Level 6 shamisen sound.

Store/Sales
1

Hi Team

I’m looking to purchase a shamisen before the year is out, probably the Level 5 shitan or the Level 6 kouki.

Is there any audio or video demonstrating the sound quality of the kouki shamisen? I’ve had a look around and can’t really find anything other than Nitta-san talking about its features.

Thanks

David

2

Hi David!

Shweet! Might as well go for the gold, as they say! :slight_smile:

Nitta san was a little uncertain about having an audio sample for kouki shamisen, as he said the audio quality will vary depending on the skin, and so couldn’t get a good representation.

The best audio example would be the shitan shamisen, because shitan shamisen and kouki shamisen both have karin dou. So it will sound quite similar to that.

I wanted to record it last year in Sapporo, but the only two kouki shamisen available was Nitta san’s (who’s shamisen has a larger-than-normal dou, and so will sound differently) and Kevin’s kouki shamisen, who’s skin is about two years old (and so will sound a bit duller than a shamisen with fresh skin), and so couldn’t get a good representation either. Doh!

Bachido member Chet bought a brand new shitan shamisen from the Bachido Store. I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you how he likes it. :slight_smile:

For a legit kouki shamisen, I would recommend getting a chuko (preowned) shamisen. As I’ve often said, shamisen are very expensive when brand new like a car, but once ‘driven off the lot’, becomes much cheaper. You can get a phenomenal shamisen for a fraction of it’s original price. And with fresh skin, it sounds just as good as a brand new shamisen. (because again, the skin affects the audio quality the most)

The K-02 shamisen is already called for, but the K-04 is really nice. Feel free to message me your budget, and I can pass it on to Nitta san. He would be able to find you other kouki shamisen to fit your budget.

Cheers!
Kyle

3

Thanks Kyle.

The K-04 looks pretty nice, especially what I can see of the doukake! That will probably be what I go for if it is still available when I’m ready to purchase.

4

Awesome! Sounds good. :slight_smile: Yeah, the doukake is pretty sweet (not to mention the elegant white itomaki!)

5

I do like the white itomaki. I’ve been looking at various doukake and itomaki on Bachido and Japanese online shops. I think there’s going to be a very expensive slippery slope into shamisen fashion accessories!

6

Oh yes, it can be hard on the wallet. :wink: Thanks to chuko though (for accessories as well), it can sure help us out!