Let's talk about string breaking!

Building/Repair
#41

Interesting addition to this section (in case anyone has had this issue)

So in the past week or so, my ichi-no-ito has been causing a buzzing noise whenever I hit notes between the 2 and 6 position.

Now, usually when this happens (with the ichi no ito) it is safe to assume that the sao is wearing down and it might be time for a sanding.
I took it in to my local shamisen super shop, where they took a look and made the same assumption.

However, they did something I was too lazy to do.
They took off my ichi no ito and tossed on a new one just to test it out.
And just like that… problem solved thanks to a new 1,000 yen ichi no ito!

As I had been using the original ichi no ito for over a year, it was slightly misshaped and was causing the odd buzzing~

add-on

Any shamisen player will tell you that new strings just sound great!
(but are somewhat of a pain in the [X] to keep in tune…)

I have always been aware of this point, and have always enjoyed the sound of a fresh new set of strings!

However… I am… well, for lack of a better word, “lazy”
and came to the realization that outside of breaking my ni no ito, I had not done a string overhaul in nearly a year!! (and amazingly my san no ito is still in tact… and that being said, it wasn’t for a lack of trying either lol)

So now with my new ichi no ito, I decided to replace all 3 strings.
(but with a performance coming up, decided to go tetoron for the ni no ito this time lol)

And… I feel like I just got a new shamisen!

Moral(s) of the story:

  1. New strings make things sound pretty!
  2. Norm is in a talkative (typative?) mood today~
#42

I’ve only managed to keep my ichi no ito for over 6 months. All the others break fairly frequently.

#43

No, I was totally unprepared for it. Fortunately, it was only a few measures in, and Toshi-sensei patched it up really quickly for me, there was enough string left to retie it.
The good news is that I did better after we restarted, which isn’t saying a whole lot, but hey. :stuck_out_tongue:
I didn’t change the strings beforehand, because I didn’t think about it, and it was only one song, which seemed safe to me, I guess.

#44

As I had been using the original ichi no ito for over a year, it was slightly misshaped and was causing the odd buzzing~

Interesting! Whodda thunk that would’ve been the problem? :stuck_out_tongue: Odd though, how could it be misshaped when taut?

Awesome though, probably saved at least 6000 yen :wink:

I really enjoy the fresh sound of new strings, but am too thrifty to change them for the delightful sound until they break. :stuck_out_tongue: But that’s true, changing strings and changing koma makes it feel like a new instrument!

Did you notice a big tonal difference when changing from silk to tetoron ni no ito?

The sound of my ichi no ito and san no ito are very clean, but for some reason, the ni no ito just sounds… flat. :-S (like an old carbonated beverage ) I realized that it was silk, so I switched to tetoron. It sounded a bit sharper, but still a little subpar. :-S Perhaps it’s my koma. The koma saddle is homemade and the base is from an old tsugaru bekkou koma.

I support talking. Ramble on! :slight_smile:

#45

Playing Tsugaru jinku in the key of E after a week in the studio with Masahiro Nitta =Broken Ichi No Ito!
Just happened at the recent bachido gathering
Fortunately I had an extra in my case.

#46

Key of E!!! :open_mouth: Yowzer! I doubt my homemade itomaki could handle the strain. :wink:

Hey, perhaps the Nitta family should play Jinku Bushi to replace the botched Greensleeves!

#47

So this morning I sit down in front of my pc as I start to compile the video for the gathering, and I am playing shamisen as I wait for the 23 Gb of video to convert, and…

ANOTHER NI NO ITO BREAKS~

lol and the real kick on this was is it was tetron, and not even a month old lol

Now in all fairness, this ni no ito has survived a week consisting of roughly 20-25 hours of practice, a dress rehearsal for a performance, the performance, and god knows how many hours of playing at the gathering

Plus about 8-10 hours of playing after the gathering

but still about 3 weeks in total for this string…so much for “tetron strings last forever!” lol

#48

added point…
with 4 ni no ito now taking a dirt nap, i find it amazing that I have yet to break a san no ito lol

#49

I think that loosening the strings after every playing session would cause the strings to break even faster,since it will be stretched everytime.

I did this to my sanshin strings,the previous owner was using the same strings for 1.5 years :open_mouth:

#50

Broke my own record ladies and gents!!
Practicing for the Rokudan (ichidan) challenge, I broke a brand new ni-no-ito in 3 days flat!! lol needless to say im going back from silk to Tetron…

I can no longer keep track of the number of ni-no-ito I have killed.

Ichi no ito are starting to add up as well (>_

#51

So where do they snap? I’ve used the same ichi no ito since last november… It must be your koma or your bachi. Or maybe my bachi strikes aren’t badass enough.

#52

Unfortunately its just normal wear from playing.

they never snap near the koma, and I originally thought it might be my bachi, but after getting the bachi checked, they said its in smooth-and-beautiful condition lol.

It could also be the fact that I put in uncountable hours a week into the exact same song, and aim to hit the bachi in the exact same position, while not sacrificing volume or kick…

I can’t use silk ni-no-ito anymore (-_-) they are officially out as an option lol. And because the ichi no ito is silk, it is bound to come to its demise at some point or another lol.

#53

On the topic of strings…why are they always yellow?

#54

On the topic of strings…why are they always yellow?

Hello, Tegan!
They used to mix egg yolk with silk for the purpose of make it sound sweet. And also a kind of yellow ginger called UKON was mixed to avoid moth. The color is the relic of such custom.

#55

Cool to know :slight_smile:

#56

Thanks! That cured my curiousity : ) I feel Like I’m learning something new on this forum everyday, it’s great!

#57

My pleasure!!! I am always happy to see you interested in the Japanese culture. (^o^)

#58

cool to know yeah thanks Kyoko . . .

#59

Oh Norm! :wink:

The irony is that for nagauta pieces, the ni no ito is played as much as possible to maintain the already-short life of the silk san no ito. Likewise, you might have to start playing more on the ichi no ito to maintain the life of the ni no ito. :wink:

Btw, what kind of ichi no ito do you have that runs at 1000 yen a pop? Is it a special brand?

Very interesting, Kyoko! :slight_smile:

#60

The irony is that for nagauta pieces, the ni no ito is played as much as possible to maintain the already-short life of the silk san no ito. Likewise, you might have to start playing more on the ichi no ito to maintain the life of the ni no ito. :wink:

I doubt if this is true, Kyle. I am sure that playing the ni no ito in the range of the san no ito is for the sound. The same pitches are played on san no ito as much if not more (it’s up to the composer). Shamisen = ‘three flavor strings’, right? It is true that the thinner gauge of the nagauta strings makes them more liable to breaking, and also the kinds of wear that could affect the sound. So nagauta players replace all three before a concert, and usually replace san no ito before each piece! Price is no object, as they say. A player doing a heavy duty ozatsuma interlude will often unreel the third string to get a fresh area under the bachi and koma, sitting right there on the stage. (There are times when the second shamisen player takes the lead temporarily.) Some of my friends recycle used strings, unraveling them and respinning the fibers to use for knitting or something.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott