Ni-agari (the second raised) - Ni no ito is tuned a perfect fifth above ichi no ito, with san no ito an octave above. If ichi no ito is C, ni no ito is F and san no ito is C of an octave higher. Hon-choshi (the basic tuning method) -Ni no ito is tuned a perfect forth above ichi no ito, with san no ito an octave above. There are various kinds of tuning to cover every different key, and also to create a different atmosphere depending upon the tuning (See also ' Jiuta' for details). There are several types of tuning for shamisen and, unlike violin and some other instruments, shamisen is tuned up according to the music, even during the performance. There is a screw type sawari implanted in sao, called 'azuma sawari.' Tuning This makes the sound rich and, because the sound resonates differently with the type of tuning, it creates an atmosphere distinctive of the tuning. Although biwa and some other instruments also have 'sawari,' shamisen, unlike other instruments, has 'sawari' only for ichi no ito, but ni no ito and san no ito also have sounds of the same effects caused by resonance on certain points (which change according to tunings) to hold down the strings. Although the sound caused by this is a kind of noise, it is indispensable for shamisen music. This mechanism makes the instrument twang from the open string of ichi no ito touching the sao slightly, increasing harmonic overtones to sound more appealing and sustains longer. Each string varies in thickness, and the size to use depends on the rendition of shamisen music.Īn ordinary shamisen has a mechanism called 'sawari' near the tuning peg of ichi no ito. In descending order of thickness, they are called 'ichi no ito' (the first string), 'ni no ito' (the second string), and 'san no ito' (the third string), respectively. For Tsugaru-jamisen, nylon or Tetoron (a registered trademark of Teijin for a kind of polyester fiber) strings are also used. When the skin of a female-cat is used for shamisen, it is said that a virgin cat is ideal because she-cats get their skin scratched by tomcats during mating in fact, the skin of young female-cats before mating is too thin, so a slightly thick skin after the scratch healed is often used. Synthetic skin is also used sometimes, but it is not preferred because its tone quality is inferior to natural skin. For Tsugaru-jamisen (Tsugaru-shamisen), with some exceptions, dog skin is used. This pattern is called 'ayasugi', which improves the quality of its sound.Īlthough the abdominal skin of cats had been generally used, because of its high price and decline in production, nowadays dog skin is used for practice shamisen and others, accounting for seventy-percent of the total. Higher-grade instruments have a minute pattern carved all over the inner surface of the do. Do are all made of quince, but there were some made of mulberry and Japanese zelkova in the old days. Wood suitable for making sao is hard, fine-grained, and of a high specific gravity. For some unique articles, sandalwood and Bombay black wood are also used. Nowadays, some sao are made of snakewood. In the past, there were also many sao made of oak or mulberry. The material used for high-grade instruments is koki (a kind of tree) (grown in India) there are also other kinds of sao made of rosewood or quince (grown in Southeast Asia including Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos). On the other hand, some sao are divided into more than five parts. Sao without division is called 'nobezao.' It is mainly designed for storage and portability, and also to prevent sao from becoming warped. Many sao are divided into three parts: kamizao, nakazao, and shimozao, and this kind of sao is called 'mitsuore' (threefold). The instrument itself consists of 'tenjin' (or itogura: pegbox), 'sao' (neck), and 'do' (body). In Okinawa Prefecture and Amami islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, it is also called sanshin. It is also called 'mitsuno-o' as a classical expression. In the world of traditional Japanese music of the early-modern times, especially the world of jiuta (a genre of traditional songs with shamisen accompaniment), sokyoku (koto music) (combined with the kokyu (Chinese fiddle) music, they are called " sankyoku" or instrumental trio), and so on shamisen is sometimes called ' sangen' (a three-stringed musical instrument), written as '三弦' or '三絃.' Generally, it is played with a bachi in the shape of a spatula, but there are fine differences depending upon the rendition of shamisen music. It probably originated between fifteenth and sixteenth century, having a relatively short history for a traditional Japanese musical instrument. The wooden body is square and flat, and both sides are covered with skin the neck extends through the body, on which strings are plucked with a bachi (a plectrum) shaped like a ginkgo leaf. Shamisen is a Japanese stringed musical instrument with a neck. Shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese banjo) ( 三味線)
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