I'm new here! :)

General
#1

Hello to all! I am a violinist (well… I only play for 5 year so… I am like a semi-violinist :slight_smile: ), but I think shamisen does have something special. I like only lisening to a open string, Its amazing how it sounds! to do that with violin, I needed 3 years! lol! I am from Spain

I just buy the book and I think it is amazing! really tsugaru shamisen its too loud than you need to play with earplugs?

I hope I can get a shamisen early, here in Spain (and I suppouse than in anywhere except Japan…) it is difficult to buy one, I am seeking in ebay but or they are too expensive or they are broken. I was thinking to buy one with the skin broken and fix it by myself, but I doing that when I never do it before…this scares a bit.

So here I am! :slight_smile: I hope we read each other often! :slight_smile:

#2

Pedro,
Welcome to Bachido. Our Japanese representative from Sapporo, Japan is named Masahiro Nitta. he is an Amazing Tsugaru Shamisen virtuoso and is one of Japan’s top pros.
Right now I think Masahiro Nitta is close to Madrid, Spain. Maybe he is in Madrid right now? I forgot where exactly he is going in Spain. Kyle Abbott will know more than me. But I think he said Madrid.
If you can see his concert and hear a real Amazing young performer who is connected to our bachido website, wow! That would be very interesting! Surely he will be surprised to meet you if you can meet him after his concert and if you tell him you have joined us on bachido!
Well I can try to find out more about Masahiro’s tour of Spain (Kyle will probably beat me to it though) but it is interesting that you post now. Just as he is there.

#3

As someone who has also just joined recently let me say hello there fellow new person!

I`ve often thought I should probably practice with earplugs too i just never have them on me :frowning:

#4

woooooowww!! I am from Madrid so this is amazing! I will search the net for Masahiro Nitta, I was learning japanese so I can practice also jeje (demo nihongo ga sucoshi wakarimasu :blush: )

Thanks a lot Kevin for the info! I

t is amazing because I was reading bachido for a couple of months, but was know when I dedice to wrote here :)!
I can´t wait to Kyle to post here, so he can tell me more information and if I can go to see him playing, this will be great!

thanks again :slight_smile:

#5

As someone who has also just joined recently let me say hello there fellow new person!

I`ve often thought I should probably practice with earplugs too i just never have them on me :frowning:

hey thanks! hello to you too!

I didnt have earplugs but…I didnt have shamisen also so it is not a problem…yet :slight_smile: jejeje

#6

Welcome Pedro! I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun shredding on the shamisen! Don’t stop playing the Violin though! I find it really nice to be able to play other instruments to get some variation. Maybe you should try working on playing violin together with a Shamisen?

As for needing ear plugs. As I’ve become a better player I play louder. There has only been one day where I felt that my ear got tired and I think it has to do with how you are sitting. If you are angling your head and watching your left hand play the 1,3,4 notes, your right ear will be directed towards the sound box. That can be avoided!

#7

Welcome Pedro! I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun shredding on the shamisen! Don’t stop playing the Violin though! I find it really nice to be able to play other instruments to get some variation. Maybe you should try working on playing violin together with a Shamisen?

As for needing ear plugs. As I’ve become a better player I play louder. There has only been one day where I felt that my ear got tired and I think it has to do with how you are sitting. If you are angling your head and watching your left hand play the 1,3,4 notes, your right ear will be directed towards the sound box. That can be avoided!

Hi Karl! thanks!

