(clicky) Quiet Storm (album download) (clicky)

Here’s part 3 of the track walkthrough for my new album Quiet Storm.  Enjoy, download the album if you haven’t heard it (at the link above or the one at the foot of the page) and find parts 1 & 2 of the track walkthrough too, if you haven’t read those.

12. Rain (Interlude)

This was nothing more than a simple segue between “Quiet Storm”, and the literal idea of a storm, and the next track, “Jump Off (Part II)” which has a very dark, sad feel.  I thought that the rain was effective, atmospheric, and also reminds me of the interludes on Janet Jackson’s janet. album where there would be short, simple interludes of rain and wind which would keep the mood flowing.

13.  Jump Off (Part II)

This song is another of my favourite songs on the album, and is one of the more personal tracks also.  Lyrically, it discusses feeling like even when you fall for people, they can tell you the nicest things but by next week, you’re old news and they’re onto the next.  It’s about feeling used, even if you were down for it at the time, but realising that just because someone tells you that you’re beautiful or that they love you, doesn’t mean they mean it.  So in the song, I’m wondering whether even in all my dalliances over the past couple of years, I’ve let my heart get hurt all the time when it was just about sex and I should have just focused on the fun.  Musically, I like the combination of the deep beats and the music box / piano over the top, which gives it a combination of darkness and fragility.  Originally, the song was going to be a straightforward R&B ballad (and you can hear a snippet of the original version on my High Fashion mixtape), but having heard The-Dream’s original version of Mariah Carey’s “H.A.T.E.U.” (as well as the snippet of her version, on the fantastic Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel) I was inspired to totally revamp the track, restructuring the lyrics somewhat as well as making the music much more R&B and much more emotional and sensitive.  I think it worked, and I was so pleased with the way that this track turned out.

14. Devastate Me

This song is based on a track that is allegedly an instrumental from Britney Spears’ Blackout sessions (IMO, her best album along with In The Zone), since I found it on a mixtape with lots of other songs.  If you listen closely in the background, then you can hear what sounds like tiny snatches of Britney’s voice once or twice.  Anyway, I liked the dark, intense feel of the track, along with its pulsing beats and menacing strings, so I just decided to write some lyrics over the top of it.  The idea of feeling devastated seemed to go with the dramatic nature of the music, and lyrically the song speaks about somebody having you wrapped around their finger, and even though you might be in love with them or have formed some attachment to that person, you still know that they’re not necessarily good for you, and at any moment they could let you down or leave you in the dust, and you’ve put so much effort into loving them that you’re left with nothing – devastated.  The idea of knowing this is where the line “you done tricked me twice so the shame is not on you” comes in – you know exactly what you’re letting yourself in for, you just can’t make yourself resist, however hard you try.  It’s a tricky and intense situation!

15. Kissing You

This song was a really happy accident!  Some of the tracks on here took months of planning and development to come to fruition production-wise, whereas this took maybe a day or so.  I remember waking up in the morning and just having the refrain “Kissing you…. all I can think of is” going round and round in my brain.  One of the songs that inspired the whole nocturnal, R&B/dark concept of the album (when I was deciding what kind of feel I wanted to explore for my next project) was the track “When We Kiss (Missing You)” by an old girl group, Solid Harmonie, which I used to listen to when I was about 13 or 14!  So I doubt many people will recognise the sample of that song, which is what this track is based upon.  The deep, sparse bass and Japanese martial-arts type yell are from that song, as well as the bridge (which sneakily uses the girls’ vocals as backing, while I sing over the top).  I accentuated the oriental aspect of the production by adding some piano and shamisen to the mix, as well as extra beats towards the end.  I wanted the song to be mysterious, as its about an obsession that you can’t explain or logically untangle, but something that you can’t resist and just have to follow.  It’s where your heart rules your head, be it through lust or love.  The song is focused on the physical (a kiss) but also the emotional, of a love arriving when you least expect it and taking over your world.  The negative (as explored in “Jump Off (Part II)” and “Devastate Me”) ceding to the positive (this song and the next).  Love triumphing.  This song is one of the sexier songs on the record, even though it’s not really about sex.  It’s one of my favourites too, as it really has that mysterious, nocturnal feel that I wanted to be the overarching theme of the album.  It’s subtle, yet intense.

16. In Love

Like the last track, this song is largely built upon a girl-group sample.  In this case, it’s Mis-Teeq’s “It’s Beginning To Feel Like Love”, which was an album track from Eye Candy.  I liked the spacey feel of the song (a track that didn’t make it into the album or the mixtape was actually called “Space”), and I wanted to write a ballad that was very chilled, that you could relax to.  I said that I thought “Secret” was possibly the most romantic track on Quiet Storm, but perhaps this gives it a run for its money.  It’s just about how happy love can make you feel, and how unexpected the intensity of that happiness can be.  It’s about feeling untouchable in the midst of love, and about all your pain being healed by your feelings for that other person, and their reciprocation of those feelings towards you.  It’s a very optimistic, healing track lyrically, and the calmness of the production adds to that.  I added in some piano (again!) in the bridge to give it a little extra kick towards the end.

17. Come Home To Me

For me, this track is definitely going to be a single from Quiet Storm.  It’s very short and sweet, very immediate, and the beat is quite reggae-inspired, despite the overall feel of the production being straightforward R&B/pop.  The thunder rumbling at the very start of the song fits in with the overarching idea of a “Quiet Storm”, but it also represents the lyrical motif of the song, saying that although we had storms in the past, it’s time to get over it.  It’s about a lover who may have been unfaithful or made mistakes, so you had a bust-up, but now you’re ready to forgive them and give things another try.  It’s about recognising that sometimes, even though we may try to be strong and independent, ultimately we have to forgive someone’s transgressions and not cut our nose off to spite our face.  That’s not always the right message, and sometimes someone may do something too serious to be able to let them back in.  But when it’s the little things that cause a breakup, with time you can see whether it’s really worth being alone or whether it’s better to forgive and make up.  The song steals from Rihanna’s “Umbrella” towards the end, with the “forever ever ever eh eh eh” at the end – that was just a little bit of fun!  The backing vocals in the second verse are also inspired from a nu-classic Janet Jackson track, “Take Care”, from her 20 Y.O. album, which IMO is one of her best works and seriously underrated – another track which infused the concept and production within my album.

The final part, iv, coming soon!  Keep it locked, and thankyou all for the support once again.

(clicky) Quiet Storm (album download) (clicky)

Reviewed by Alicia Glass

MPAA Rating: R

Director:  Fumihiko Sori

Review Rating: 7.5

Ichi is a goze, a blind musician who specializes in the shamisen, strong and self sufficient. Touma is the bumbling but well meaning samurai who attempts to befriend Ichi and save a town from marauding gangs.

This is a very good movie, but only if you like that sort of thing – plenty of fantastic fight scenes, performances and emotion, yes, but there’s little that makes this movie truly stand out. It’s apparently based off of Zatoichi, the story of a blind samurai who (surprise!) saves a town from bandits. Haruka Ayase stars as Ichi herself, stoic and lovely and capable, though she runs around most of the movie in rags. The scene where she’s finally dressed in a purple kimono with her hair done up and plays a tune on the shamisen, I thought was lovely. Takao Osawa stars as dear liar Toma, who takes the credit for Ichi’s star swordsmanship and of course gets himself into more than he can handle. Takao is certainly attractive without his warriors topknot, even though they made most of the rest of the male cast have them. Shido Nakamura stars as Banki, leader of the bad guys who has the melted eye covered by a patch, sadly he seems to have succumbed to over-acting when it comes to being a bad guy. The little boy who becomes a kind of brother and porter to Ichi, played by Yosuke Kubozuka, is a bright spot of acting in a rather sad movie. After all, it is an action-adventure-romance kind of film, but still remember it’s Asian and that generally means one thing – tragedy in there somewhere.

Check out the subtitle-less trailer

Finally I finished my diary about my summer vacation.

I want to write about my decision for starting shamisen lessons with the new teacher from now.

In September, my original shamisen teacher’s teacher asked me whether I could help him to create his website.

I replied that of course, I would help him.

As I had written about my impression of his performance in my previous diary, it was my pleasure to help him.

He also asked me, if I would like to take his lesson. It was no problem.

To tell the truth, I was worried about my original shamisen teacher from whom I have been taking shamisen lessons since 5 years ago.

If I would take my shamisen teacher’s teacher’s lesson, surely my original shamisen teacher would feel uncomfortable.

So I frankly told him about my concern.

He answered that if I would take the same style of lesson from him, it must be rude to my original teacher.

However if I would take a different style of lesson from him, it would be no problem.

Actually he can teach various styles of shamisen lessons to his pupils.

Usually I receive lessons on Japanese folk songs, which style is generally called Minyo.
Minyo have been sung all over Japan for a long time, and the songs’ themes are about work, life and love for families and lovers.

Minyo’s historical background is based on poverty and people’s simple life styles.

Even tough now Minyo are sung on stage, and on TV, they are really based on Japanese people’s simple life style in the past.

My teacher’s teacher also can teach another style of shamisen lesson, which is called Hauta.

Hauta has been sung since the Edo period. The sound of Hauta is more cool than Minyo.

Still now, Hautas are sung by Geisha at high quality restaurants.

If I sing Hauta playing the shamisen and wearing a kimono, I think people would view me as a typical Japanese.

Let me return to the story about my teacher’s teacher.

In the end, I started to receive his Hauta style lesson.

I think Hauta is more difficult than Minyo, because Hauta’s tone is very different from Minyo. However I want to learn it more deeply.

In addition, I also wanted to know about the traditional customs of the shamisen world, so I asked him some questions about them.

He explained to me politely about those customs.

I also told him about my complaints against the traditional customs, which I had had for a long time.

He not only explained about such customs but also told me his opinion.

I was very surprised and could know about his passion for the shamisen.

Further more, luckily I could know about his background as a shamisen player deeply, because I am going to create his website.

