The song is great and I’m currently using Kita No Hibiki as a practice song for speed and precision when it comes to alternating between ichi and san.
It would be awesome to have at least 2 people playing one part and 2 playing the other, for those great dynamics.
Hi and thanks, Kevin, for picking up my name for the possibility of playing Kita no hibiki in a group. I am not sure if I can make it or might just go to the Taikai to cheers and hurrah for you.
Regardless of Taikai, I am glad to start practicing Kita no Hibiki! For the last eight month I have been just doing ROKUDAN only. Really would like to try something different.
But Kita no Hibiki is just a suggestion!
I think it would make sense and probably make mr. Hiroshi Nitta
Super Proud, ya know what I’m saying?
Hey Kevin! That sounds like a great suggestion to me! It’s exciting, has a solid base in traditional stuff, and yeah, it would be a really nice gesture for Mr. Nitta!
As for videos to learn it from, I may have a few of Mr. Nitta demonstrating the first few parts. I’m not really sure what’s already out there or if they would be necessary, but if anyone wants to see them, let me know and I will upload them to youtube or something.
Ideally we could plan this so that anyone from Bachido would be >able to come to Aomori ken a little early and train with us in >Misawa before the taikai dates (May 2nd,3rd, and 4th I believe). >Perhaps staying in a hotel and us all pitching in for a rental van >that we can drive everyone over to Hirosaki with.
Then we would stay one night in Hirosaki, and then the next day >when the tournament was over we would hop back in the van and >drive over to Kanagi and stay the night there. There’s usually a >space where we can practice there until it gets a bit later.
The next morning we get up and go to the Kanagi tai kai and later >head back home to Misawa.
It would be amazing if we could start trying to organize this!
I really like the idea of doing a group bit as well. Also Grant, I’d be down for organizing some sort of group migration up there. If I can help at all, just let me know! I also recently got my Japanese drivers license, so I could help with the driving!
Pat, I just made my older videos public. Then there’s the meetup with fellow Swedish player Anne - The Viking Taikai.
http://www.youtube.com/user/magwillsoton/videos
I listened to some songs from your channel, cool stuff!
Thanks Karl! Yours sounds great too! I’ve subbed and am looking forward to more!
Hey Kevin, I was meaning to ask you. Is there a specific that you used when learning the song form of the Godai? Also, I agree that Ohara recording is awesome! Thanks for sharing it!
Kanagi tai Kais are a little less stiff though. A little more laid back.
Except for that there is a part of that tai Kai when some one in the audience will shout out the name of one of the go dai Minyos and you will be expected to jam it on the spot. Kinda scary.
That sounds terrifying! (but awesome to watch)… Is this optional at Kanagi or mandatory for all participants?!
Yo Pat!
Hallelujah ! No the go dai battle part is optional as far as i can tell.I mean to tell you the truth I never participated in that part. Too scary. Yup! F¥&:?k that! I’ve entered the Kanagi tai Kai many times and always just did my jongara or naka bushi or whatever Kyoku biki I had prepared and that was it. One year we did go on as a group with Nitta but usually just the solo part and that’s it. That godai battle section actually is set up like a boxing match. Two players go against each other and each time they are at the mercy of the audience until one of them chokes (I guess more metaphorically like a rap battle come to think of it )!
Yea! Grab the mic homie! Yo!
Hey Kevin, I was meaning to ask you. Is there a specific that you used when learning the song form of the Godai? Also, I agree that Ohara recording is awesome! Thanks for sharing it!
Pat,
Assuming you mean a song form in relation to preparing for a taikai,
?
Well for Hirosaki taikai you might as well think “jongara” so looking up different versions of that will obviously be a swell way to git soma dat song form inta da old subconscious ! Dig?
There are a lot of clips up from players of all levels taken straight from the tai Kai’s themselves ! Kaoru Osanai, Asano Sho, Kinoshita Shinichi, Shibutani Kazuo, Hikari Shirafuji, Hanawa Chie, Masahiro Nitta, hiromitsu Agatsuma and many others are all very good examples to look up for great jongara bushi performances.
Glad y’all like the idea of Kita no Hibiki so far! I really think that would be awesome to appear as a group! Hopefully!
Bachi On everyone!
Kita No Hibiki…but of course, great idea! :D.
I will try my best to come but I don’t even have a passport so it’s a long shot, plane fares to Japan are ridiculous. How do you guys save/make money???
Maybe I’ll start buskin’, hard in Manchester though, its never stops raining…in fact its raining right now.
Oh I forgot to add text…
Well here is a little behind the scenes look at what is going on at a Hirosaki tai Kai . This is while all the participants are on stage competing. Another option we all have is to walk around and check out all the booths and people practicing etc.
