Good evening, Kibitzers! Somebody sent me another music video I’d like to share below the fold this week. This one involves the koto, a Japanese stringed instrument that could be described as an enormous zither.
The Chinese were the originators of this style of instrument, developing the guzheng over 2,500 years ago. It migrated to Japan in the 7th and 8th centuries CE and was adapted to better fit that country’s musical traditions. (Both Korea and Vietnam also evolved similar instruments from the Chinese original.)
It often happens that artists skilled in instruments adapted to one style would also like to play other music that they enjoy, and start arranging. Here, Keiko Hisamoto plays the 21-stringed koto, Masako Watanabe plays 17-stringed bass koto, and Hiromu Motonaga and Kizan Kawamura play shakuhachi, traditional end-blown bamboo flutes. There’s a short introduction to koto before the performance.
This is for side pocket: performer Luna plays gayageum, the Korean version of the instrument. (She’s multi-tracking to play all the parts — that’s what those little side videos are about.)
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by and tell us about your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper. Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.