Since I was requested to make his website, I sometimes follow him to his activities to take photos.

The purpose is not only to take photos, but also to learn his technique and about his shamisen world.

I think I’m really lucky.

I had believed that he was just a strict teacher, however I noticed my misconception.

I know most of his pupils complain against him secretly.
Most of their complains are about money and his furious temper.

He is not good at explaining his opinion, and his pupils also never ask him about money and the reason for his opinion.

What a shame it is that they can’t communicate deeply.

I want to help my new teacher by creating his website.

For him, the purpose of having his own website is to get more pupils, however, for me, the second purpose is to explain to his pupils about his activities and opinions.

Of course, he told me that he would pay me the cost of making his website, but I also need to pay for his lessons.

Actually my salary is not so high, so it’s my solid decision to learn the shamisen more seriously.

I believe, through studying shamisen, I can learn not only about the shamisen world and playing techniques, but also I can learn many new things.

The following image is of his website.

Depois de falar um pouco do básico do shamisen, vou falar de uma técnica um pouco mais avançada que minha sensei disse que demora uns bons 10 anos para pegar ela. Essa técnica é chamada de “sawari” (さわり).

Primeiramente, perto das alavanquinhas para afinar o shamisen, você verá que a segunda e a terceira corda apoiam em um pedaço de metal, mas a primeira não. Ela é apoiada dentro de um risco carvado na madeira e quase encosta no começo do pescoço (está vendo que tem tipo de um vale logo ao lado da pecinha de metal?).

Coloque sua corda passando dentro do risco e afine o shamisen. Toque. Ela fez um barulho ressonante? (Não, eu não sei explicar como é esse barulho.)

Se sim, o primeiro passo está feito! Se não, fique apertando a corda, que a corda deve estar razoavelmente maleável naquela região para que ela faça o barulho certo. Na verdade, quando ela ressoar, a corda deve relar naquele vale que eu falei aí em cima. Caso ela não faça o barulho ressonante de jeito nenhum, leve para alguém que faça shamisens e peça para consertar isso.

Ok, agora afine a segunda corda. Se ela estiver perfeitamente afinada, quando você tocar ela, você vai ouvir as outras cordas vibrando também. Da mesma forma, afine a terceira. Aí vem o legal: todas as notas (absolutamente todas as notas) que você tocar, se você acertar a posição exata, as outras cordas também vão vibrar e vai sair um som mais rico! Mas para isso, a afinação tem que estar perfeita e você tem que acertar o ponto certo com precisão milimétrica.

Isso é a técnica sawari. Fácil, não?

Como vocês devem saber (ou não), eu estou fazendo aula de nagauta shamisen com a Fujimoto Kumiya-sensei (藤本久美弥先生) da Escola Fujimoto (藤本会) de shamisen, aprendendo mais músicas de min’you e matsuri no shitamachi (下町) de Ueno. Já fazendo uma pequena propaganda para a minha sensei, eu estou gostando muito das aulas!

Então, agora vamos ao básico do shamisen:

O shamisen e seus acessórios

Além do shamisen, você vai precisar de uma série de outros acessórios para ele (claro que na aula a sensei tem tudo):

• Bachi (撥): A palheta com a qual você toca as cordas;
• Hiza-ate (膝あて): Um tapetinho de plástico que você coloca em sua coxa para que o shamisen não escorregue dela quando você estiver tocando. Também conhecido como hiza-gum (膝ゴム);
• Yubi-kake ou yubi-suri (指かけ): Um pedaço de pano que ajuda você a deslizar seu dedo pelo braço do shamisen;
• Choushibue (調子笛): O afinador;
• As cordas, sendo a primeira (一の糸 ou ichi-no-ito) a mais grossa e a última (三の糸 ou san-no-ito) a mais fina;
• Tsuyabukin (つや布巾): Paninho para limpar seu shamisen depois do uso.

A afinação

A afinação é um dos pontos mais interessantes do shamisen, e algo que causa um tremendo ponto de interrogação em quem está acostumado com instrumentos ocidentais como o violão.

Como o shamisen foi feito para cantar junto, e as pessoas têm alcances diferentes, no shamisen é possível você afinal de acordo com a nota que a pessoa consegue cantar. A afinação mais usada é a Honchoushi (本調子) com a primeira corda em Dó, ou seja, as afinações ficam em C-F-C. Mas se a pessoa tiver voz mais aguda, ela pode afinar D-G-D, por exemplo.

Além do Honchoushi, existem outros esquemas de afinal que são auto-explicativos caso você entenda os kanjis. Por exemplo, o ni-agari (二上がり) significa que a segunda corda deve ser aumentada em um tom, e o san-sagari (三下がり) indica que a terceira deve ser diminuída em um tom.

