Transcript File - Kirsten Palmer

Asian
Music
Japanese
Traditional Music
Contents
•Shakuhachi
•Hyōshigi
•Taiko
•Koto
•Shamisen
Shakuhachi
Honkyoku, the "original music" of the shakuhachi, represents one of the major group of
traditional Japanese music .
The shakuhachi is an end-blown bamboo flute measured about 55
centimeters in length. There are four holes in front and one in the back. The
pitch is controlled by placing one's fingers completely or partly on the holes.
The origins of the shakuhachi are uncertain, but historians say a prototype
existed in Japan around the fourteenth century.
According to one theory, origin of the family of end blown flutes of which
shakuhachi is a part, has been traced back as far as ancient Egypt and is
presumed to have migrated through India and China before entering Japan in
the later half of the Seventh Century.
Hyōshigi
The hyōshigi is a simple Japanese musical instrument, consisting of two pieces
of hardwood or bamboo that are connected by a thin fancy rope. The clappers
are played together or on the floor to create a cracking sound. Sometimes they
are smacked slowly at first, then faster and faster. Hyoshigi are used in
traditional Japanese theaters. It can be used to attract the attention of the
audience by director for theater.
Taiko( big drum)
Taiko is an ancient Japanese form of percussion using large drums. The drums range in
size from roughly a snare drum to drums as large as a car. The most common drum
size in taiko is the "chu-daiko" which is the size of a wine barrel.
During the 1900's, Taiko drumming became a musical art form that involved a music
ensemble and tightly choreographed (dance) movements. The taiko existed and was
used in the ancient Japan over 2000 years ago.
According to researches, ancient people in the Jyomon era already used drums as a
communication tool or an instrument for religious ceremony.
By the fact that taiko they use today look like those in China and Korea, the ancient
taiko was probably introduced to Japan from the Asian Continent as far as India.
Chu-daiko
Taiko
Koto
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument.
Another traditional instrument is the zither-like koto, developed from an instrument
that came from China during the Nara period (710-794). The koto has 13 strings on a
long, rectangular body made of paulownia wood. Below the strings are movable
bridges to adjust the scale. The koto is played with small picks on the right hand.
The first known version had five strings, which eventually increased to seven
strings. (It had twelve strings when it was introduced to Japan in the
early Nara Period (710–784) and increased to thirteen strings). This
particular instrument is known throughout Asia but in different forms: in
Japanese koto, which is a relative to the Chinese zheng, the
Korean gayageum, and the Vietnamese dan tranh.
Shamisen
The shamisen is a lute-like stringed instrument that was adapted
in the middle of the sixteenth century from a similar instrument
used in the tropical Ryukyu islands. The shamisen has a long
fingerboard of about 1 meter attached to a box-like body and has
three strings. The player plucks on these strings using a plectrum
shaped like a ginkgo leaf it called “bachi”. The player adjusts the
pitch using pegs on the head. The Japanese shamisen originated
from the Chinese instrument sanxian. The sanxian was introduced
through the Ryūkyū Kingdom (Okinawa) in the 16th century, where it
developed into the Okinawan, instrument Sanxian.
Shamisen
Plectrum
Traditional Chinese music
Instrument
The Plucked String Instruments
Contents
Pipa
Sanxian
Ruan
Pipa
Four-stringed lute with 30 frets and pear-shaped body. The artist holds the pipa
upright and play with five small plectra attached to each finger of the right
hand. The pipa history can be dated back at least 2000 years and developed
from pentatonic (musical scale or mode with five notes per octave ) to full
scales. This instrument has extremely wide dynamic range and remarkable
significant power. The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and
has been played for almost two thousand years in China. Several related
instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the pipa; in Japanese is
biwa, is Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà, and in Korean is bipa
Sanxian
The sanxian has a dry, somewhat percussive tone and loud
volume similar to the banjo.A long necked lute with three strings
without frets. In Chinese, "san" and "xian" stands for " "three"
and "strings", respectively. The sound-body is made of round
wooden box covered with snake skin. Traditionally the
instrument is plucked with a thin, hard plectrum made from
animal horn but today most players use a plastic plectrum
(similar to a guitar pick) or, alternatively, their fingernails. This
instrument is often used for to be connect with folk songs and
local opera. A closely related musical instrument is
the Japanese shamisen, which come from the
Chinese sanxian.The northern sanxian is generally larger, at
about 122 cm in length, while southern versions of the
instrument are usually about 95 cm in length. The sanxian is
most popular in the north, it used for music drama
performances.
