Broken skin...

Playing/Techniques
#1

Hi all,

I’ve been thinking about trying to become involved in Bachido again. I fell off the bandwagon when school started eating up my life. I graduated, but wasn’t sure how to dive back in, but today when I pulled out my shamisen I found a tear in the area above where the koma usually goes. Motivation for me to come crawling back. :stuck_out_tongue:

Has anyone done much comparison of the Fibersen to natural skin? I have dog on mine right now, but I don’t think it was a very high quality one. It lasted about 13 months. I’d kind of like something that will last a bit longer, I’m in kind of a tight spot right now. Thanks for the help, I’ll be around.

Eric

#2

Hi Eric,

Great to have you back again! That school can be quite a timesink (and is why I encourage all my friends against going! :stuck_out_tongue: )

Ooooh snap, that’s a shame! We need to get you back in action!

Josh and TJ would be able to talk most about it, as both of them rock Fibersen skinned shamisen.

I can say that Fibersen is the closest thing to natural skin, lightyears beyond regular plastic skin. Sawari comes through clearly and the san no ito is very sharp. That said, it’s not 100% identical to natural skin. I would say the difference of natural skin and Fibersen shamisen is general, you can tell natural skin is fresh and Fibersen is synthetic. But unlike regular plastic skin, both natural and Fibersen sound pleasing, just the difference from the materials.

One thing to know is that the sound quality of natural skin deadens after a year. Thus, no matter what quality the skin is, it will always sound more awesome when freshly skinned (new average quality skin will sound better than a 1+ year old high quality skin).

Comparing a fresh natural skin with Fibersen, natural will sound better. However, if comparing Fibersen with a 1+ year old skin, the difference is much more negligible. So, in planning for the future, unless you plan on reskinning your shamisen yearly (which none of us are :wink: ), Fibersen would make good sense.

Btw, it was great to meet your sensei Toshi san for the first time! :slight_smile:

#3

Thanks Kyle. :slight_smile:

I was finishing a double major and left myself with a lot to do, however I wasn’t idle in regards to shamisen. I began construction on one using your book, still a long way from finished, I got in over my head, and did some hefty research on the history of shamisen (all for school credit!). I’ve been trying to practice as much as I can, but my progress is noticeably slower on my own. I miss Toshi, and while I can’t say I was happy with the specific location I was living in, I miss my life there and I’m looking for a job to send me back.

I think at my level, which is still very far from performance-ready by my standards, the fibersen sounds like a good deal just for getting a little more time out of the skin, and I’ll probably go back to natural skin when I improve and upgrade to a nicer instrument.

I’d still like to hear some more opinions on the fibersen, I’ll try and dig through the forums some today.

I feel like I could tell the sound was getting to be less sharp than it was at first, but figured I had at least another 6 months to a year before it actually tore. I hate being wrong. :confused:

Anyway, I’ll try and do some more reading and arrange that in the next couple of days I guess.

#4

Alright, did some reading, fibersen sounds like a good option. I guess I should just go ahead and get both sides fitted with the stuff? Doesn’t seem practical to leave one side dog that could begin splitting in the next year…

The tear got bigger today, completely unplayable now. What’s the turnaround time on the kawahari?

#5

Whoa nellie! You have still been active with the three flavored strings! (and bonus points if you can get school credit at the same time! :-P) Yeah, it does take some extra effort to pull through to practice alone. As always, I’d recommend find other musicians to play with. Guitar players, drummers, anyone. Also, I see five Bachido members in your general area. It might be worth contacting them to get together and play?

Alright, did some reading, fibersen sounds like a good option. I guess I should just go ahead and get both sides fitted with the stuff? Doesn’t seem practical to leave one side dog that could begin splitting in the next year…

Sounds good! Hmm, good question. The skin on the bottom side is looser than the top (which helps push the sound back out… I think), so it should last longer. I will ask Nitta san what he thinks now.

Nitta san likes to allow two weeks for reskinning. Sometimes it is less.

#6

Not sure if my input will affect you Eric, but I’m planning on skinning mine with fibersen if/when my dog skin breaks. I think the sound, while different, is really good. Combined with no sad puppies and less of a hole in the wallet, it’s the best choice for anyone that is cost aware and in learning :slight_smile:

In the end it will be your musical prowess that matters.

