HEIKE SHAMISEN: Japanese Musical instrumnt

The heike shamisen is a musical instrument from japan. It is a member of the shamisen family. Like the other members of the family, this musical instrument has three strings, a slender neck, and the body of the instrument is taut with skin and can be plucked with the use of a plectrum known as bachi.

What is peculiar about this musical instrument is that the plucked instrument is produced specifically for use in one melody, known as Heike Ondo that is a folk music originating from Shimonoseki, yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. As the melody requires a higher range notes, the musical instrument is carved with a shorter neck than the conventional version of the musical instrument. It is possible to use a normal-sized version of the shamisen in place of the heike shamisen, nut it should be carved with a capo device called kase in Japanese. In Japanese music, there is a buzzy timbre that is normally called sawari and this effect is adjusted by the use of a device usually found carved into the shamisen, and that raises or lowers the first string at the nut.

The bachi or the plectrum that is used for the playing of this musical instrument is also smaller and more slender than most plectrums that are used in playing some other versions of the shamisen. Whereas most plectrums are triangular in shape, the bachi of this musical instrument is more angular and square.

The heike shamisen is often tuned in ‘ni agari’ that means raised second. Normally the shamisen is tuned so that the first and the third strings of the instrument are tuned to an octave and the second string of the musical instrument is tuned to the fourth from the first string of the instrument. In ni agari, the second string of the instrument is raised to a 5^th from the first string of the musical instrument. A sample of tuning in the ni agari is D, A, D.