Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

airin wrote:

I've been having a bit of fun with a cheap trump (jaws harp) that I recently picked up on my wandering web travels.

Like the shakuhachi, it is a simple instrument that has been around for a long time.  And I suspect that, also like the shakuhachi, the trump's simple appearance may hide the complexity of music that can be created with the instrument.

I'm wondering how it would sound played along with a shakuhachi.

Your thoughts?

There's a Southeast Asian variant of the jaw(that'd be one jaw only) harp that is made of bamboo and sound really interesting; quite a bit more complex than the western variety, and they come in several sizes.

One type is called 'Kubing'; they are available at Lark In The Morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKFsQCA3Qq4


I've also seen a Chinese jaw harp with three metal blades, each pitched slightly differently (dunno the name of that one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8wKtlka … re=related)


I'm not sure what this guy's doing would meld with shakuhachi, but he certainly does get after it:

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDdG97Me … re=related

Last edited by edosan (2010-02-17 01:13:36)

kou xian videos

Nice, basic, "primitive":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs7qn1j11nI

Virtuoso "primitive"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsv2zvVo … re=related

Modern 7-leaf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br-0gYtT … re=related

Last edited by Chris Moran (2010-02-17 01:24:17)

Megus wrote:

I was absolutely sure that Nadishana's kou xian video will be posted

Nadishana is excellent. Thanks for pointing him out.

I used to be quite adept at playing those things when I was a kid.  My folks got me one when I was about 5 or 6, but my Granddad called it a Jew's Harp.  I imagine that is pretty unPC now.  I seen them in music stores called Snoopy Harps, as he plays one in some of the cartoons.  Its bouncing rythm always reminded me of walking and seems very similar to rythms I hear played on dirgiri doos.  Thanks for the blast from the past.