I’m quite sure we will see more improvements to the artificial skins in the coming years as the import of good dog skin is getting less sustainable and more people are playing shamisen.

Perhaps we are moving towards the kind of world where premium dog skinned shamisen are only used in orchestras and high-end recordings?

#7

Perhaps we are moving towards the kind of world where premium dog skinned shamisen are only used in orchestras and high-end recordings?

I was talking a lot about this with Nitta san, and have come to the same conclusion. Most of the world loves dogs, so shamisen will have a difficult time becoming mainstream if continued to be skinned with dog. (Even his wife thought his shamisen had synthetic, and was shocked to hear that even he had natural skin)

Thus, as Fibersen (and future developments) sound just as good as natural skin, eventually all but the die hard professionals will choose synthetic. Good for the world, good for PR, and good for the pups. :slight_smile:

#8

I agree, long-term viability of materials was something I tried to ask people about when I was in Japan, but it was usually met with shrugs. Toshi said Kangaroo sounds pretty good, but that never caught on.

My girlfriend actually got upset with me just yesterday about the skin being dog when I was telling her about the tear. I know that I’ve told her what it was before, and I gave a demonstration to her family and told them all what it was made out of. People hear what they want to though… -___-

I’m inclined to just have both sides done and not worry about it. I’ll probably put in the order tomorrow.

#9

Ah, I think I a member in Australia also mentioned roo, but I forgot who. It’d certainly be fun to try. Anywho, they’re just as cute so wouldn’t help the PR factor. :wink:

On first dates, shamisen inevitably comes into conversation 'cause it’s “what I do.” Truth be told, I often bring up the subject of dog skin. :stuck_out_tongue: Maybe it’s the way I phrase it, but reaction is usually more perplexed than dismayed/angry. However, I am still single, so that may have something to do with it.

Just heard back from Nitta san (who’s currently in Taiwan). He too recommended both sides.

#10

Both sides it is then!

Kangaroos are pest animals though, so it might not be as big of an issue. There are too many of them unless they’ve gotten that under control in recent years.

It doesn’t help that she’s a dog person. I think she’s been filtering out the information for the last year… :confused:

Thanks guys! Now I need to figure out what to do with myself since I figure I’m looking at a month of shami-downtime… It’s too hot here to continue building until fall.

#11

Cool beans!

Kangaroos are pest animals though, so it might not be as big of an issue.

Actually, so are dogs in India. Recently, there’s a large amount of dogs with rabies (or something) who’ve been biting humans, so the government is considering (or has already) putting out an order to reduce their numbers. However, I don’t think a dog lover would still whimsically pick up a shamisen, even knowing that fact.

I believe the official policy is “If it’s got a cute face, it’s だめ.” :wink: In which case, Kangaroo would be a hard sell.

Yikes… a whole month without shamisen. What to do…
I’m only half-joking when I suggest that you can still practice bachi technique with a spatula. :stuck_out_tongue:

#12

Yes, I don’t think the argumentation would end very well.

“Well it’s ok baby. The dog was really crazy, so we cut it up and stretched it out over a piece of wood so that we can play some music and have fun times”

#13

As my neighbor once told me when I was a lad, “Kyle, let me tell you one bit of advice about women - Flowers. Flowers fix everything.”
Right?? :wink:

#14

Mayhap it is so. At least these guys think so:

#15

Hahaha!!! I guess it’s true! :stuck_out_tongue:

#16

Flowers are surprisingly effective. Don’t knock the simple cliches until you give them a shot.

I emailed the store asking about the repair last night. Should I expect instructions on how to package and ship the dou soon?

#17

I can attest to the flower thing being true! My girlfriend also got mad at me recently and I had the good sense to call Kyle Abbott and chat with him a bit on the subject. Kyle gave me this same advice regarding flowers so that night I stopped by the flower shop on my way to see her. As soon as she saw that she totally forgot that she was mad at me! Thanks for the advice Kyle Yessir! The simple clichés certainly are effective when they need to be!

Good to have you back on the forum Eric! Sorry about all the kawa issues!

#18

Kevin! Hey man, it’s good to hear from you again. I felt bad for not getting in touch with you for so long.

So, I got the email with shipping address and payment instructions. Does anyone know how to effectively pack a dou? I haven’t had to do this before.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott