Hsu-Nami formed in 2005 to perform a variety of rock stylings from metal to prog to funk. The focus of the band is the traditional Chinese instrument, the erhu. The erhu, a two stringed bowed instrument often called a Chinese violin, takes the place of vocals. The music blends the traditional Chinese sound with Western rock. They are not the only band doing this. Taiwanese black metal outfit, Cthonic, have used the erhu in their much heavier music for some time as well. But Hsu-Nami do things a bit different. They do a rendition of The Godfather Theme and change focus from progressive rock stylings to traditional Chinese sounds. Founding member Jack Hsu plays the erhu in the band.

"Before Hsu-nami I was in an acoustic instrumental duet playing at cafes during the weekend with this Japanese guitarist named Akimasa Nihongi, the band was called gen-so Fantasia says Hsu. "The music was very mellow, just imagine Hsu-nami but mostly acoustic and synth. A record label asked us to perform at their CD release party, and at the time Aki was out of town. So I asked my friend Brent Bergholm and his metal band to fill in playing gen-so's music as the full band for the performance."

So Hsu went from a soft acoustic duo to metal in one night and by accident.

"The performance turned out amazing. So we all decided to collaborate together, and from the rapid fan buzz and big show/festival offered to us all of a sudden, we just decided that it made sense to form into a full time band. Thus Hsu-nami was born." says Hsu.

Hsu is also familiar with the Taiwanese band, Cthonic, and has played with them in New York City. Hsu has been asked to play erhu for Cthonic on their 2009 North American tour. We talked a little about the sonic issues involved in using the erhu.

"Since I already had classical violin training when I was young and had intense Asian music training learning Erhu at Nankin, China at one point, my erhu musical style is already influence fusing between Classical plus Asian Music," says Hsu. "When I was in my teenage years, I started to really get into rock music especially guitar virtuoso artists such as Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Tak Matsumoto, Slash, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Malmsteen. All these guitarists have their own unique style and their own musicology."

He says he uses the erhu like a rock guitarist -- standing, rather than sitting like a traditional erhu player.

"I would say that we are featuring the erhu in the band since the erhu has been compared to vocals like an opera singer singing, so powerful yet mellow at the same time," says Hsu. "We like to focus more on the musicianship since Hsu-nami's music is more cinematic / soundtrack compared to songs with lyrics."

Hsu says he has years of experience with live sound and the erhu. In the beginning he used a Fishman violin pick up to mic the erhu. He found the pick up projects the highs too much and sounds "scratchy." Now he uses a wireless condenser mic inside the soundbox which gives more bass and mids. The sound is softer and mellower.

"In the beginning the mic would always pick up loud feedback since you have to turn up the erhu close to max volume, especially playing with a metal / hard rock band," he says. "What I learned is to use scotch tape and seal up the sound box airtight so the mic wouldn't pick up anything outside the sound box. Then the erhu signal would sound loud and clear with no feedback and can be played in extremely high decibel environment. To enable my erhu to be a lead instrument, I use an extra equalizer and boost up little bit of the mids and highs so it can add more presence during the performance and a Lexicon effects rack to add different kinds of reverb, pitch effects or whatever I need to do with the erhu."

When it comes to recording the erhu Hsu usually does it sitting down and with two microphones. One mic is positioned close to the sound box and the other is some distance away. They EQ it during when they mix.

"I usually record sitting down with two mics, one close to the sound box and one on further away. Then [I] EQ it after effects sessions.

We also chatted with Hsu's bandmates about what they play and how they work with the erhu. Stay tuned for more on Hsu-nami