Tsugaru Shamisen 'n Tuvan Throat Singing

[MichelleJeananne]

Groovy. You guys are awesome.

[MrCrazytater]

What are those instruments called? I must own one!

[fiddlefella]

@MrCrazytater It's called a shamisen. Learn all about it at bachido.com! :-) It has all you need to start playing one today!

[benhd1]

that was amazing where did you learn to throat sing like that?

[fiddlefella]

@benhd1

Thanks!

Do a google search for "khoomei crash course". That will help you learn. :-)

[Nereidhar]

Woah, quite a strange association! But the result was really good. I love shamisen sound. I'd like to learn it too, but maybe I'm too old :P

[HitokaBLU]

I love the sound of the shamisen- such nice playing

I've always wanted to learn lol

[mietinmiksin22]

Someone trying something different! Yeah!  Talented, creative and beautiful!!!

[bkj13]

lmao ur face at 0:55 was hilarious, but this entire video was freakin amazing, definite fav, how long did it take u to learn how to throat sing?

[fiddlefella]

@bkj13

Haha! Thanks. ;-)

Well, at that point, I probably had been doing it . . . 6 months? I've been doing it for 4+ years now, so there's a noticable difference in quality, if I may be so humble. ;-)

[Sareph1000]

so cool

[namffocevets]

lol .you sound like your constipated.sorry i had to say that.but this is f***n awesome

[arcticeagle]

they're way too scrawny for judo, fool

[vanillabeanbean]

where are you Are the least bit japanese? my friends and I play good shamisan... :P

[xpeterdudex]

amazing!

[kalevraa]

well done!

[willy1986tralara]

ole!

que bonito

[TerrorBlack]

Somehow I get the feeling you were inspired by Estradasphere.

[fiddlefella]

Actually . . . I wasn't! ;-) (I've only seen one song of theirs on youtube) But I think I heard somebody say that one of the members of Estradasphere throat sings.

[TerrorBlack]

Yeah. And they have a violin player. And a shamisen player...

[kimiyoshiruyaminami]

I have seen Kyle and Kevin playing Yoshida brothers together ina video from Japan fair. (Kevin from Estradasphere) so I know Kyle at least knows them.

[cougher989]

lol the way they're sitting reminds me of lieutenant dan.... LIEUTENANT DAN!

[LaMOi1]

sounds like someone just kicked him in the nuts.... nice

[LiveFoRetsinim]

awesome!

[oskew11]

actually, otacon144 is correct.. =\. the shamisen on the left is a nagauta shamisen it looks like. which, yes, shouldn't be played like a tsugaru shamisen is played because of it's thinner skin.. but still an amazing sound he's getting out of it! Nice video =]

[hcarducci]

ビデオありがとう。

[distortedmozart]

thats awesome

[cintulator]

Well, a real music freak! Congratulations. You seem to really love the string instruments. Try kantele, if you want.

Such a talent for a such young person.. I am really impressed!

[annyonghaseyo90]

that kid is playing tsugaru shamisen music on a nagauta. this is insolence

[fiddlefella]

Hey, ya gotta work with whatcha got! ;-) (considering those were the only two shamisens we had at the time)

[crazylamprey]

What does that mean?

[Otacon144]

Wrong style of shamisen for the music he's playing.

Tsugaru-jamisen music is very percussive and loud. The player sometimes slams the bachi (plectrum) onto the strings with as much strength as they can muster, so the instrument has to be able to take a few hits; the neck, strings, and body are thicker, stronger, etc.

[ninjaosb]

you are awsome, i love it...

where do you learn to play like this?

can i get your email??? T.T

... ... i'm on my bros account... hehehe well

c u... u two are so talented...

[TheVigil7]

you guys are some seriously talented musicians

[fiddlefella]

Very droll. Just come up with that now, did you?

You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that.

[GoldDronzer]

You got him alright.

[gabrielgarcia91]

this video is great, so what do I type in if I want to listen to more music like this, cause it's pretty cool

[taka0h]

nice sound!

I think shaku-hachi will be better with tugaru-shamisen.

[annyonghaseyo90]

no shinobue is better than shakuhachi ;)

[DaedalEVE]

Throat singing is very cool. The high pitch you can reach is just amazing. Wish I knew how to do it.

[kimyasalali]

why did u play violin? u must play kobyz.

[fiddlefella]

Well, we would if we had one! ;-)

Violin was the closest thing we had to an igil or kobyz.

[Elaneban]

AMAZING! Its great the way you adapted! :) You guys obviously can do anything!

[turkirkcisi]

We Turkish people,all know that we are Hunnic. Being Hunnic is honour for us. Tengri Turk'u koldosun. Esen bolsun.

[turkirkcisi]

Tuvans are Turkic.

[AwkwardCoque]

THANK U hahah someone gets it the Turks come from all those hunic and mongolian descents

[godfather01111]

I would love to learn how to do that, If anyone can teach me or knows where to learn it please let me know

[imadumbassmozart]

I want to call the second song "Mongolian Freebird" for some reason. Great job.

[exigentrevolution]

Wow.......

that's a crazy thing to want to do.

Like..of all music you could play you chose shamisen and throat singing...

hahaha awesome though. you guys are definitely cool.

[ArielMig]

COOL BRO !!!!

AWESOME

[pisisamio7]

Wow, great job guys. I've heard this song before, what is it?

[azukimai]

how the....

where the...

you are both amazing!

I'm Japanese and was learning how to play the shamisen.

where did you two learn? how long?

Wow!

[fiddlefella]

Why, thank you!

Congratulations learning the shamisen! It's fun, ain't it?

We mostly self taught ourselves shamisen. I took a few lessons with Kevin Kmetz for a while which helped in learning bachi technique. We've been doing it 4 years, more or less.

[gendou2]

the combination of throat singing, violin, and shamisen is a mix i'd never dream of. brilliant.

[tommacfie]

Great playing guys! Are these pieces Chinese/ Mongolian in origin? Or further North? I love "twanging" quality a lot of oriental instruments have.

Nice one!

[Siveab]

awesome!

I don't understand why you think that it is amazing, wonderful or great...

melody was out of tune, and that throat sing it's not big deal...

[fiddlefella]

Well, if you can do better than us, we'd would love to hear! Please put up a shamisen+throat singing video! :-)

[liosama]

dont worry he doesnt know anything that was great

[GremlinMayer]

quite amazing! you two are very achieved young men! keep up the good work!

[bambolaq1111]

Great tune!

[Bancaer]

That is great, amazing harmonics!

[dmarker21]

Good job guys.

[Metzgerr]

good job, thumbs up

[omidbahadori]

Very very very nice! Thanke you for tihs wonderfull sounds.

Omid

[papatooth1]

right the fuck on supa dupa props

[MnemicFan]

Do those things have frets? I wonder what the tune em to.

[Tomrish]

stormy applauses...good job

[Yakshinian]

Yay! That was wonderful! I want to listen to that for hours!

[ryunoa]

I truelly agree with pranhu....God almighty those kids are the bomb!!!!..by the way I'm asian too...and I say they rock!!!!

[pranhu]

im an asian .. i think many asian kids .. need to look at this .. i felt like i got slap in the face when finised watching this video. there are many asian kids that look down upon thier own cultures as if it s inferior then western cultures .. i think .. those asian kids that listen to love asian pop music (wacky) .. need to listen to something like this.

[smokebombhill]

Cool.

[TonyNhollywood]

THATS AMAZING! I love the shamisen and hoep to learn it one day. Where did you guys learn?

[TimTimmenycharoo]

id like to be their freind

[dudelikeok]

holyyyy shiiiiit

[annyonghaseyo90]

where did you learn to play shamisen? ignore the other question. would you say ebay tsugaru shamisens would be good? they are quite cheap. do you speak japanese? how can you understand japanese music books?

[fiddlefella]

I semi-self taught myself with the help of a few months of lessons with Kevin Kmetz (you know, for fine points & repertoire).

I've never bought a shamisen from ebay (well, I never bought a shamisen period) but I assume they are decent. For the price, I'd say it's worth getting.

eh, choto hanashimasu.

