Japanese Koto Music / Yume by Sawai Tadao

[ffgfgfgddfgdf]

nice to hear fulfilling and inspiring music. not any of the current over produced crap that is in modern society

[YTM021807]

@ffgfgfgddfgdf Totally agree with you! and fully agree with with the other koto fans!

[jnctf]

@ffgfgfgddfgdf Amen to that.

[MooseHunter911]

I listen to Koto when maintaining my Katana :D

[SpaceClouds134]

I love the koto. thank you for sharing.

[minutemaid123]

This is beautiful. Thank you for posting this video. What is the tuning of your koto for this piece?

[wolfstev76]

all I can say is WOW! The music could have taken me to a dream state but unfortunately the background noise killed it. Still, thank you so much.

[YTM021807]

@wolfstev76 Thank you for your respect, understanding and appreciation.

[arwen17evenstar]

I think it should be "yume" for dream right?

[glebkolobov]

Cool!

[Pinkspiderable]

Koto seems to tell a ancient story in it's sounds alone, so beautiful, even with the distractions, I was impressed. Arigatou gozaimasu!

[xxcreekqt17xx]

Guzheng has more then 21 strings and a koto usally has 15 sry about spelling

[SPS148669]

Sadly the "PIANO" is there new national Instrument.

[ElectricFriend]

So beautiful! Koto music is very special. The dedication of the musician is evident in the way she plays so well, and I am grateful for it.

[seasharpdeflat]

nice instrument, well played -

fire the camera operator!

[YTM021807]

Rude reply!! ;-(

I was the camera operator, producer, owner etc. ;-)

The camera is aging but still usable and with a tripod since June 2004 :-)

[YTM021807]

The world famous cellist Casals is called by nationalistic activists in the Catalan province in Spain "Pau Casals". In the rest of Spain it is named "Pablo Casals".

I call him "Pablo" because I dont care of local nationalistic movement in Spain.

"Guzheng" to me is a famous chinese Table Tennis coach and retired player: "Liu Guzheng".

"Koto" is this instrument we have in this video. Koto has an exquisite sound and is easily identified. Koto is the national instrument of Japan, Koto is Koto!

[foxxybrat]

what exactly is the difference between the Koto and the Guzheng, cuz as far as I'm concerned, if it originated in China, I'm gonna call it by its original name. UNLESS, the Japanese changed the instrument somehow...this is a genuine question, I'm not taking shots at the Japanese

[YTM021807]

It is more practical end exact to call this instrument "koto"

[foxxybrat]

why though? if it is in fact a chinese instrument? what makes calling it a "koto" more exact? i'd love to know

[nivsha]

The ancient zheng instrument of China made its way to Japan a long time ago. The characters for zheng and koto are almost the same, both means long plucked half-tube zither instrument. If you have to compare differences I guess its like comparing a folk steal guitar (zheng) VS a classical nylon guitar (koto). Koto is a very unique instrument. Enjoy always -- Vi An

[XplodedTB]

Guzheng has more strings than a Koto. The oldest has 5 strings, while the modern guzheng can range up to 15-25 strings. Mine has 21 strings. Koto has about 13 strings. Guzheng is about 2300 years old while koto is, like what the rest said 1000 years old. Hope it was good info for you!

And yes, the cellphone in the video is rude...:( Ruined the wonderful playing of the koto!

[YTM021807]

I dont think it "ruined" but had almost ruined the video had it gone too much!

The owner should have muted the telephone (it was not a cell phone, it was a normal house phone placed in a distant room.).

[MichiNoSainou]

@XplodedTB

Er, there is not only 13 string koto. 10, 12, 13,17, 21, and 25 string koto do exist. Many professional players use them as well!

[magicshadow370]

it seriously looks like a zither

just a plain old zither

[YTM021807]

the koto is the national instrument of Japan. It is not called a "zither" or "old zither".

[ckarenortiz]

IS IT REALLY 1000 YEARS OLD  ^_^

[54spiritedwill54]

Wow! This is very interesting! to hear!

[piratazz90]

さぁ、最高ですよ!本当に落ち着いた、この曲で!　携帯電話と咳はちょっと邪魔していましたけど、曲の美しさを汚損­するのが出来なかったですと思う．

素晴らしい

[mina8596]

Sounds very beautiful!

[BritChatthereturn]

Cell phones.. are you kidding me? disgustin.. Show some respect people seriously... you turn your phones off for crappy hollywood movies but for a piece of beautiful culture like this you leave them on? Get a clue.

[YTM021807]

I totally agree! It was criticized and is still today. It was the fault of the Yoga Center's owner. But the beauty and delicacy comes through. The noisy cough serves to demonstrate the politeness and courtesy of the Koto artist when she says with a gentle smile: "Are you all right now".

[Mazurka1001]

Agreed. Good point.

[xkirahatesyoux]

Man, people should turn their phones off, that's mad rude.

[YTM021807]

Totally agree. It happens once in a while.

For example: hear the "Egmont overture" of Beethoven which I posted and a "beep" sound is heard causing the conductor to make a slight "surprised gesture". Fortunately it did'nt reapeat!!

[Neosinya]

I just love the tune of that instrument. It's so calming. Just great!

[pumpkingoth]

i wish i had the $800 to buy the koto i want XD they are so beautiful and interesting... and besides that my dad and i sort of seem to collect traditional instruments lol... like i have an antique pan pipe (which i love to play) and some traditional drums (not sure where they are from though) and various others... i must add this one so that i can be in the playing of it lol

[MasterRyudo23]

O so cool what a wondeful instrument simply breath taking.

[RingoStarr4Ever]

Beautiful instrument! Oh and just for the information yume means dream, not jume. Haha. :D

[YTM021807]

I learned that in May 2007

thanks to "tokyokaminari" :-)

[mazrocon]

I'd love to get one, i'm trying to collect instruments and this would be a cool one to have and play :)

[2DaChoppa]

This is great, it only irritates me that people can't switch off their phone for a while, its disrespectful

[littlealibi]

Most distracting and random camera work ever. ;P

[YTM021807]

I bought the tripod 3 months later, sorry! ;-)

[mafurock33]

this video is great if you just close your eyes and just listen

[littlealibi]

Oh, I enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of koto. I was just commenting on how distracting the camera work was! :)

[bellagirl123456789]

Wow! This is very interesting! to hear! I have never heard this instrument before, so it was an interesting experience.

[osaka2004]

poor woman tries to play during coughs and cell phone rings lol very talented by the way

[YTM021807]

In this concert she sang too!

[askfordev]

how do you know it was a cell phone

[AoNinjaz]

Something that loud and obnoxious? It's not a school girl, so yeah, course it's a cell phone.

[YTM021807]

Or an "advanced" regular telephone with a annoying or crude *** ringtone *** (which should have been silenced *before* the concert !!!

At :43 she masterfully tried to speak in between the loud coughs.

[Momotaro88]

mh. Too many mistakes. It IS a most challenging piece, well all of Sawai Tadao´s are...but for public performance...mh...

[YTM021807]

Live events are prone to mistakes. Even the greatest masters make mistakes. No problem, the genius of the composer is revealed no matter what. For me it was the first and probably the last time I will hear a live and close koto music concert. And it was wonderful and highly rewarding!

[YTM021807]

At beginning: "Next piece is from the 20th century. It is called "Yume" or "dream" so you are welcomed to close your eyes and listen".

[nivsha]

She is a wonderful woman. How delightful and graceful. Thank you for this post.

[YTM021807]

Yes! I was surprised by the acceptance of this clip.

I may post in the future another from the same concert.

Thank you. This was the first and only time I heard the "koto" instrument. My first impression was "its very difficult or cumbersome to play". Afterwards the sweet and delicate sounds impressed me a lot. !A rare experience!

[tokyokaminari]

I cannot say that I know Yoshiko. I am assuming that you took the video in the US, right? I come from the east coast, and currently reside in Tokyo. I do not recall ever meeting her if she had been close to my location.

[YTM021807]

This recording was made in Puerto Rico. At a Yoga Center.

[tokyokaminari]

Great piece, however the title is "Yume" with a y. Thanks for posting it, I always love more koto vids.

ciao

[YTM021807]

Notice the gentleness and the way she responds to the cough of an spectator: With a smile while saying "Are you ok?".

Soothing sounds!