And making people nervous before their performance, oh you evil bastard 
What was the sound volume like? I mean there was a lot of shamisen going on.
Sweet! I’ve been waiting to see footage from the taikai! Grant and I have yet to watch it. About time. 
Wow, that brings back memories. The rows and rows of bachi, shiny shamisen and raw materials just laying on tables, and makers to freely talk to. It’s like being in a candy store!
Who was the gaijin at :54? He sure didn’t want much airtime. 
Wow, now that’s heaven right there, it must sooooooo loud though
Okay, at long last, here’s my opinion on the 2013 Hirosaki Tsugaru Jamisen Taikai - Bachido Attack!
Needless to say, indeed it should happen!
First though, let me present a few factors to consider.
As we’ve said, there’s a high possibility of a Bachido festival happening in Hokkaido. We may have shamisen stars (like Yoshida Kyoudai, Shinichi Kinoshita, Agatsuma Hiromitsu, Masahiro/Hiroshi of course!) lead shamisen workshops, and also have makers showing their craft. My hope is that it would be almost a Shamisen player fantasy camp. 
To make this as epic as possible, it’d be great to have as many attendees as possible. Thus, if you’re able to afford two trips to Japan, definitely do both. However, If you can only afford one trip, I would highly recommend holding out for 2014. It’ll be well worth it.
Tournament piece: What about Kuroishi Yosare? Kita no Hibiki is definitely a very awesome song, but it’s such a complex song for beginners. It’s fast, long and has multiple parts that requires everyone to be in sync. That’s all fine and well and may be possible if everyone’s relaxed and calm. But we need to appreciate the fact that the train can easily go off the tracks if some players get stage fright and freeze up, which throws other players off. That would’ve happened to me if I didn’t have a mouthful of whiskey before going on stage.
In Karate, they say that when you are in a real fight, you only retain about 20% of the skills you learned in the Dojo. (Which is why Karate techniques are simple and few, to be the most effective) I think the same thing is definitely true for someone walking on stage. Thus, a simple song like Kuroishi Yosare will come off much smoother and impressive.
The awesomeness is that all of us gaijin (stupid gaijin, to lower the expected standards even more ) can solidly play a tsugaru piece together, not that the piece is fast and complex. Being unified on a simple song is going to feel so much more epic/rewarding than struggling through a complex song.
If the plan is to represent Bachido on stage, we are going to having a much bigger impact in our unity. I think a group performance is not about showing skill, but unity.
Okay, I guess I’ve made my point. Anywho, that said, yeah!! I’m down for it!!!
To get the most bang for the buck (as they say), it would really be beneficial to get Masahiro involved. If he’s excited about it, I’m sure he’d get the press out. Who knows, maybe there’d even be a Bachido Booth with members and their homemade yubikake and shamisen!
So, as things get discussed, we should make a poll of the number of people who can attend, what people would like to do, and what they would like to play and such. Then I’ll submit it to Masahiro.
Liam: the constant beating of shamisen is definitely overwhelming, but surprisingly, I didn’t feel that earplugs were necessary.
Man the Hokkaido festival makes me remember reading the first Harry Potter book. This will be MEGA awesome!
Have you discussed a potential length of the festival? Maybe it’ll be hard to have official stuff going on for too many days, but I hope and think that us members will surely be interested in hanging out for at least a couple of days.
I really think I would need to wear earplugs, looks like I’m probably holding out for 2014 then :), 2013 is doubtful, but weird things have happened
I like the idea about Kuroishi yosare, it makes sense, but we would definitely want to put our own stamp on it and throw some harmonies in there etc.
The last thing we want is to show up as the gaijin group and play the most simple Tsugaru piece exactly like everyone else does it, we need to show that we can bring something to the shamisen scene
Kuroishi Yosare in canon, aaawww yeeeeaaaah
Kuroishi Yosare in canon, aaawww yeeeeaaaah
Yeah Karl!..Fugue in The key of Kuroishi!
Liam,
Earplugs? how dare you!
Just kidding though. I think I am going deaf already from Over exposure to Tsugaru Shamisen. Of course playing in metal bands when I was younger didn’t help either I’m sure!
Man! Looking forward to next year and of course 2014!
As we’ve said, there’s a high possibility of a Bachido festival happening in Hokkaido. […]To make this as epic as possible, it’d be great to have as many attendees as possible. […] If you can only afford one trip, I would highly recommend holding out for 2014.
So Kyle, we’ve got “a high possibility” on one hand (with a bunch of details included), and “I recommend holding out for 2014” on the other. Any idea of when 2014 might be declared actual rather than a possibility? [Makes it so much easier to save $ , schedule, and all that stuff… ]