Shamisen in France ?

General
#1

Hi everyone ,

This is my first post on the bachido community , i should introduce myself , my name is Florian , i’m 25 , addicted to traditional Asian music , of course mainly Shamisen stuff but not only, i really love Erhu and Pipa and Koto etc… as well !
I’ve been playing guitar for 15 years , and played professionaly for a few years , now i’m learning guitar making to become a luthier.

Hope you don’t mind but my English skill is a bit low , don’t hesitate if i’m not clear enough i’ll try to be .

So, is there any other French people addicted to Shamisen around here ? I must say i feel very lonely when it comes to shamisen here , every musician and luthier that i talked about shamisen were like “hmm Shami what ? Ha it’s from Japan … well never heard of it” some luthiers even told me “i only make real instruments” It really feels annoying so i don’t talk to much about it , but i’ve recently started a blog about my learning in guitar making so i can talk about shamisen as well and try to spread my addiction to this instrument.

Tell me we are many many people in the country to love this kind of instrument and music :slight_smile: !!

Cheers

Flo

#2

oh I just saw one can expand the local network radius to 400 miles now that’s cool still maybe the browsing members and profiles options could be expanded in a couple of ways sometime . . . also I am lobbying for content rich profiles and one should at least be able to also call up an overview of all members for example . . .

anyway bonjour and welcome to the forum . . . “only real intruments” what a stupid remark . . . go on and become a cooler luthier than them . . . and of course please share your instruments making blog link if you like . . .

#3

hehe it seems we may be in competition flo ^^
ill have a workshop in my backyard, I’m living in england though so it shouldnt be a problem :slight_smile: hehe ill be starting up england shamisen meets here in the next couple months or so,

Would be nice to see yea there someday ^^

Really dont like that persons remark :confused: We’ll show them when shamisen becomes a widely known and popular instrument outside of japan, ^^

Its on its way really

#4

Thank you B H , well i hope i won’t become as narrow minded as the guy who told me he only made real instruments ! About the blog everything is in french but here is the url : http://florianlutherie.blogspot.fr/

Hi Cana ,
Well it is awesome news , i wish you all the best in your new workshop , there is no competition :wink: let’s not be as stupid as some people are , well in guitar making here everyone tries to keep his own little secret , but let’s be honnest we are only making copies of an instrument that has 400 years of history , there is nothing to keep secret and i wanna be part of a new generation of luthier that shares with each others , sounds a little bit childich i know but this is the way i think . :slight_smile:

Exactly Shamisen will become more popular , and i hope you can bring this instrument to many people in England as i will try to do in my area !

Will you only make Shamisen or you want to craft other instruments ?

#5

Hi Florian,

Nice to read that other French people are interested in playing shamisen. I am also French and started nagauta shamisen less than one year ago with a Japanese teacher in Paris.

I am happy to discuss with you and give you any relevant information you may wish.

Cheers

Frédéric

#6

Thank you B H , well i hope i won’t become as narrow minded as the guy who told me he only made real instruments ! About the blog everything is in french but here is the url : http://florianlutherie.blogspot.fr/

Hi Cana ,
Well it is awesome news , i wish you all the best in your new workshop , there is no competition :wink: let’s not be as stupid as some people are , well in guitar making here everyone tries to keep his own little secret , but let’s be honnest we are only making copies of an instrument that has 400 years of history , there is nothing to keep secret and i wanna be part of a new generation of luthier that shares with each others , sounds a little bit childich i know but this is the way i think . :slight_smile:

Exactly Shamisen will become more popular , and i hope you can bring this instrument to many people in England as i will try to do in my area !

Will you only make Shamisen or you want to craft other instruments ?

The reply i wanted to hear :slight_smile:
glad to hear, we will help eachother succeed then ^^

I have made 4 guitars in my time, and 2 flutes, 3 violins, and a banjo
i would prefer to stay only to shamisen though, it will be very nice to master.
I love your way of thinking ^^

I wish you the best aswell :slight_smile: I was thinking would it be a good idea to brush up on guitarmaking again? i’m 18 and not in college or anything and dont have any gcses as i’m from california, Would it be benefitial even if i already know how to make a guitar from scratch to have the paper’s / qualifications at the end of the year to show i can ?