I will not stop to play the violin, at least not in this life! :slight_smile: But I was lisening a lot of time shamisen, and I want to play it, it has a wonderful sound! I will play both, as I hope soon! :slight_smile:

thanks for you advice for the earplugs! well I see than a tsugaru shamisen is made for play loud, but I think I can play it piano and not forte, like with the violin.

and just one thing… I sign in in this forum with my facebook, and I do it a lot of time ago, because of this, I don´t know what, it appears as pedro reyes (an old spanish comedian…), but my name is Paco! XD I suppouse when I was young I put this name as a joke (or something, I don’t remember! ). As I can see, Pedro Reyes still does jokes, but this one with my name!! :blush: I will see how to change, but my account of facebook appears as Paco ¿?¿? never mind :slight_smile:

Sorry for the inconvenience! :blush:

#8

hello and welcome :slight_smile:

#9

thanks Amanda! :slight_smile:

#10

Hello! Welcome to Bachido, from Nagoya branch in Japan(joke(^o^))

#11

Arigatou gozaimasu Kyoko-san! :slight_smile: Nayoga branch in japan, lol! :slight_smile:

#12

I’m no shamisen player (that’s for you Kyle) but I do play banjo and fiddle and there is definitely a need to go “forte” if you want to get “that sound.” Not to say that it can’t be played softly but I think you lose some of the dynamism of the sound that way.

I am just finding out that high-quality musician earplugs are really not that expensive, and apparently work very well. Check out this review of Hearos Earplugs. I just got a pair of EarPeace earplugs which I will give to Kyle soon for a test-run.

Preserving your hearing is so worth it, and I think shamisen may be even worse than it seems since loud percussive sounds are much more damaging to the ears than sustained sounds (since the ear doesn’t have time to adjust).

Bachido also sells “stealth” koma for quieting the strings down.

Finally, I took the liberty of changing your name, Paco/Pedro. :slight_smile:

#13

Welcome to Bachido, Mr. P! :slight_smile:

Previous experience with other stringed instruments will benefit your shamisen playing, so yay! Indeed. violin and shamisen would make a great combo. (Especially if you can do it at the same time! :-D)

Ear plugs probably should be worn. I really felt the need for them in the beginning, but not so much within the past few years. There’s no pulsing/throbbing feeling in my ears (like you get when exposed to overly-loud sound) anymore, so I haven’t used them.

Kevin makes a great point as well. The shamisen sounds a lot louder when hunched over. Sitting straight with the head behind the dou will make it considerably nicer to listen to.

loud percussive sounds are much more damaging to the ears than sustained sounds (since the ear doesn’t have time to adjust).

Actually, recent studies have been showing that long-term moderate-volume yet sustained exposure also damages hearing. I read that on the toilet this morning!

#14

Welcome and congrats on finding the coolest forum on the internet! We are happy to have you aboard!

I have really sensitive hearing compared to most people, and have had trouble in the past at job sites and with music being turned up too loud in the car.
I’ve never needed ear plugs for Tsugaru Shamisen. The only time I’ve thought it too loud has been when I’m sitting in front of another player and we are in a small room or enclosed space where I’m getting my face blasted off by some strong playing!

#15

Our Tsugarushamisen class joined in a music shop concert. And our teacher and us all agreed that our performance did not need a microphone! Other players, piano, flute, violin and so on did, though. Seven Tsugarushamisen play was loud enough, maybe next year at this concert, we will take the microphone away. Instead might need a fire extinguisher!?

#16

@Luke: nice, banjo and fiddle, I was “fiddling” (does this word exists :S ) a lot of time, I think irish beer are the cause of this :P. I think I need to drink more :slight_smile:

Thanks for change my name!

so the problem is the percussive sounds? Always its nice to learn new things, I didn´t know that. It makes sense, because I didnt do anything like that with the violin.

@Kyle: Mr. P, I like that! jejeje

When I see the first time a shamisen, I think its nice it didnt have frets, like violin, so its like violin´s positions, you need to find the musical notes by ear.

Hey! things that you learn in the toilet are usually the best ones! XD

@Grant: Thanks!

ummm so the problem usually comes if you play with more shamisen players? As I can see for what all of you are saying, shamisen have a very high pitch.

@Kyoko: that is nice! We usually didn’t use microphone when we do violin concerts, but we are 30 so if you need fire extinguisers, we usually need the fire brigade itself! XD

#17

Hi Paco, welcome to bachido :slight_smile:

#18

Thanks Liam!! :slight_smile:

© 2020 Kyle Abbott