Actually i think it is comforting 
because somehow you realize that you have made a LOT of progress from where you started and know that you’ll make more progress the longer you play 
and challenging yourself is fun so if masters are still struggling with techniques then i’ll be too and the fun will never end lol
Your playing is amazing bro! I’m really proud of you; especially the fact that you are putting so much thought into your bachi. I’ve been here at Hirosaki tournament the past few days really studying the competitors. What I’ve noticed time and time again is that a good 70% of the people performing are not putting nearly as much emphasis on their bachi technique as they are about “trying to play perfectly”. What I mean by that is that they are not exemplifying the correct tonality and fluidity that makes Tsugaru Shamisen so unique (and sometimes particularly difficult).
Like Kyle said, it’s soooo good that you’re asking these questions.
As far as your personal technique goes, you’ve hit it on the head. It is all about being relaxed and finding the sweet spot. For me, I’ve noticed a combination of arm and wrist. One thing I will say, is that you shouldn’t ever have to bring the bachi up really high before you strike it down into the strings. Masahiro is able to produce an amazing tone whilst not really raising his bachi that far away from the skin/strings.
From my perspective it’s about keeping relaxed up until that last milisecond when you strike the string (like how you throw a punch).
Anyway, Kevin is here typing something too, which I’m sure will be a lot more useful. Lol
Keep it up mate, you’re an inspiration!
Oh yes… The struggle never ends. But the way I have always looked at it is that music is kind of like an ocean and even if one were to swim 24/7 every day of their life they would still only have covered a small portion. So it really is impossible to run out of things to conceive of and practice and with new things always comes new techniques.
Liam,
Grant Reimer and I just got back from the 2012 Tsugaru shamisen national tournament.
We both watched your vid and we both immediately had the same reaction. After sitting through days of listening to shamisen players of all different levels we got an instant feeling of how your bachi hand looks and sounds pretty damn good. You have one very strong thing going which is that you are observant. Additionally you are observing some of the best examples (Agatsuma etc.). Grant and I were discussing how even some of the top A class don’t seem to show signs of thinking about what they are doing as much as you. Keep it up man!
Oh how i wish i was Liam right now haha
Hi Everyone,
Ortjo - I have been in Preston all weekend and I have only just seen this. I went to celebrate the birth of my friends baby, we actually had some sunshine and then I came back to Manchester and checked the forum. I am really happy to be me right now! What an awesome day!
Kyle - :), thank you! I agree, I never understand when someone even suggests that they might be “good enough” at something. There is NO such thing.
Kevin - it’s good to know that you think it sounds good and that my technique is sound, that means alot! Especially for someone as epically talented as yourself.
Grant - Heylo! Thank you for the kind words! As for being an inspiration, if you watch the Aiya Bushi in the interview you may be able to tell that it is HIGHLEY influenced by your part in the video you and Kyle made (in that epic garden/farm).
It’s still one of my favourites to this day, I love the way you play it!
Thank you for the encouragement everyone and thank you for taking the time to watch… and prepare to be plagued with questions in the future :p.
P.S - How did it go at the tournament??? You guys have fun???
Liam,
Congrats to your friend and new baby.
Hirosaki tournament was fantastic . Masato shibata won again.
We called Masahiro right afterwards to tell him and he said “aww, god not again.”
Grant and I also promoted bachido pretty aggressively while we were there.
We both got a chance to hang and chat with Kenichi Yoshida (Yoshida bros) a bunch and told him about the site. We also told the legend of all Tsugaru shamisen, Kinoshita Shinichi about it . We saw a lot of our friends from past years and got to hang with Dmitri (left handed player) and Gareth. Those guys have improved light years since I heard them last. Gareth really strives to get the Tsugaru flavor and he is also a funny dude that makes us laugh every year with his personality and enthusiasm. Dmitri played an amazing jongara bushi but half way through his Ichi no Ito broke with an epic snap and hung off his fingerboard for the rest of his performance. Being the true musician that he is, he didn’t even miss a beat and kept playing on just ni and San no Ito all the way up to the end. Needless to say he got a standing ovation from Grant and I.
We did get a few videos of the behind the scenes action. I am actually at work at the moment so I will try to upload and post them here soon.
This sounds all too amazing… I HAVE TO GO NEXT YEAR NO MATTER WHAT.
Yeah sounds like great fun
Shibata?? As in the Shibata siblings???
They are great! Love this tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZpRoDkP04c
Carrying on after you break a string is hardcore, sounds like nothing could remove him from the jongara trance! nice one
Dmitris, what a fighter! On facebook, I saw a picture of him at the taikai, holding his shamisen with a ruptured skin. Apparently, he got a brand new skin put on a week earlier, and it ruptured one day before competition. I don’t know how he was feeling at the time (though I can imagine), but keeping a cool head with that incident combined with his ichi no ito breaking earns my admiration.
Did anyone film his performance, by chance?
Sounds like a tough guy Speaking of ruptured skin. Do skinners have any kind of warranty for replacing the skin? I mean if you pay your well earned $400 and the thing breaks after a week you wouldn’t feel like the service was worth the cost.
Warranty probably depends on the skinner, but I’m sure most people do. Spontaneous skin rupturing after a week is an natural incident (which I’ve been told is called “nikubike”) that sometimes happens, and is not the fault of the player.
In the case for shamisen sold on Bachido, The skin is guaranteed against damage from initial shipping/skinning issues, like “nikubike”.
Would still be a pain the ass if you decide to visit Japan to get your skin replaced and then it ruptures when you get back home considering a trip to Japan from Sweden and back goes for around $1500 I think.
Good info for new buyers
That’s why Bachido will soon be offering a service to have your dou easily sent to be professionally skinned. I am currently (as of this moment) working on the page for it. Hopefully it’ll be done in a few hours, or tomorrow.
It’s almost as if my questions are set up
I actually had trouble sleeping last night, and suddenly I heard a strange sound. My brain was trying to identify it and finally gave me the thought that it was the skin rupturing as the sound came from where my shamisen is. I got scared. Then I replayed the sound in my head and thought "my dou is packed inside a paper bag with a plastic bag over it, tied together with a string and then stuffed inside a hard case, the sound had too much treble to be the sound of the skin rupturing.
Despite that, when I took it out today my pulse definately peaked for a short time hehe
Heheh, that’s a good story!
Btw, kudos to finally putting up a profile picture! It’s about time! (I was almost going to create a thread dedicated to this topic 
)
Haha your complaining has nagged me I think it was when I saw “233” posts or something that I felt that the John Doe picture wasn’t enough.
Now that the leaves have emerged on the trees I’m planning on taking a hike in the woods and taking some cool pictures with a little bit more natural lighting. I was planning on sending you one of those for the website that you’ve been asking for. BUT it’s been a mad week of heavy rain so you’ll need to hold out for a bit longer.
And damn, this thread is like an orgy in off topics
it so is :DDD
Yes!! This might be the first time for me that complaining has accomplished anything. It’s good you have a pic now. I suppose the only benefit of a faceless picture is the uncertain power you get from the being active yet remaining shadowy and mysterious.
Oops! Too late to go back!
Oh right! Definitely take your time to do it right. I’ve got pics from three people, so I’ll put out the message again to see if I can get a few more.
Ortjo?
Haha! Meh, I’ve always thought thread titles/subjects were overrated.
Haha ye i kinda already forgot that picture lol. Guess i need to start giving it more thought!