Partitura

Existem claro tipos de partitura para shamisen:

• A primeira é igual à ocidental, mas aí você perde a flexibilidade de afinar o shamisen em qualquer tom, uma vez que ela diz a nota que você tem que tocar e não a posição;
• A segunda é parecido ao kunkunshi (工工四) do sanshin, no qual ele diz a posição que você deve colocar o seu dedo – só que em kanji;
• A terceira é similar à anterior, com a diferença que ao invés de kanjis temos números (essa é que a Fujimoto-kai usa);
• A quarta e última é a chamada “kuchi-jamisen” (口三味線). Quem sabe ler os kanjis sabe o que espera. Basicamente, a partitura é o sensei cantar a música e você se virar para decorá-la.

Duas técnicas básicas

A primeira delas é chamada de “sukui” (すくい) e é quando você toca com seu bachi fazendo o movimento para cima. Ela é indica com um “ス” na partitura. A outra é a “hajiku” (弾く), indicada com um “ハ”, que é quando você toca a corda com algum dedo da mão esquerda (supondo que você segure o bachi com o direita).

No Japão, se não me engano existem 4 tipos de shamisen:

• O sanshin (三線), que vem de Okinawa e foi o elo entre o sanxian chinês e o shamisen existente no resto do Japão;
• O hosozao shamisen (細棹), shamisen de pescoço fino sendo amplamente utilizado para tocar músicas do estilo nagauta (長唄, muito utilizado em kabuki), e por isso muitas vezes é chamado de nagauta shamisen;
• O chuuzao shamisen (中棹), que tem pescoço médio;
• O futozao shamisen (太棹), que tem pescoço grosso e provém da região de Tsugaru (津軽) em Aomori, sendo assim muitas vezes chamado de tsugaru-jamisen.

Sanshin

O sanshin é o mais diferente dos quatro: ele é bem menor que os outros, feito com couro de cobra originalmente e tocado com um bachi (撥, a palheta) na forma de um dedal, feita de chifre de algum animal que eu não sei qual – ou plástico também. Ele é usado para tocar o koten (古典, música clássica) de Okinawa, o min’you (民謡, música folclórica, ou seja, aquela que foi a música popular antigamente) e o pop okinawano, com representantes como Begin (ビギン) e Natsukawa Rimi (夏川りみ).

A diferença dos outros três tipos é bem mais sutil. Na verdade, como eu nunca vi nem ouvi falar no chuuzao, vou me abster de comentar sobre esse tipo de shamisen e focar mais no nagauta e no tsugaru.

Tipos de shamisens

O nagauta shamisen é usado principalmente, como já disse, para músicas de kabuki, mas também utiliza-se para tocar min’you japonês. Como as músicas em sua grande maioria são cantadas, um mestre em nagauta shamisen deve saber tocar e cantar ao mesmo tempo – e bem! O tsugaru, por sua vez, é conhecido por se tocar um estilo de música mais agressivo, e em geral não cantado. Além da diferença do tamanho, o bachi também é um pouco diferente e o jeito de tocar também: o tsugaru não é tocado em seiza, e sim sentado em uma cadeira, e o bachi entra em contato com as cordas no começo da caixa acústica (perto do pescoço) e no final, enquanto que no nagauta é apenas no começo.

Tanto o tsugaru quanto o nagauta são cobertos com couro de gato ou cachorro – ou até canguru. O bachi pode ser feito de madeira, plástico ou até marfim, embora agora haja restrições quanto ao uso deste último.

E por fim, um exemplo de quem toca tsugaru-jamisen são os Yoshida Brothers (吉田兄弟), e um de nagauta sou… eu?

From the flyer:

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa · College of Arts & Humanities · Music Department presents

An Evening of Japanese and Okinawan Music and Dance

Saturday, October 17, 2009
7:30 p.m., Orvis Auditorium
$12 general admission, $8 students & seniors @ the door

A recital featuring instructors from UH Manoa’s ethnomusicology and dance programs, including:

Rev. Masatoshi Shamoto (gagaku)
Onoe Kikunobu (Japanese dance)
Cheryl Yoshie Nakasone (Okinawan dance)
Robert Herr (shakuhachi)
Darin Miyashiro (koto)
Norman Kaneshiro (Okinawan sanshin)

The concert includes traditional gagaku and bugaku, dances choreographed to classic koto/shamisen music, Okinawan classic and folk numbers, and a contemporary koto/shakuhachi duet.

(Nifee deebitan to Char for the info!)

Now playing: Monkey Island Especial Edition
Now Listening : The Longest Day III Shiro SAGISU Music from “EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE”
Now watching: Cowboy Bebop

Hace mucho tiempo, le he tenido un aprecio a la musica y sobre todo a la japonesa y oriental (Sama me introdujo al mundo del J-Pop pero es otra historia jejeje) Un dia  me llamo la atención la jocosa melodia que se usaba  Nintendo al Presentar  su nueva consola  llamada Wii, los publicistas hicieron gala de usar un as bajo la manga al presentar su nuevo bebe al publico, al usar esta pieza:

Y convertirla en esto:

Y quienes son ellos,los  Yoshida Brothers (también conocidos en Japón como Yoshida Kyodai) son un dúo compuesto por los hermanos Ryōichirō Yoshida y Ken’ichi Yoshida que tocan tsugaru shamisen desde los cinco años, un antiguo instrumento japonés de tres cuerdas. Esta descripción puede llevar a pensar que se trata de otro grupo de música folklórica de su país, pero lo cierto es que los Yoshida Brothers han sabido mezclar las melodías y sonidos tradicionales de Japón con ritmos e instrumentos contemporáneos y estilos occidentales (como el rock), lo que genera una mezcla musical única, muy dinámica, sensible y profundamente refinada. Estos chicos son todo un hit en Japón y en el mundo entero, tanto así que su musica ha llegado a Disney y a juegos de Nintendo para el Wii (Espero que un dia vengan a Mexico snifff snifff).