Ruan
Ruan commonly referred to as "Chinese guitar", is an ancient fourstringed moon-shaped lute with long and straight neck is a Chinese
fretted instrument dating back to 140-87 B.C and various number of
frets. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th
century they have been made of steel. The modern Ruan has 24 frets
with 12 semitones on each string. The frets are commonly made of
ivory, in recent times metal frets mounted on wood. The metal frets
produce a brighter tone compared to the ivory frets.
Ruan
Ivory
Indonesian Gamelan
Gamelan is traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia, made up mostly
of percussive instruments. The most common instruments are metallophones played by
mallets as well as a set of hand played drums called kendhang which register the beat.
Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, bowed instrument called rebab,
and even vocalists called sindhen.
The Bonang
Some people call the bonang "gong chimes." The bonang are in fact related to gongs. Each kettle on the rack is basically a small tuned
gong set on it so that the button is on top. These kettle gongs are suspended on cords and do not have any resonators. Bonang are played
with both hands using cord wrapped beaters.
The Javanese gamelan has two pairs of bonang instruments: the bonang barung and the bonang panerus. There are two of
each bonang to play in the two gamelan scales.
Bonang Barung: The bonang barung is the lower of the two instruments. Melodically, it is one of the more important instruments in a
Javanese gamelan ensemble. In many loud pieces, it is the melodic leader playing an elaborate version of the basic melody.
Bonang Panerus: The bonang panerus plays an octave higher than the bonang barung. It usually plays a fast melodic strain based on that
played by the bonang barung.
cord wrapped
beaters
Gong
Bonang
Important Musical Considerations
in non-Western Music
Most types of Non-Western music are founded on concepts quite
different from those of the Western tradition.
Rhythm
Non-Western music (especially African) can make greater and more creative use of rhythm than Western
idioms.
Dynamics:
Non-Western music rarely uses dynamics as an independent concept. Changes in loudness/quietness occur
by increasing/decreasing the number of performers.
Harmony:
In general, harmony is not as important in non-Western idioms as it is in the West. Non-Western music
may have no harmony at all, or it may base its harmonies on completely different scale systems than
Western music.
Tone colour:
Though non-Western music is primarily vocal in nature, some cultures have also developed unique
independent families of instruments. Colourful percussion sounds, and unique string and wind instruments
are most commonly employed.
Texture:
Since harmony is not an important consideration, non-Western music is often either monophonic (a single
note or melody sounding alone) or heterophonic (two slightly different versions of the same melody being
performed at the same time).
Form:
Non-Western music is more freely-structured than Western music, and most types are heavily reliant
on improvisation (on-the-spot creativity). Such music is transmitted orally; thus, it is rarely—if ever-performed the same way twice.
GENERAL BACKGROUND TO
WORLD MUSIC
The Western world has a huge musical heritage that has evolved over many centuries; however,
some Asian, Polynesian, African and Near-Eastern musical traditions have succeed for thousand
of years. Whilst Japan, China, India and Indonesia have long-standing art-music traditions (in
which music is performed by a select few well-trained artists), the majority of non-Western
societies do not have art music ("formal concert") traditions—instead, they find music-making
as a functional part of everyday life in which the society as a whole participates.
Bibliography
http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanxian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruan
http://www.tamashii.co.nz/about/taiko/
http://www.taiko-center.co.jp/english/history_of_taiko.html
http://www.tamashii.co.nz/about/taiko/
http://www.shakuhachi.com/Q-Origins%26History.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoshigi
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/culture/q3.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamisen
http://www.wmich.edu/mus-gened/mus150/WorldMusic.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanxian
http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Music/mus-ruan.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan
http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~jjordan/gamelan/bonang.html