Well, the notation is pretty easy to figure out even if you can't read japanese. I recently learned hiragana 'cause I wanted to understand the lyrics in some of the shamisen songs. Easy stuff.

[azmhyr]

Is it easy to play the shamisen?

[fiddlefella]

Well, like any stringed instrument, it's a little challenging at first, especially to control the bachi fluidly but once you get "settled in" and coordinated, it's really easy. (after that, it's just a matter of learning the songs!)

[annyonghaseyo90]

where did you buy your shamisen? i really have wanted to play all my life

[RoadRunnerLaser]

Well done to you both and that throat-singing is among the best I've heard from a 'Westerner'. You have good timing between you - I watched this in 'free-focus' where I superimposed you both in the same spacial frame to compare your timing.

[samuraiaku24]

is the guy on the left also playing tsugaru it doesnt look like one to me

[canscanscans]

shamisen

[fiddlefella]

No, it's a nagauta shamisen. We only had one Tsugaru shamisen but I managed to call dibs on it. ;-)

[canscanscans]

i have no idea how you can sit seiza for that long.

[GoldDronzer]

Dude, i can sit like that for HOURS.

Training is all i say.

[fiddlefella]

Absolutely. For me, it's the most comfortable sitting position. (Though it helps that 90% of my time sitting is on the floor. )

Same for you?

[GoldDronzer]

Yes, but not the floor part.

[redred25sun]

nice

[khemchik]

Waau! Never thought about it, good idea, thank you!

Are you interested to come to Tuva for the International Simposium on throat singing in August next year? people should see it. chetyrdym

[fiddlefella]

Thanks!

Ah, I've heard of that. It sounds really intriguing. However, from here, it's a little far to walk. ;-)

[EdmundWelles1]

Excellent!

[Ermengarde11]

Are they playing shamisen or koto?

[fiddlefella]

Shamisen.

Koto is the 6 foot thin box with 12+ strings. (or as I call it, "The piano of the Japanese")

[KanuToCL]

kudos to both u guys.. very nice

[prizmamrg]

TürkiyeTürk'ü arkadaşlarım kardeşlerim,hepimizTuranDiyarı­ndan bir msn arkadaşa ulaşalım tanış olalım birlik olalım. Mektup yazalım.Çocuğu olanlarımızın çocukları yazışsın.Gidelim,gelsin kaynaşalım.HEPİMİZ YAPALIM ÇOK OLALIM!derdimizi anlatalım haydiTURANDİYARINDAN bir arkadaş edinelim. Biz yapmazsak kimse yapmayacak..

[erpolkan]

harikasınız gençler

[spettro9]

I have a recording of the first song you did, but Huun Huur Tu and Angelite,

really cool,

is that where you got it from too?

[fiddlefella]

Yeah. I got it from there too. I heard it on The Orphan's Lament, Live 2, Fly Fly My Sadness and Deep in the Heart of Tuva. It sounds really good with Angelite.

Funny, I've never heard anybody else do it professionally but Huun Huur Tu / Angelite

[Bakuninite]

right on man, I taught myself to do a simple throat sing, nowhere near this good, and my Tuvan is pretty non-existant. This is excellent.

[maimoua]

dang u guys pretty good

[laTotomate]

Yeah boys !!!

It's the steppes' blues !!!!!

[ashypantz]

nice

[xfireworksxx]

very cool!!!

[GrandTeutonica]

My friend here and I was wondering if your serious about making a tsugaru shamisen,and if so price you we'd be willing to purchase some :)

[fiddlefella]

Hmm. . . Well, I guess I'm half serious. This new shamisen I'm making has taken 7+ months to make and I am finally done. It's gonna be a while before I want to make another shamisen for myself. I guess the lowest price I'd offer would be $2000.

[fiddlefella]

As you can imagine, $2000 sounds steep and I agree. You can even get a better quality shamisen for half as much from a professional maker. Why I have to charge so much is, 1( I'm not rigged up with professional tools and templates so it takes longer for me to make one shamisen. 2( If I make another shamisen so soon, I'm probably gonna get sick of shamisens all together so I have to make it worth my while. ;-)

[fiddlefella]

So, in short, I'm flattered you'd be willing to purchase some but with the other projects in the hopper (igil, banjo, koto, guitar, mandolin, etc.), I need a lot of financial encouragement. ;-) (and then I'd feel guilty about charging so much!)