#7

Hi Fred ,

This is so weird to speak English with another French guy :smiley:
Great to read that to you play Shamisen , did you play any other instrument before or was it your very first instrument ?

#8

@Cana :

Wow that’s a lot of instruments done considering your age ! Well done !
Well it depends , if you want to work with another luthier it might be helpfull i guess to have a diploma , but i don’t know how it works in your country , here most of the older luthier are self taught and never went to big lutherie school .
I work in a shop where the luthier converted his shop to a training center , and we are 5 students right now , the only thing i see is that i could have done everything myself at home , BUT to have someone that have 30 years of exeperience is helping me to win tons of time and money , what i’ll learn in a year would have probably took me 4 years in my garage with a book , trying some stuff , making a first guitar that would have be full of mistake , here i learn to make the mistake and to understand them so i won’t do it again , this is the thing i think is good about learning in school or with another luthier , for the most part anyone can teach himself .

After all we are all gathered here by a guy who one day thought he could make by himself a Shamisen , and look at his instruments now they are beautiful and well crafted ! :slight_smile:

#9

Very true :slight_smile:
and awwrs na it was nothing ^^
they all sold pretty decently save the last i gave away all of them bare the brand i gave them which is in luminesnt paint with a clear coat over it, so in a certain light you will see my markings :slight_smile: and the name i gave them, Other then that they have no symbols or anything ^^

Would love to learn undersomeone, my landlord for new house is letting me have access to all his tools as hes a carpenter (who loves the newest tools and always upgrades)
but a school would be nice ^^

You make a good point, i would like to find some guidance somewhere down the line ^^ hopefully ill find someone. Even if its just over skype itll help loads.

#10

Florian, salut du Canada! Bienvenu à Bachido. Yes, over the years, I’ve heard a number of French people say how difficult it is to find other French speakers with whom they can enjoy shamisen/koto/other Japanese music.

There is one French guy who started his own French-language Japanese music website just because of that problem. :slight_smile: Do you use Facebook by any chance? He uses the name Nicolas Gakuso and has a fairly active page there - Redirecting.... His French-language website is gakuso.xooit.fr (gaku-sō :: Le Forum des Musiques Traditionnelles du Japon), but I don’t think he’s kept it up as much as his FB page.

Anyway, you might want to contact him, because he’s made a lot of contacts in the Japanese music and world music area in general.

Bonne chance!

#11

Bonjour Linda et merci !
I know Nicolas and his website but yes he’s updating his facebook page more than the forum. I tried the forum lejapon.org but wasn’t very successfull as well. Anyway it shows how Shamisen and Asian music in general is a sub cultural thing in my country , hope it will change someday :slight_smile: !

#12

Florian,

Sorry to jump in here so late, but I just took the time to read through this thread~

Although I am not french, I did eat a croissant once!
J/k
Actually I am from Canada and was raised with quite a bit of french in my life. Additionally, My grandmother is from France (^-^)

Glad to hear that you are so into Shamisen!!

At the very least, I hope that we can see you on the forum regularly, and I look forward to seeing how far you spread your addiction (^_-)

#13

Hi Norm , so how was the croissant ? :smiley: (i admit i don’t like it)
Ha so you can speak French a bit or not ?

Well yes i’m really into Shamisen , even more than i’m into guitars , i don’t watch at my guitars the way i did 10 years ago , but every time i ear Shamisen i feel like when i was child !
I will spend time on the forum now , i see some very interesting topics , and as Kyle recommended i will make a new post when i’ll be working on my very first shamisen !

#14

i wish you all the best in your new workshop , there is no competition :wink: let’s not be as stupid as some people are , well in guitar making here everyone tries to keep his own little secret ,

The same thing is true in the shamisen world. (I probably already said this in a previous post) According to Taichi san, Japanese shamisen makers recently started a yearly convention for makers to get together and share the skills they know, in order to keep the art alive. Some makers choose not to participate because they aren’t willing to share their “secrets.” Anywho, a majority of makers are opening up, which is a good thing. Who knows, perhaps gaijin luthiers may be welcome to attend at some point. :slight_smile:

Although I am not french, I did eat a croissant once!
J/k

I lol’d for real. :wink:

I played War (the slapping card game) with a french couple at a B&B next to the Great Wall. (No joke!) So the only French blood I have is what was soaked in my bloody, bruised hand after that game. :wink:

i will make a new post when i’ll be working on my very first shamisen !

