What, in your opinion, does “sawai” mean to you? I’ve heard the term a few times, but can’t seem to get a definitive answer. Yesterday I overheard someone say that a shamisen had a beautiful sawai sound. I did a bit of research, but no joy yet. Thoughts?
It’s actually spelled Sawari. It refers to the buzzing sound the first string makes. It derrives from an Indian system called Jivari, which is a type of bridge made for the strings on the Sitar and Tampura to buzz. This carried over into the Biwa, which had frets that were made to produce the Sawari. Eventually, it carried over into the Shamisen, where the first string buzzed on an Azuma Sawari, a ridged device used to control Sawari, or in the case of Nagauta and Gidayu Shamisen, the “Sawari Yama” or “Sawari Mountain” (The little ridge on the headpiece)
Thanks!