[leem0401]

Oh, and what kind of shamisens do Yoshida Brothers play?

I want to get the kind they play.

Thanks.

[fiddlefella]

The Yoshida Brothers play Tsugaru Shamisens. The biggest of the shamisens. That's the kind you want.

[leem0401]

Where did you get a shamisen?!

I want one but do not know where to purchase them...

Please help me out!

[fiddlefella]

Well, I actually made my own so I guess if the price was high enough, I could make you one. ;-)

However, there are better alternatives. One great place is Chordscanada. c o m. They sell Shamisens.

Also, Kenji Katoh (a proffesional shamisen maker) at shamisen-katoh. c o m sells shamisens.

I'd recommend going to ChordsCanada 'cause shipping would be a lot cheaper than ordering one from Japan.

[GrandTeutonica]

what I ment to ask was I thought the tsugaru shamisen your playing was the 2nd one.

[fiddlefella]

oh yes. No, it's the first.

[GrandTeutonica]

wait Im confused so thats not your newer tsugaru shamisen???

[fiddlefella]

No, the white one is my Tsugaru Shamisen. The other shamisen is one we are borrowing from a friend.

I'm currently making the 2nd shamisen and am almost done with it (just gotta stretch the skin and make the itomaki and sawari and I'll be done!). When it's completed, I'll post a video of it.

[CountUlrok]

cool

i am training on tuvan singing for 3 or 4 days (i am a newb but i do pretty well for 4 days practice:] not as good as you but someday i will )

[kppkkppk1]

Haa. who sez white boy can't play shamisen. ... or Khoomei or whatever that Tuvan thing was.

Great guys.. great. Now I have to go and find out what's different about a Tsugaru shamisen. My mother in law has a catskin shamisen. I have an Okinawan snakeskin Sanshin. But I obviously don't practice as much as you guys do.

You rock!

[kaliyarivet]

You seem to have reached far into ethnomusicology and absorbed some very interesting musical styles. You guys definately have my respect. More videos, please.

[newbrazenasianpride]

your brother is not using a tsugaru shamisen?! a hosozao shamisen should not be used to play tsugaru shamisen music.

[fiddlefella]

I agree. You really do need a Tsugaru shamisen to play decent Tsugaru music. However, we currently only have one Tsugaru shamisen so we just had to make do with using the hosozao shamisen.

We'd be both using Tsugaru shamisens if we had two of them, I can guarantee that!

[oddmusic]

Nice synchronized doshpuluur playing... love the "igil-olin" and singing too, very cool !

[keranix]

really great! i wanna learn tuvan singing!

[AOEGuy]

you guys were amazing! i hope to get a tsugaru shamisen someday, but alas i'm a poor college student. and they cost over a grand. then again they might be cheaper elsewhere. i mean, i looked up how okinawan shamisens are relatively less expensive. but i want a tsugaru. ^_^

[emma8a]

respect!

[patatatop]

good job,,, but too occidental,,hope its accidental

[kaliyarivet]

Wow you guys really good!

[DragonWorshipper]

Finally somebody who did some homework!!!

[NuclearLullaby]

Dude ! Could you please teach me how to sing like that I am begging you! I play mostly East Indian style music mixed in with some Industrial, But I am always looking to do something different,& I have always loved that "Khömeî" singing style. Well...Good job!!

[DragonWorshipper]

If you want to learn khoomei, my last vids show some of it. It´s quite a good starter. Like these guys, I´ve practiced before posting something |-)

[mrobviously]

beautiful work guy's.love seeing people enjoy another cultures music and take it to others

[Kagura785]

Hideaki-san, where on earth did you 'technically' get your animal skin for the kawa desune? Don't tell me you went to the animal shelter and...? (*sweat drops*)

Anyway, as for the shamisen performance, one phrase:

"Anata wa Tsu-yoi!"

-Kagura Hime

[puavpheej]

you guys did a great job!