Yay!!! :smiley: Hey, I’d love to add it on the blogcast if you feel like it making a video progess report. :slight_smile:

#15

Really ? You can’t even imagine how happy i am to see that shamisen makers are sharing to evolve and keep the art alive as you said, if you go to a guitar making or violin making convention … ho gosh it’s so much about showing off, there is some who shares , but it’s just a few of them . Don’t mention it , it would be a dream to go to Japan to share experiences with shamisen makers but i think i wouldn’t be enough confident to participate to such a gathering , who knows maybe in ten years , that means i have ten years to get great skill in making and i have to learn Japanese .

Again , really ?! I was thinking about filming the progress in the making , but now i have some pressure , i have to film it the good way and to make it the good way if you share it on the blogcast !
I’ll have to wash my dog Duke so he can look good on the camera :smiley: !

#16

about showing off, there is some who shares , but it’s just a few of them .

Well, I’m sure the urge to keep the tradition alive encourages them (shamisen makers) to share their knowledge, but I’m sure there’s plenty of showing off being done. :wink: I’m not sure if Gaijin are able to attend, but I bet some strings can be pulled, when the appropriate time comes. :slight_smile: Being simply a beginner (compared to the people who’ve been doing it for at least 10 years), I wouldn’t want to participate, but just observing it all would be a truly awesome experience.

Again , really ?! I was thinking about filming the progress in the making , but now i have some pressure , i have to film it the good way and to make it the good way if you share it on the blogcast !

Yay!!! :smiley: Nothing like a little healthy pressure! :slight_smile: I’m sure Duke smells better than I. :wink:

#17

^.^ very good news :slight_smile:
would be awesome to oneday attend one of these meets ^.^

Maybe if were all theyre at the same time we could have a bachido booth to show off our awesome gaijin(ness)

#18

Well you’re right , there must be some showing off but the most important is the fact that they want to keep this art alive , we need to keep the “made by hand” work alive , even my lutherie teacher does not agree with it and want to be just like a Gibson or Martin guitar Factory … anyway yes , i’de love to see it with my eyes but to participate … let’s talk about this again in 10/15 years :smiley: !

But about gathering some traditional luthier , i’ve heard about this StackPath
Something like 135 luthiers gathering to share their instruments , seems interesting , luthiers are coming all over Europe .

I’m not sur about my dog’s smell but he’s nice , it’ll be the “cuteness warning time” in the video !

It would be really nice if Kyle could go into a world tour and so we could do Bachido gathering everywhere , i was thinking about the dark side of the moon because it is summer and i can’t stand the heat , just sayin’… :smiley:

#19

we need to keep the “made by hand” work aliv

You mean truly hand made (chisels, etc) or power tools vs. C&C? According to Isono san, most shamisen makers use power tools (saws, sanders, routers) to make a majority of shamisen, while still using blades for very fine work (like the square hole, kakuana, in the dou).

It’s definitely hard to maintain a completely homespun approach to lutherie. Truly, hand making an instrument is very meditative and gratifying experience, but power tools are so enticing, as you can make more faster, allowing one to make an acceptable living at their craft.

let’s talk about this again in 10/15 years :smiley: !

Use Rosetta Stone Japanese and we’ll talk about it again in 3 years or earlier! :smiley:

Whooaaa!!! That Potpourri of an instrument in the poster for SALON DE LUTHERIE is wild! Do you think it’s real or photoshopped? It sounds like a really cool event.

It would be really nice if Kyle could go into a world tour and so we could do Bachido gathering everywhere , i was thinking about the dark side of the moon because it is summer and i can’t stand the heat , just sayin’… :smiley:

If expenses are covered, I’m totally down to do so! :smiley: It’ll be inspiring to see how Norm’s Bachido gathering works out. I’m sure many great ideas will emerge.

#20

^.^ i would love an antique fretsaw… i think it would be awesome for shamisenmaking
an old peddle one :slight_smile:

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