the ''mo kong'', the ''di mo'' is applied, and then adjusted while the glue is still wet so that many creases form in a sequence along the length of the hole. Each crease should be parallel to the one before, crossing the hole horizontally, so that together they form a sort of pleat or corrugation.

Although the purpose of applying ''di mo'' is simply to make the ''dizi'' operational, the application technique is considered to be an art in itself.

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