Hello Everyone! Greetings and questions...

General
#1

Hello everyone!

May I just say what a lovely forum this seems :slight_smile: everyone seems to get on so well and are so nice to each other. I love it. It’s wonderful.

My name is Alice, though you might have gathered that already!

I’m a complete virgin when it comes to playing Shamisen, Sanshin, Kankara, Gottan etc, but I’ve loved the sound and style of them for ages.

At some point in the near future I’d like to, you know, own one. However, being a noob, I fall upon your collective wisdoms to maybe offer me some advice?

Basically, I can’t afford a Shamisen. No way no how. But I may be able to afford a Sanshin or a Kankara.

Question, what do you think? Sanshin or Kankara? If Sanshin, premade or a kit I can put together and decorate myself?

Some examples of what I mean:

http://shop.sanshinshop.com/Sanshin-Bronze-Level-Sanshin-B.htm

http://shop.sanshinshop.com/Sanshin-Kit-kit.htm

Those are just examples, if you think this is right but know of similar products available on bachido, and I’ve been a pleb and missed it, do let me know. I like this site.

Thank you!

Alice

#2

Monty? speaking from my own experience I guess anything with 3 strings could get you stoked :slight_smile: I cannot get myself to buying a sanshin even though they got 3 strings and I consider them cool instruments in their own right also on the other hand though some real nice ones I saw once were no bargain neither so I rather save up longer and get an actual shamisen at whatever later time that may be . . . speaking of may it looks like I will build another stick with strings in may huhu :slight_smile: and btw I never specifically asked so I am not sure but I think kankara is a general term for simple homemade “shamisen” am I right? anyway I will play such things at least until the time for a real shamisen has come . . . :slight_smile:

#3

Welcome to the Bachido, Alice! :slight_smile: Indeed, I too am very pleased about how civilized and polite this community is. Very unusual for most forums, so I am proud of everyone here! :slight_smile:

Actually, we should flag down Gerry McGoldrick, who is the resident genius for Kankara / sanshin making. He’s made many kankara for himself and students. I believe he is slowly but surely making a Bachido Article for ‘how to make a kankara’

Anywho, yes! A kankara would be a very simple way to start having shamifun. :slight_smile: Also! You may be in luck on the shamisen front. Amanda (for the UK as well!) is selling one of her vintage shamisen () You should definitely talk with her and try to work out something beneficial. :slight_smile:

Cheers!
Kyle

Ah yes, my guess is Monty as well.

#4

Thanks for the responses! I guess you both get the cool points. Monty is correct. I’m so witty and original.

Thanks for the responses :slight_smile: very informative. And Shamifun is the most amazing word! Is it copyrighted or can I use it on my friends to confuse/amuse/“Oh Alice, you muppet” them?

I will contact Amanda. Would you believe she’s not that far from me? Comparatively speaking. How odd.

Is the kankara easier to play than the Shamisen? Or is it just generally cheaper?

All the best,

Alice

#5

Howdy and welcome, Alice~!

From my past experience of “I’ll just tune [insert stringed-instrument here] to ‘ni-agari’” from before I was a proud owner, I’d say the instrument itself doesn’t necessarily cause the difficulty level to go up or down that much. What I mean to say is, if you have experience playing stringed instruments, you’ll get on well; be it kan-kara, san-shin, shamisen, whatever. You can play any style on any of them. Obviously their sizes and fragility vary, so the fretting will be slightly different spacings, and you may not be able to play as heavy on a san-shin. But those aren’t huge issue.

I’d assume with kan-kara you might have some trouble with tsugaru style’s dynamic strumming… But you could always play out tunes and get your ears comfortable with um, then work up to those techniques later when you nab a shamisen of your own.

My suggestion would be do like BH; get something simple/inexpensive in your hands and buzz out some tunes, all the while saving up cash.

Happy to see you joining us!
Best wishes~

Adrian

#6

I have experience with two stringed instruments, violin and guitar. Granted the violin I haven’t played for years but the knowledge is still trapped in me noggin’ somewhere.

Thanks for the advice Adrian :slight_smile: duly noted for when I eventually work up the courage to buy.

Alice

#7

Replied to you Alice, welcome to our wonderland (sorry, corny i know)
Everyone here is really helpful and a great laugh, it doesn’t always have to be about the Shami’s ; D

#8

Haha I really am from Wonderland. It’s nice to visit another! Especially a nice one! Some of the other forums I visit on the inter web are so mean to new people, I’m so relieved this is one of the rare gems!

#9

And Shamifun is the most amazing word! Is it copyrighted or can I use it on my friends to confuse/amuse/“Oh Alice, you muppet” them?

I just made it up on the spot, but feel free to use it. :wink:

Is the kankara easier to play than the Shamisen? Or is it just generally cheaper?

Kankara is probably a bit easier, due to it’s size. But shamisen would be a bit more enjoyable from the resonance of the skin. There are benefits to both! :slight_smile: And definitely, your skill with guitar and violin will certainly benefit.

#10

Woohoo! New word!

And yeah, I think once you’ve got your fingers nice and bendy to play one instrument, it doesn’t take as long to make them bendy in the right way for another one.

If that makes sense.

#11

Hi Alice,
The price of shamsien is one of the big factors keeping people in Japan and the rest of the world from trying it. It’s a big investment if you aren’t really sure you will stick with it.
But I think you can go a long way in learning the shamisen on one of these cheaper instruments. The sanshin kit for $155.00, delivery included, is about the best deal you are going to find. It’s a bit fancier than a kankara, and doesn’t cost much more. They call it a kit, but if the kits I’ve bought in the past are anything to go by, you’ll just have to sand the neck for 10 or 15 minutes, put the neck in the body, and string it up.

As Kyle said, I’ve been working on putting together a post on how to make a kankara, but I need better pictures of the various steps, and probably some video footage. I’m thinking maybe I should post a bit at a time, so for now, for anyone that is interested, here are links to pictures of the dimensions of the neck.

Imgur
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#12

Thanks Gerry :slight_smile: that’s really helpful. I’m currently in talks (with Amanda!) to buy one of her Shamisen that needs a bit of work doing to it. Which I’m very excited about. Haha.
No doubt I’ll have a fair few dilemmas in regards to that…
And a post on making a kankara sounds epic! They do look like fun instruments, the sort one might take to a bonfire on the beach and just have a worry free mess about with.
Not that I live near the sea any more :frowning:

#13

Gerry is just one of the geniuses on here!
That kankara looks fantastic

#14

Welcome to the forums Alice! On to something comletely different… When will there be a sauce that can actually be pronounced correctly? :slight_smile:

#15

Haha what? Do you mean worcestershire sauce? It’s wuss-tuh-shuh sauce. Not wore-chester-shyre sauce :wink:

Also I’ve been on the forums pretty much exactly 24 hours now and I’ve agreed the purchase of a shamisen and am making fairly solid plans about renovating it. Does time move faster on this forum than it does in the real word or something? I love it!

#16

I can attest to that yes; time does move faster relative to what is normally perceived outside the confines of the forums. Also, proportionately speaking, the level of epic-ness had in these forums is much higher. That is of course excluding Bachido gatherings and things of that nature.

Glad to see you are fitting in well and having a great time~

#17

I really am having such a good time :slight_smile:

#18

I just sent over the money for the (my!) nagauta shamisen… brace for impact! Incoming stupid questions and daft ideas!

#19

Congratulations!!

This community, I tell ya! Things just seem to work out here. :slight_smile:

Never! As I like to think, there are no such things as stupid questions… only stupid answers. :wink:

#20

Oooh, daft ideas - we love those! :smiley:

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