Japan Musical

Instrument
The koto is probably the most familiar
Japanese instrument in the world. In ancient
tradition, a kind of koto is used as the symbol of music, one of the attributes
of a scholar in the Chinese Confucian tradition. Although the koto is used in
Gagaku and some of the pieces for solo koto are ery old, most of its
deelopment was in the !do period and there is also a broad range of
modern music for the koto. "sually it is a solo instrument, but can be played
with seeral kotos at one time or with the kind of chamber music called
#sankyoku# with koto, shamisen and shakuhachi or kokyu $a kind of bowed
ersion of the shamisen%.
The biwa is used in Gagaku and in the
period of the imperial court, also was a solo
instrument, as can be seen in the pictures
illustrating the Tale of Gen&i. 'ut this solo
repertory, elegant pieces transmitted from
China, has anished, leaing only legends
behind. In the medieal period, simple biwas
were used by blind priests telling stories from
the Tales of the (eike about the battles
between the Gen&i and (eike clans. This style
of narratie singing has been transmitted to
the present, but there are almost no
performers left and it is now more or less an ancient curiosity.
The shamisen is a remodeled ersion of
the snake)skin coered sanshin or &abisen
which came to Japan from the *yukyu islands
in the Muromachi period. In ancient !gypt
there was a three)string skin)coered
instrument called the #nefer# or #nofer.# This
deeloped into the three)string setaru in +ersia
$present day Iran%. In the language of Iran, #se#
means #three# and #taru# means #strings,#
making the meaning the same as the word
#sanshin.#
China Musical Instrument
The !rhu $or Chinese iolin% is a kind of
two)stringed bowed musical instrument. Its
history can be dated back to Tang ,ynasty
oer -,... years ago. !rhu can be used as a
solo performance as well as in small musical
groups and large orchestras. It is one of
the most popular bowed string instruments
used by many ethnic groups in China.
The Gu/heng is a Chinese plucked
/ither. It is made of -0)12 or more strings
and moable bridges. +eople beliee that it
has been inented during the 3arring 4tates
+eriod $567)11- 'C%. The performer pluck
the strings at the right portion with right
hand, and left hand presses the string on the
left side of the bridge to produce pitch
ornamentation and ibrato. The skilled
player can create sounds that can eoke the
sense of waterfall, thunder, and een the
scenic countryside.
'ig ,rum is usually a stretched hide oer a
hollow essel. +layer use two bamboo or wood
sticks to beat the drum. 8rom ancient to modern
times, 'ig ,rum has always been a folk musical
instrument liked by people around the country. It is
widely used in the occasions of celebration, military,
entertainment and festial, etc.
Malaysia Musical Instrument
The serunai is a reed wind instrument. The
instrument is hand)cared, and is usually highly
ornamented with intricate detailing and
painting. Much like western reed instruments,
the serunai is made in arying lengths which
a9ect its register. In western musical
terminology, these might be called #soprano,#
#tenor,# or #alto.# In Malay, the instrument is
referred to as anak $i.e. small or child%,
or ibu $i.e. large or parent%. The design of
the serunai reed is similar to that used in the
bassoon or !nglish horn. The serunai is played
using a techni:ue known a #circle breathing# or
#cycle breathing.# In this techni:ue air is drawn
in through the nose as it is simultaneously
blown through the instrument. The resulting sound is constant note or
drone.
The gambus is much like the #lute.# Its twele
strings $si; pairs of two% are plucked with a
plectrum or #pick.# "nlike western instruments
such as the mandolin, the gambus has no frets.
The gambus appears to hae eoled from
Arabic instruments in appearance, tuning and
performance style.
The canang is made from two gongs which are
suspended by light ropes in a wooden frame.
The gongs are of di9ering diameters. The
smaller gong is the anak $child% and is eight to ten inches in diamter. The
larger is the ibu $parent% and is ten to twele inches in diameter. The gongs
are hand)cast from brass and hand)shaped to achiee the desired tone.
The canang is struck with a mallet for performance