He aqui un ejemplo de sus combinaciones dinamicas:

Ahora hay que esperera a ver que nuevas cosas nos depara la Guerra de las Consolas, que mas musica saldra, no lo sabemos o si?

se numesc Yoshida Brothers si canta la un instrument traditional japonez numit Shamisen, asta e tot ce trebuie sa stiti despre ei, restul e muzica:

A primeira parada que eu fiz na viagem para Osaka (depois de deixar as malas no hostel, claro) foi na Tsutaya Gakki, perto da estação Nagahoribashi do metrô. Lá é um bom lugar para comprar shamisens e kotos usados, com um preço bem acessível!

Eu fui atendido primeiramente por uma obasan bem simpática. Mas juntando o japonês rápido dela com o sotaque de Osaka (o famoso Osaka-ben ou 大阪弁), eu não entendi absolutamente nada. Ela então ligou para o filho dela que falava japonês compreensível para vir para a loja e tentar conversar comigo.

De qualquer forma, eles foram bem atenciosos comigo! Eles gostam que estrangeiros tentem aprender a cultura japonesa, disseram. E o shamisen estava em boas condições, afinal eles dão uma olhada geral antes de vender! Claro, bom se comparado com o preço, você não vai comprar nada extremamente profissional se pagar baratinho, né!

O meu nagauta-shamisen saiu mais ou menos por ¥35.000, incluindo bachi, yubi-suri, hiza-tate e monte de cordas reservas, e pagando ainda o afinador e o envio para Tóquio por takkyubin!

Haha, I guess this is the writer’s equivalent of a ‘writer’s block’. Sorry for the recent lack of posts. Clashing thoughts, perspective shifts and decisions to be made. Coincidences or Chances, lots of random events happening at the same time, in a week! Exciting but draining.

In times like this, I play this. It reminds me of my trainride.

And this. I love the sounds from the shamisen (more on shamisen soon). Yep I like okinawan music. It has interesting rhythms which I can’t quite put a finger to.

Guess where the soundtrack Parade is adapted to. Thanks to W, I got to know it from NARUTO. Faint.

Sooo… der letzte Tag unseres Aufenthaltes in Tokyo. Ich schaffe ihn gerade noch zu schreiben, bevor wir morgen　fuer 3 Tage nach Kyoto verschwinden *haha* ! Beim Schreiben der Berichte wird mir oft erst bewusste, WO ich mich hier befinde und was fuer ein Glueck ich habe, dieses alles erleben zu duerfen.

Meinen Hundekinder in D-Land geht es prima, meine Eltern meistern auch schwierigere Situationen *freu* … da kann ich hier weiter ganz entspannt die Tage geniessen *noch-mehr-freu*!

Ueno ist ein sehr interessanter Stadtteil und der Ueno-Park sehr schoen. Um den grossen Teich zu laufen erinnerte mich ein wenig an einen Spaziergang um die Alster.

Quiz: Was ist das?

Hier wird es vielleicht deutlicher:

Rischtisch! Lotus ^^ !

Die Hauptbluete ist aber schon vorbei, aber dennoch kann man die eine oder andere Bluete noch finden. Der Lotus hat im Buddhismus eine besondere Bedeutung, denn er hat seine Wurzeln in “dreckigen” Tuempeln (Symbol fuer die Welt) und schafft es dennoch, wunderschoene Blueten hervorzuzaubern (wir, die Menschen).

Im Park:

Ein Gedenk-/ Betstein fuer Fugu-Fische (Kugelfische) um den Fischen danke zu sagen, welche man toetet und isst. In Japan findet man viele solcher Gedenksteine fuer diverse Tiere.

Raubtierfuetterung!

Glaubt ihr nicht ^^ ?

Koi sind echt unglaubliche Fische! Dieses sind “billige”. Die Nishikigoi, die wertvollen, schwammen auch in dem Teich, man sah sie aber nicht so haeufig.

Ein Shamisen-Spieler, der durch ganz Japan reist, um seine Fertigkeiten zu verbessern. Leben tut er eigentlich nur von den Spenden. Seit er im Fernsehen aufgetreten war und bekannter wurde, lief es wohl auch besser. Aber er spielt echt toll und wir lauschten eine ganze Zeit lang seinen melancholsichen Liedern.

Ein Kiosk:

Wo ist bloss der Eingang des Ueno-Zoos?!?

Wer glaubt, dass dieser gross ausgeschildert ist, der irrt. Diesen Zettel bekamen wir von einem der “Polizisten” in den kleinen Polizeihaeuschen.

Aber die lange Suche fuehrte uns netter Weise hier vorbei. Es ist eine Noh-Buene:

Kampf mit einer geschuettelten Dr. Pepper Flasche ^^ !

Geschafft !

Noch schnell draussen den Getraenkevorrat aufgefuellt.

Den beruehmten Panda konnten wir leider nicht mehr anschauen, da dieser im April 2008 an Herzversagen gestorben war. Ansonsten ist der Zoo vielen kleinen in D-Land recht aehnlich. Mit Zoos ist es immer so eine Sache. Auf der einen Seite denke ich, sind sie sehr wichtig, um dem Kindern und Menschen die Tiere naeher zu bringen, auf der anderen Seite ist eine artgerechte Haltung, wie auch in diesem Zoo, kaum moeglich. Es war schwierig gute Bilder zu machen, da entweder die Gitter so feinmaschig waren, dass die Kamera nicht hindurch schauen konnte, oder die grossen Glasscheiben waren zu dreckig.

Eigentlich sollte ich allein vor dem Thailaendischen Tempel fotografiert werden, aber ich bekam unerwarteten Besuch ^^ .

Ein Vorteil der grossen Glasscheiben ist, dass man den Tieren sehr nahe sein kann, wenn sie sich denn mal bequemen, zu einem zu kommen. Dieses Tierchen war echt beeindruckend!

Kontaktaufnahme mit der Zunge.

Spaeter haben wir den Tiger nochmals getroffen ^^ !

Dhole

Die kennt jeder !

Knut?

Die Bezwingung der Elefanten. Man, das sah so einfach aus…

Aber weder Wudang Pai noch das sammeln meines Charkas konnte mir helfen !

Ok, er ist aber auch ein bisschen Groesser als ich

Wer ist hier die Ziege ^^ ?

Am Abend waren wir voellig erschlagen und nach einer kurzen Rast am Teich im Zoo…

…ging es langsam wieder nach Hause. In Mobara angekommen konnte ich wieder aufatmen. Tokyo ist super schoen und insgesamt, trotz der vielen Menschen recht ruhig und sauber, sauberer als Hamburg, aber die vielen Menschen haben mich echt geschafft. Reizueberflutung ^^ !

Das waren unsere Tage in Tokyo und Umgebung !

Ha, da es in Japan fast nie ohne Musik geht, werdet ihr nun auch immer mit einem Video gequaelt *hihi* !

コブクロさんがだーい好きだよ！

Los Yoshida Brothers son dos hermanos (duh!) que tocan el shamisen, el instrumento musical del que les hablé en el post anterior

Yoshida Brothers

Tocan en estilo Tsugaru, en pocas palabras estilo libre, con improvisaciones, adaptaciones de música tradicional japonesa, composiciones modernas, y como se les ocurra.

Aqui les dejo este videito en donde ellos participan con otro grupo japonés llamado Mokey Majik. Muy buena la rola.

Los Yoshida también participaron en el comercial de lanzamiento del Wii, con una rola llamada Kodo, este es el video:

El shamisen es un instrumento musical japonés, parecido al banjo de los norteamericanos, tiene tres cuerdas, una caja de resonancia forrada con piel de animal que puede ser de gato, de perro o hasta de serpiente, se toca con una pieza de madera que tiene la forma de una hoja de ginko.

Oni tocando el shamisen

El sonido del shamisen es muy agradable, parecido al contabajo, con muchos “twangs” y percusiones ya que se rasca la pieza de madera tanto a las cuerdas como a la piel de la caja de resonancia.

shamisen y chica rosa

A pesar de ser un instrumento muy antiguo sigue teniendo muchos practicantes en Japón, donde es común ver a muchach@s tocando su shamisen, como aqui en México los vemos con sus guitarras.

chica tocando shamisen

Hoje teve uma demonstração de shamisen e koto. Chamada de “Tokyo Shamisen Tokyo Koto Tenji Seisaku Jitsuenkai” (東京三味線東京琴展示製作実演会), ela aconteceu no Museu Edo-Tokyo (Edo Tokyo Hakubutsukan ou 江戸東京博物館), situado perto da estação de Ryougoku (両国駅) das linhas JR Sobu e da Toei Oedo do metrô.

Museu Edo-Tokyo

Primeiramente, havia na recepção uma exposição com alguns shamisens e kotos (quem quisesse, podia tirar uma palhinha), e algumas informações legais. Inclusive, hoje eu vi um shamisen de pele de canguru! Para aqueles que não sabem, os normais são feitos com pele de cachorro ou gato, sendo as de gato com som mais refinado mas mais baixo. O som do canguru está entre o som do gato e do cachorro (como eles mesmos disseram, “カンガルーは犬と猫の間です”).

Do que o shamisen é feito, e de onde vem o material

Pele de canguru

Uma caixa de shamisen de um mestre!

Depois de uns discursos dos representantes de entidades como a Nagauta Kyoukai (長唄協会, ou algo como Associação da Música Nagauta) e da Nihon Sankyoku Kyoukai (日本三曲協会, ou algo como Associação Japonesa de Shamisen, Koto e Shakuhachi), teve uma apresentação de como o shamisen e o koto são fabricados.

Fabricação artesanal de shamisen

Em seguida, alguns alunos de uma escola ginasial de Oota-ku tocaram koto, e de um primário de Edogawa-ku tocaram shamisen. Aliás, era muito bonitinho ver algumas das crianças que mal alcançavam a extremidade mais distante do braço do shamisen tocando!

Estudantes de primário tocando shamisen

E por fim, dois profissionais tocaram. O Den no Kai (伝の会) toca um estilo inovador de nagauta, com a força do tsugaru-jamisen. Muito interessante! Embaixo vai um vídeo deles (não de hoje, que eu não filmei a performance deles).

Eles também sortearam diversos prêmios, inclusive um shamisen de pele de canguru e um koto! Mas eu infelizmente não ganhei nada.

As I posted yesterday, I observed the Awa Odori (阿波踊り) dance festival in Kagurazaka (神楽坂), a quiet hillside neighborhood in Shinjuku with many old buildings and known 100 years ago as an entertainment district with geishas.

The Awa Odori is a popular mid-summer festival that began in the 16th century in Tokushima in Shikoku prefecture. Fifteen or more dance troops, including all ages and children, climb up the Kagurazaka hill on the main street to the music of shamisen lute, taiko drums, shinobue flutes, and kane bells. The dancing is broadly comedic, with exaggerated swagger suggesting drunken freedom. Lanterns line the road, and are carried by dancers.

Troops are formed by government pension workers, the local post office, neighborhood associations, schools and businesses. Despite rainfall, the dancers and large crowds of onlookers were enthusiastic. The lyrics according to Wikipedia are:

踊る阿呆に (Odoru ahou ni) The dancers are fools
見る阿呆 (Miru ahou) The watchers are fools
同じ阿呆なら (Onaji ahou nara) Both are fools alike so
踊らな損、損 (Odorana son, son) Why not dance?

There is also a call and response that reminded me of other street festivals, particularly the omatsuri (お祭) when portable shrines (omikoshi, お神輿) are carried through the streets. The words are without meaning but coordinate the movement: “Yattosa, yattosa”, “Hayaccha yaccha” and “Erai yaccha, erai yaccha”, “Yoi, yoi, yoi, yoi”.

Street festivals, by occupying public streets and bringing the community together to celebrate, seem a central part of Tokyo Green Space. By bringing together workers, students, kids, elderly, business owners, neighbors and tourists, street festivals connect people to history and each other.

I was reminded of a similar mix of public celebration and history the following night when I attended the Sumida River fireworks (hanabi, or はなび). It was startling how many young people wore traditional yukata and geta (well, some of them accessorized the old with flip flops or high heels).

The last weekend of August, there is an even bigger Awa Odori in Koenji. Please click the link below to see more videos and still photos of the Kagurazaka event.

And somehow I found it funny that during the public dance festival, two young guys were busy competing on a taiko video game in an arcade.

Gosto muito de música instrumental. Quando colocam instrumentos diferentes do que estamos acostumados, melhor ainda! Recebi uma ótima indicação e passarei adiante: Yoshida Brothers (Yoshida Kyōdai).

Nem sempre os roteiros são os mais surpreendentes, mas não há como negar que além do belíssimo trabalho visual os filmes orientais geralmente trazem trilhas sonoras interessantes. Estou generalizando mesmo. Não há como comparar Borboleta Púrpura com Ran, por serem diferentes mesmo, ambos são bons.

As trilhas misturam traços culturais com a tecnologia disponível. O trabalho de Ryuichi Sakamoto virou um clássico! Até mesmo algo mais atual, e por isso mais conhecido, como Long Cheng que fez algumas das trilhas sonoras do Zhang Yimou chamou tanto a atenção que acabou virando um estilo, do tipo que alguém ouve e diz: esse filme é chinês? É daquele cara, o… o outro fora o Jack Chan…

Takeshi Kaneshiro a parte, o que isso tem haver com Yoshida Brothers, fora os nomes nihons? Eles não fizeram nenhuma trilha que eu saiba. Mas o que chama a atenção são a beleza e perfeição com que eles tocam o bendito shamisen (abaixo).

Shamisen (alguns são feitos de gatinhos) e sua tradicional forma de tocar.

Voltando ao texto (…)

O som do Yoshida Brothers, bem característico da música tradicional japonesa, tem algo que é raro até mesmo nos Enkas mais atuais que eu ouvi.

Se você assistiu Herói (Yimou), ou qualquer Kurosawa talvez entenda o que eu quero dizer com: Yoshida Brothers lembra aqueles quadros com kanjis desenhados com pinceladas precisas. No começo você olha e pensa que jogaram tinta sem muita pretensão. Quando você observa com mais atenção, percebe que é a arte perfeita. A cor e a intensidade formam o conjunto expressivo.  É o economizar o desnecessário e colocar a arte com o objetivismo e a simplicidade, proporcionando a perfeição.

Até mesmo nas remixagens o tradicional não se perde no trabalho deles. Está certo que em Storm e outras, o negócio saiu a lá Hans Zimmer (até com aquele coralzinho Gladiador no meio), mas isso não é ruim, de forma alguma!

A discografia do Yoshida:

Yoshida Brothers (2003)

Yoshida Brothers II (2004)

Yoshida Brothers III (2006)

Prism (2009)

…repare nos nomes criativos tipicamente japoneses.

Tem também alguns albuns Best Of e outros lançados somente no Japão que não escutei ainda.

O trabalho em todos os discos é excelente, vale a pena escutar nos momentos Kodoku da vida!

*No post comparei algumas coisas da cultura japonesa com a chinesa sem especificar muito… Ah! Uma nasceu da outra e se eu for falar sobre a diferença, vai mais um post…

Nem sempre os roteiros são os mais surpreendentes, mas não há como negar que além do belíssimo trabalho visual os filmes orientais geralmente trazem trilhas sonoras interessantes. Estou generalizando mesmo. Não há como comparar Borboleta Púrpura com Ran,por serem diferentes mesmo, ambos são bons.

Chwila refleksji nad sensem obranej drogi.

Przeważnie każdy zastanawiał się nad tym czy droga, którą podąża jest właściwa. Zadając sobie to pytanie postanowiłem szukać odpowiedzi w zen. Ponieważ uwielbiam Japonię czasów feudalnych, wielokrotnie wracam do Hagakure, a z powodu braku czasu – moimi papierowymi nabytkami sprzed kilku miesięcy Heiho Kadensho i Gorin-no sho nie nacieszyłem się do końca – późnymi wieczorami poświęcam czas na studiowanie przekazów

Japonia w sieni domowego zacisza…  zakładam, że każdy ma swoją Nibylandię.

Miejsce, gdzie rozpalam kadzidła:

Jeden z lepszych prezentów jaki kiedykolwiek dostałem – Hanko (pieczęć z fonetycznie brzmiącym moim imieniem i nazwiskiem):

Wspaniały otoczony papirusami obraz namalowany techniką sumi-e:

Gekkeikan Sake i ręcznie wykonane czarki do tegoż trunku:

Chwila na refleksję przy muzyce

I am fairly sure that I need to quit my full-time job. Of my three jobs, it is the furthest from where I live. The commute is doable, but not ideal. I am commuting for nearly three hours each day. It also provides the least amount of valuable experience, as my other two positions are with college students and returnees.

Moving to Shibuya has made me realize this even more. I, two days ago, took the day off to have my utilities installed. On the way home, a concert was being played – and I was able to enjoy a tsugaru jamisen show for free, thanks to お〜いお茶。The 007 theme on shamisen is amazing!

After moving to Shibuya, I am really starting to feel as though I belong here, in a way that I have not felt about anywhere else. I want to explore the shops and privately-owned restaurants. I want to have time to relax and enjoy a drink or two at the many small bars and cafes. I want to have time to take violin lessons. I want time for my magazine. I want time to join some MeetUp.com groups and make some real friends. I want time.

Unfortunately, all of this would cost money. Quitting my full-time job would leave a huge hole in my income. Unless I picked up something else, I would be unable to survive. I do not want to give up my other jobs, in fact, I wish they would simply give me more hours. Unfortunately, I would probably have to settle for whatever work would fit around my schedule – or change my work situation entirely. If only I had my Master’s degree already, I could get a university teaching job. I could, then, work much less and make more money.

I definitely need to look into what my options are as soon as possible.

On an aside, August is going to be my month to get in shape. I will be following Timothy Ferriss’s plan to go from Geek to Freak. I feel terribly out of shape and I have the month with minimal work (meaning only slightly more than a normal amount of work for most people). I think a Tipness membership will be in order.

Also, I live across the street from an elementary school and the Shibuya city office. I plan to go exploring a bit more tomorrow and Sunday, and will try to put up some pictures of my place and the surrounding area soon.

Au Revoir~

This is ridiculously cool (the shamisen is a very beautiful 3-stringed Japanese instrument played with a large plectrum/pick, and tap is that dance form that kinda kicks ass):

p.s. The tap dancers are these guys (The Stripes) from Japan who also did a sequence in a sort-of recent samurai film called ‘Zatoichi‘ which looks really good but which I was afraid to see because I really dislike gore, and especially gore created by sharp objects that pierce the skin! Anyway, check out the very cool tap dance scene from the film here. I don’t know who the shamisen player is.

-MissRuckus

「ようこそジャパン」 (Yokoso Japan!) means “Welcome to Japan!“, and is the Japan National Tourism Organization’s official slogan of their campaign to attract foreign visitors to Japan.

「Yokoso Japan!」 logo

Here are some of their Yokoso Japan! campaign ads.

Most of the scenes in this first one are of Tokyo (there are a few shots of Osaka, etc…but most of it is Tokyo):

These show many parts of Japan:

Do they make you want to visit this beautiful country?