Using the base of the bachi to pluck?

Playing/Techniques
1

Hi guys!

There’s something I’m not a 100% sure I understand. I think I’ve seen Kevin do this in some of his videos but here’s a video of what I’m talking about.

Around 3 minutes or so. He’ll start playing with what looks like the base of the bachi. I’m not too if that’s what it is but I’m wondering if anyone can confirm and if there’s a name for this technique? It has quite an interesting sound!

2

cool clip (by removing the s in https the clip gets embedded on the forum page)

3

Well. What i understand about that part of the song is that he can play a hell lot of faster when playing with the “end” of the bachi. Normal Bachizuke would be kind of too slow for that kind of strumming .Kevin has done some of that yeah :smiley: … Never tried it myself… :smiley: Maybe i should

4

Hey Calvin!

Excellent question! This would actually be a great question for the upcoming Bachido Schoolhouse! I’m gonna write it down now.

Short answer/guess, I don’t think that’s technically a “formal technique”, but rather shtick that Chikuzan created. I’ve never been very good at it, but it does add another bit of variety to the tone!

Personally, I find I can get a smooth strum like that by angling the bachi a certain way. But again, I’ll talk about that in the Schoolhouse, as it’d be great to explain on video! :slight_smile:

5

Thanks for the reply guys! :smiley:

Kyle, I’d love to see a video exploring that technique, it would be amazing! Thanks! :slight_smile:

6

I would think it’s just for show because proper Suri technique would be smooth and fast anyway.

7

Keith Moon, when asked how many drums he had in his kit, replied, “As many as I can hit!” though Keith Moon may not be the best role model for a instrumentalist.

There is good technique, and then there is the crazy experimentation that leads to something wonderful that ends up being called good technique after enough other people learn to do it.

8

I’ve seen Kineie Nami do the technique on her Nagauta shamisen. Look at the third clip in the video, in one part, she uses the base of her bachi to pluck the strings

9

Just composed a drill/lesson plan for this subject, Calvin! Tanoshinde ne! :slight_smile:

(By the way, I do believe it’s time you got a profile picture!)

10

Oh! Awesome Kyle! Looking forward to seeing it :slight_smile:

(And voilà, profile pic! First selfie I took in my entire life!)

11

There we go! Good show, sir! Now your profile is 100% complete! :slight_smile: