Argh! It’s really early here in Japan. Sun is just starting to rise , when all of a sudden out of the blue I get hit with yet another idea. Sorry to say, it’s another Kyary Pamyu Pamyu idea. I don’t know why I have been on a roll recently learning and translating her songs to Shamisen. Somehow I love her songs! Very unusual for me since I usually hate Jpop.
Anyway it suddenly dawned on me… The piano part for this?
How hard/easy would it be to replicate this on koto?
Would it be asking too much to ask either of you to give it a shot?
Oh my GOD! How cool would that be? I would be willing to try to make a chord chart or write out some of the part in notation if that would help.
Do we even know if there will be a koto for sure at the chitoshan?
I have to organize downloaded clips sometime and am not aware of all of them and there are the clips of the pioneering heros in their own category sort of but this might turn out to be my second favorite shamisen clip . . . after kizuna of course . . . also in the sense of the second clip to show unfamiliar with shamisen or other than western music folks to ease them in to the world of shamisen or so . . . anyway I like it and the acting at the end is sort of a smash in the face of course after appreciating the romantic qualities of that cover version but of course on the other hand it is far out funny . . . awesome clip . . .
Haha, yeah the “Acting” at the end turned out a lot better in my head when I was imagining it while filming this. I think it came out looking a little too serious as I had originally intended it to be a kind of comic relief from the fact that I turned a bouncy dance/pop ditty into a somber love ballad instrumental. Sort of. At least that’s the way it sounds to me. Anyway thanks BH. Very honored to hear this might be your second favorite next to Kizuna .
The piano part for this? How hard/easy would it be to replicate this on koto?
Well, I can’t hear some of it clearly enough under the shamisen (and couldn’t find that particular original piano version online), but it doesn’t sound all that difficult. It may need two koto to replicate the piano range, tho’.
Would it be asking too much to ask either of you to give it a shot?
Um, yes. Seriously, tho’, at some other time maybe, but I don’t think I’d be able to get to it before I leave for Japan. 'cause I’m already booked to the gills. And although I shouldn’t speak for her, I imagine Mari has enough on her plate trying to fine-tune the four pieces she’s performing onstage and have them ready in time. But who knows, if she has enough alcohol + the jet lag when we’re in Tokyo, maybe the music will just f-l-o-w out of her fingers…(!) (Could there be a koto equivalent of “automatic writing”???)
Do we even know if there will be a koto for sure at the chitoshan?
I believe Evyn confirmed that she is coming, and with her koto. So there should be at least one. And if Katoh-san’s got any “pull” anywhere, maybe he can scrounge up another one or two(?).
Ah got it Linda! No worries! Yeah if Mari is up for improvising I am showing Anne a backing part for this tune. Might sound great with just some koto flurries coming in and out, that way it can be just improvised or “automatic writing” as you’ve said! Well we’ll see what the mood is like . Thanks though! Wow! Just a few more weeks!
Hey Kevin, you must be “channeling” pretty loudly.
I sat down to practise my concert stuff just now, and as I reached forward to touch the koto, suddenly the tuning for this just came to me, and once I had it, the whole piece fell into place. Nice work!
I don’t need any score now, thanks.
Evyn / Mari / fellow koto players, if you want to play along with Kevin’s version of Ponponpon, the tuning is C#-E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D#-E-F#-G#-A-B. And if you want to pluck along with the Ninjari ban ban instructional vid that he posted in a separate thread, the tuning for that one is Hanagumo-choushi (strings 4 & 9 and 6 & 11 all up one tone), ichi=C. Knock yourselves out!
Evyn, you’d certainly be able to play with everyone on Ninjari ban ban - check out Kevin’s instructional vid, you can do the “Kyoko-san” part, which is just repeatedly playing string one. (Or, if you want to be “adventurous”, you could play strings one and five together…). And we could have some real fun, with you sitting on the “wrong” side of the koto, plucking string one, and me sitting on the “right” side playing the melody. It may be a first - one koto, two players!
Seriously, tho’, at some other time maybe, but I don’t think I’d be able to get to it before I leave for Japan. 'cause I’m already booked to the gills. And although I shouldn’t speak for her, I imagine Mari has enough on her plate trying to fine-tune the four pieces she’s performing onstage and have them ready in time. But who knows, if she has enough alcohol + the jet lag when we’re in Tokyo, maybe the music will just f-l-o-w out of her fingers…(!) (Could there be a koto equivalent of “automatic writing”???)
(They’ve already done recordings in a plane and a bathtub, so it’s time for a new vehicle…).