Any players in Vancouver BC or Victoria?

I posted this question a long time ago and had no response. (sad panda)
Perhaps there are some now?

Cheers!!

Sasha

Hello Sasha

I just got my nagauta shamisen and starting to learn in Burnaby, BC
It would be nice to get in touch and share experience!

Best regards,
Alexey

Hi Alexey! That’s fantastic, congratulations for getting a hold of a shamisen, I know how challenging it can be!
Have you played before at all or is it your first time? What made you get one?

I ha e music scores galore here so ask away and I can send you some stuff!

Sasha

Thanks! This is my first shamisen, so I am starting form scratch.
I just love the sound and wanted to learn a new instrument. As well I love Japan, so for me it was an obvious choice 8-).
I do have music education (10 year of piano, some guitar and bass guitar, some flute).

It would be wonderful if you can share some scores, something simple for starters!

Best regards,
Alexey

Hey Alexey! Yeah man for sure! What is your email address?
I will scan some stuff and send it to you. The scores come with regular notations as well so you will be able to read them with zero issues I think!

Thanks a lot!

erry321@gmail.com

Best regards,
Alexey

No worries. I will send you some stuff tonight.

Cheers!!

I just got my second shamisen, I ordered it from Bachido. The raven is pretty awesome even though it’s quite bigger than my nagauta.

Cool! I have no idea when I would be able to afford tsugaru myself.

Hello! Seems like this is a bit of an old post, but I was wondering if there are still any active shamisen players in Vancouver right now. I recently moved to North Vancouver and play casually at parks sometimes.

Hello

I am in Burnaby, still learning so far, not yet at the level to play in the parks :wink:

Best regards,
Alexey

In Richmond, plonking away on a broken tsugaru!
Glad to hear there are fellow shamisen practitioners in the Lower Mainland!

Hello!

What is wrong with the instrument?

Heya! Well, it broke during shipping via Fedex, the Tenjin broke in half- tried bringing it to a luthier, who glued the tenjin back, but there’s a huge chip where the ichinoito sits.

Since it is a beginner Tsugaru shamisen from Taiko Centre, it has no azuma sawari, so that chip has affected the buzz (tried filling it with Quikwood epoxy, but it keeps flaking off!) strongly (i.e. it buzzes very strongly or not at all). Also, it cannot be tuned to standard honchoushi ahahah

Too bad :frowning:
There is some issues with most glues and exotic woods for sure: the oil in the wood does not let the glue to cure or grab on the wood properly. I would recommend to use some acetone or spirit to clean the place before applying the epoxy. This way it would remove the oil and have a good grab on the wood grain. Also I would recommend to use just epoxy with fine wood dust, not the filler as you never know what the manufacturer added to the mix

Thank you!

Alas, I must needs improve my woodsmithing skills first, ahaha:)
Either that or find a new shamisen with azuma sawari and mitsuori neck!

Hey! That’s fantastic, I am from Victoria! I will be visiting my family in Whiterock in a few weeks and will be bringing my shamisen with me. If you are interested I’d be more than happy to meet you in a park in North an for a jam sesh! Also, whomever else interested should join us!

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Glad to hear there are a few other shamisen enthusiasts in the area! I would definitely be interested in a jam session at a park. Shoot me an email and we can try to schedule something: eutah.mizushima@gmail.com

Sweet! Message sent!

Hello,
I’m trying to start up a shamisen club in Vancouver/Burnaby. With the support of grants as well as my connections with Japanese Canadian community my hope is to be able to bring sensei to our corner of the world and of course have peers to practice and play with.
Cheer!
~ Takahide