I'm kind of confused...

General
#1

Hi everyone ! My name is Vanessa and I’m pretty new to shamisen and Japanese traditional music. Im here to ask you some questions about shamisen and others Asian strings instruments.

My dad bought me what he was thinking to be a shamisen but I’m pretty sure it’s not. (Although, it was an awesome gift :slight_smile: ) Anyway, I’ve searched everywhere and can’t find the name of the instrument !
As you can see in the picture, it’s all made of wood, even the bridge. I’ve tried to take picture from 2 angles so you can see how it’s made. (Btw ; It don’t come in 3 part like shamisen. It’s only one solid part !)

Images :


I hope someone here can help me :slight_smile: And thanks in advance for your answer !

#2

It looks like you got yourself a Gottan. It looks great, it should be a great place to start if your just learning how to play.

and welcome to Bachido.

#3

Yes. It certainly appears to be a type of Gottan. Stylistically slightly different from the Gottan we used in the studio for the new Bachido CD. It could possibly still be referred to as a San gen. Some Japanese might even go as far as to call it a Shamisen since really all that means is “three strings”. I just tried looking up info on the all wood hinoki shamisen that were being produced in Hawaii some 8 or 9 years ago. Strangely I could not find anything online but visually this looks quite similar to the Hawaiian Hinoki wood Ones I have seen.

Either way hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of this instrument oh! and welcome to bachido!!

#4

Wow thanks for your fast answers !
And Kevin, you seems to really knows the gottan (or san gen, like you said) so… is it normal that it don’t sounds like a “real” shamisen ? Maybe it’s just because I don’t play it well (just one week of practice hehe) But I mean, I’ve tried the learning video of Kyle, but I can’t get it to sound right. It’s like a totally different song, even when i think i play it correctly.

Anyway, I’m glad now that I know the name of my instrument :slight_smile: And that everyone seems to understand my message, I’m usually really bad at english !

Thanks for the warm welcoming !

#5

Well certainly the tone and sound will be different from the Shamisen in Kyle’s instruction videos. I think it might be safe to say comparing the sound of an acoustic guitar to a ukulele . Etc.
Also you might want to check to listen for your strings matching Kyle’s pitch. If you are not in tune it won’t sound the same even on a regular Shamisen. But once you are in tune and playing the right notes you will be able to play a lot of stuff written for Shamisen on that thing. Just always keep in mind it won’t sound exactly the same.
It’s like playing a piano melody on a harpsichord. Same finger positions, same notes, same tune but very different sound.

#6

I’ve tried to tune my strings, using Kyle’s pitch but I find it really hard, especially because it’s not the same “sound”. I’m not used to the “pitch”, the shamisen is my first instrument ! I’ve never played anything else.
But I will keep practicing, and maybe keep an eyes for deals on some stugaru shamisen :slight_smile:

When i will get better, maybe i will post a short video of my playing here to get some advises.
I’m really glad to have found Bachido !

#7

Try using an electronic tuner. They are accurate, cheap and do save much time.

#8

or, a random tip if you need electronic tuning right away, you can get software tuners that work on your computer (assuming it has a microphone), or free applications to work on smartphones and the like.

there are prettier and better ones out there, but just a 5 sec google search for
http://www.seventhstring.com/tuner/tuner.html

#9

hello welcome
very interesting instrument there, i hope you get to play : )

#10

Hey Vanessa,

Welcome to Bachido!

Wow, very interesting! Kevin’s already covered everything, but I’ll say it again. That’s a cool looking Gottan! :slight_smile: definitely more “shamisenesque” than the usual Gottan I’ve seen.

Remember to keep expectations low when beginning. One week is a very short time, so don’t worry if what you play doesn’t sound like the learning video yet. Just make sure playing is fun! :slight_smile:

K H and Shmoolik had good ideas. Also, if you have an iPhone or smartphone device, there are tuner apps available for such purposes. Did you also try tuning using this page?
http://bachido.com/learn/pages/tuning

Definitely! When you feel ready, it would be great to see Gottan in action! :slight_smile:

Kevin’s a Gottan wizard. I managed to capture a bit of his epic shredding on film. So hot, the camera almost melted! :stuck_out_tongue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGUp-4S16iI&feature=player_detailpage#t=522s

On the subject of Gottan, Bachido will be developing a new gottan, size of a 5budai Tsugaru shamisen, but with a wooden soundboard. :slight_smile:

#11

Welcome! When you feel you can produce some nice tunes, be sure to share it with us here!

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