i truly infect myself with sound. though, all the flavors sometimes escape us. i guess i just wanted to share with you all something that pleases me, and maybe it will please you as well.
sometimes its not what someone said, but which someone said it that matters. if all we wanted was notes, a piano would probably always be the best choice.
but theres so much more to it. for whatever reason musicians are called to their instruments. the movie "hero" is brought to mind. the true masters use the instrument as an extension, not playing it in the way it was "intended" to be played but out and out doing some sort of sacred secret dance with it. a classical tip toe, something very stunning, to say the least.
it's easy to get caught up in the who's who of any genre we are used to. but their are rare type instruments, holographic as they are, waiting to be discovered. with many of these come a whole new language to listen to.
a sitar is completely unlike a guitar, though both are apparently a handful of feathers short of some sort of cruel punishment.
unlike both the sitar and guitar is -
(3:42-wow) (6:20-wow)
the koto. ko-to. roughly translates to "13 rainbows string groove machine" . if you havent heard the sounds of koto, you owe it to your ears. i know very little about this instrument. i know it sounds awesome, and the tuning is something to this effect-
to non musicians - thats a very strange way to tune an instrument. analogy- upholstering the seats of your BMW not with leather but with M+Ms, or like fucking skittles or something.
so the feature today isnt an artist per say , but an instrument.(though check out kazue sawai because she seems to be synonymous with this thing, and her husband played it, and her son plays it..)
so i dont know what this thing is or how it came to be. the koto just isnt in every day conversation like say, Ja Rule. but i feel include to share with you, my friends, the existence of quite possibly the coolest instrument that doubles as an ironing board.