Hey everybody,
So as an update, it’s been a little over a year since I started playing shamisen, and that’s a strange thought indeed. My progress for a year, in my own opinion, is abysmal; I can’t even play Rokudan’s first section quite yet.
(As an aside, I decided to learn songs in order of their indexed difficulty, so that may have skewed how far along I am. I also cannot play ajigasawa jinku. Shame on me!)
However, things have happened, and my bachi now looks like this:
That’s the bachi from both sides. When I first got it, I played with the other side of the bachi, until it cracked, I broke the fractured piece off, and sanded it down. That worked fine for a while, until that whole section of the bachi snapped off. At that point I sanded the other side and now I play with that one. However, if that side breaks, I’m done for.
So now, knowing all that, I can get to the main point of this thread: What kind of bachi should I buy, plastic or wooden?
I can’t really foot the bill for a faux-bekkou bachi, as I’m still saving for a tsugaru shamisen, having only my nagauta shamisen. I understand that the characteristics of wooden bachi are supposed to make them harder to play with, but it’s all I’ve ever played with. Certainly the plastic bachi is cheaper, but I’d like some community feedback on that.
Thanks very much!
P.S. I am considering getting a new koma, since mine is a rather inferior quality one that came with my ebay-bought shamisen. I don’t know how to determine what counts as high string or skin tension. Is there any way for me to determine that so I don’t buy the wrong koma?
