There are some new stealth komas that have a dampening sheet where the bachi hits so that there won’t be as much snap. I own the old type which is just a plastic koma that extends to the wooden edge of the dou. In this video I try some different materials to see what can be used.
So please comment!
THEE Karl Hedlund. the Shami-Swede. in the flesh. well… on youtube. haha. sweet video by the way! very informative!
Love your experimental spirit. Somehow witnessing this video by Karl here has suddenly created a shockwave inside my brain that is resulting in a sudden vision of something like “prepared Shamisen” .
Is anyone familiar with prepared piano?
Of course we wouldn’t be talking nuts, bolts and nails as the Shamisen has too many delicate parts. Perhaps some combination of paper, plastic and rubber bands ?
Anyway thanks for sharing your insights Karl.
Another day, Another burst of new ideas for Shamisen !
Wow, I’m THEEE Karl Hedlund now? Wonderful 
I don’t think I’ve heard of prepared piano before. Basically transform the instrument into a collection of lots of sounds? I think the easiest way to do this on the shamisen might be to have different materials stuck under the notes on the sao, so that different notes have different sounds. I don’t know, but that feels like the direct translation from the prepared piano.
As for the stealthiness of my video, some kind of rubber sheet, like the thingie under the dou would actually be quite cool. I wonder if the plastic actually amplifies the sound again a bit, considering it being so smooth. However, you need something that is a bit hard and solid if you don’t want to destroy it with your bachi or have it move around.
that was a very interesting video karl ! I’ve never seen a koma like this one before , it’s amazing how large it is and how it lower the sound ! Your video makes me wonder about something , is there any silent shamisen available in the market or not ? There is already silent guitars , violin and even countrabass . It would be great if people could find a silent shamisen to play home late at night .
Florian,
Oh yes indeed. Silent Shamisen, totally muted and requiring headphones has been on the market for a while!
Shamisen Katoh makes them.
Somehow I can’t find it on the English page but he is one who produces them. Very handy for keeping peace with your neighbors!
I remember trying them out at the booths during the Hibiya and Hirosaki tai kais. The volume level is very quiet from the outside while allowing you to Rock all power of the Gods away to your hearts content in the headphones!
Ha i should have think about Shamisen Katoh , do you talk about the Mugen 21 or another one ? I can’t seem to find anything esle but the mugen 21 , and my Japanese skill has totally vanish in space so …
Anyway that is good to know that there are silent shamisen , i remmember when i bought a violin , i had a lot of fans … in the police !
Is Katoh-san the only luthier that makes this type of innovative Shamisen in Japan ?
Oh no I am sure he is not the only one making them. Yamaguchi (darn…can’t remember the full name) also specializes in them. Mr. Yamaguchi use to call me trying to sell me one but I was broke at the time…etc.
Forgive me Florian, I have no time to research this at the moment because my concentration is taken away with orchestrating a new tune called Austrian Taxi Driver, which I am trying to finish before it gets too late here in Aomori, Japan. Later I will post some video examples of katoh’s silent one unless someone else beats me to it!
Haha thank you Kevin and good luck on the tune , i can’t wait to hear the final version !
Great video Karl…sorry …THEEE KARL.
Might try this myself, although the skin on mine is so loose that I don’t get a snap when I use the shinobigoma, I get a thud :(.
I hate using it in general though because it really does make the strings horribly high.
Come to think of it I did see some electric shamisen on the net once that had stiff plastic sheets for the skin, it only made noise when it was plugged in and was ALOT cheaper than a mugen 21. Will have to look for it again.
Thanks!
Dude Liam, you need to stop feeling sad about it! You will get a proper skin eventually and it’ll be worth the wait!
That electric shamisen was quite cool
I loved Kevin’s old Beniya (electric shamisen) when I was able to play it. They are pretty affordable and you can make them really quiet!
However, there is no skin, and the bachi is made of acrylic, so you really are missing out on the heart of the instrument. It’s definitely something to own in conjunction with your acoustic one in my opinion!
Oh yes, and I’ve never used a koma like that, so I appreciate the video Karl!
My solution is to mute the bridge with my pinky while playing and practice mae bachi only if it’s too late. It makes for high stakes practice and really helps! hehe
Oh yes, and I’ve never used a koma like that, so I appreciate the video Karl!
My solution is to mute the bridge with my pinky while playing and practice mae bachi only if it’s too late. It makes for high stakes practice and really helps! hehe
Yeah I’ve tried that as well and it works pretty well when you want to play silently. Currently I’m working on making Bachizuke feel more natural though. I don’t want to get into the habit of playing everything in one position so then the stealth koma is quite nice to have. It’s a wonderful feeling when you’ve been practicing with the stealth koma for a while and you get back to playing with the zouge koma.
I think that was it yeah, the beniya! Epic
Karl - I know man I know, sorry
Beniya! Beniya ! Beniya!
I loves me sum 'lectric Shwammy!
Seriously my favorite thing in the world is to run it through loop station effects! How can anyone deny the Beniya when you can do stuff like this with it…?
The second one is a joke folks. Please just laugh at it and don’t take it too seriously.
Well Kevin , this is the best joke ever for my ears , it’s not that i’m taking it seriously , but i really really love to see traditionnal instrument played in a modern way , and they look so badass compares to a typicial mainstream guitar :3 !
I bet you know this band , and the electric Saz
Florian ,
I didn’t know you were interested in Secret Chiefs 3. Wow! What a great coincidence! I used to play in that band years ago. Trey Spruance was my musical mentor for many years. He was a tremendous influence on my Development with Shamisen . Here’s a clip from the good old days when I use to tour with them. Miss those guys soooooo much! Sometimes when I hear/see them I feel sad that I chose to move to Japan.
Anyways hold on, I’ll find a clip to post. I am editing this now cause I accidental posted the wrong thing. Look below!
Oh dammit… I screwed that up. This is the clip here…