Pointy vs rounded corner bachi

General
#1

Hi,

I am now the proud owner of two bachi, a plastic one with pointy playing corners that can take your eye out and a wooden one with nice rounded corners that probably could only take your eye out if you used it to scoop like a spoon.

Personally, I like the rounded softness in tone of the rounded corner wooden variety for songs like sakura sakura. Generally I also quite like how easy the rounded corner variety is to use compared to the pointy corner variety. For kuroishi yosare bushi however I like the sharper tone that the pointy plastic one gives. So I have a couple of questions:

  1. Is the difference in tone I have noted actually a feature of shape? Or is it just the material? I do not have a rounded plastic and pointy wooden one to compare to.
  2. Does tsugaru style favor one shape of corner over the other?

Appreciate your thoughts,

Philip

#2

I think you need to show us exactly how rounded the wooden one is. Plastic will give more treble than wood, and a pointy edge will have less of a contact area when the bachi leaves the string and therefore the snap will be more distinct.

My previous bachi was more pointy then my current is and I notice how I am having a hard time playing very fast on the same string up and down. I’ve seen many tournament competitors use this style where they play very fast just going up down all the time along the whole neck but on the thin string. If you had a rounded bachi this would be much harder. So I would say it depends on what kind of techniques you will be using in your repertoire.

#3

I just received my faux-bekkou bachi from the bachido store. Thanks very much guys!

What a difference this bachi makes. Its just so much more responsive and tactile to use. This bachi is not as pointy as my pointy plastic bachi but nowhere near as ice-cream-spoon likeas my wooden bachi. I think it might just be a great middle ground.

My wife is grateful too because the extra flexibility makes for even better, skin-slapping percussion. Really echos around the house now!

#4

Here is a picture of my three degrees of pointiness:

Also, check out the quality of my wooden bachi. Brand new from a seller on Amazon and check out the complimentary crack. Well at least they glued it, kind of…really badly!

#5

I find playing up and down with a pointed bachi very difficult. The upstroke gives me a hard time as it wants to catch the point, then “twangs” off the string and throws my timing off. Been trying to practice that up down motion but isn’t going well. I try to turn the bachi more in the direction of a guitar pick to get a smooth up/down flick but not sure if that is correct.

#6

That crack sucks! I hope the faux one works out for you!

Keith, try reminding yourself about using your arm as much as possible instead of the wrist. You get a much more defined and linear movement that the possibility to get stuck with the bachi is decreased.

#7

Can you show a demonstration of the technique? Also I have a wooden bachi that looks just like Phil’s (no crack) and I love the way it sounds. It just feels more fluid.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott