KOTO: Japanese musical instrument

The koto is a traditional stringed musical instrument from Japan. The instrument is analogous to the Chinese zheng, the Mongolian vatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese dan tranh. The koto is a national musical instrument in Japan. Koto is about 180 cm long and manufactured from a kiri wood. The instrument is constructed to have 13 strings that are strung over 13 movable bridges along the sides of the musical instrument. The players of the musical instrument can adjust the pitches of the strings by moving the bridges before playing the musical instrument, and they can use the finger pick to pluck the strings of the musical instrument, also called plectra.

The character for koto, even though is normally used. Meanwhile, often refers to another musical instrument, the kin.

The ancestor of this musical instrument is the chinese zheng and was 1^st introduced to Japan from the chinese world in the 7^th century and the 8^th century. The first known kind of this instrument had five strings that eventually increased to 7 strings. This particular musical instrument is known in the entire Asia, though in various forms.

When the musical instrument was first imported to Japan, the native term koto was the general term for any and all Japanese stringed musical instrument. Over time the description of the name could not be define the wide variety of the stringed musical instruments and as such the meaning was changed.

The modern version of the koto came from the gakuso that was used in the court music of Japan. This was a prominent musical instrument among the wealthy; the musical instrument was said to be a romantic instrument.

The history of the musical instrument in japan has been traced back to the 16^th century. At this period, a Buddhist priest called Kenjun, who lived in the northern Kyushu, started composing for the musical instrument, calling the pattern ‘tsukushi goto’.

The most crucial influence on the musical instrument was probably Yatsuhashi Kengyo. He was a talented blind musician from Kyoto that altered the limited selection of six songs to a new pattern music known as kuni uta.

A smaller influence in the evolution of the musical instrument is seen in the inspiration of a woman named Keiko Nosaka. She felt confined by playing the musical instrument with just 13 strings, so she manufactured some new version of the musical instrument with 20 strings or more.

The Japanese developments in the bridgeless version of the zither include the one-stringed version of the koto as well as the two-stringed koto around the 1920s. Goro Morita manufactured a new type of the two-stringed goto. On this version, a player would push down buttons above the metal strings like the western autoharp. The instrument was named taisho goto after the Taisho period.

At the starting part of the Meiji Era, 1868 to 1912, western music was introduced to Japan. A blind performer, innovator and composer, Michio Miyagi, is considered to have been the first man from japan to combine western music with the traditional music of koto. Largely he is regarded as being responsible for keeping the musical instrument alive when traditional arts of Japan were replaced by the westernization and forgotten. He wrote more than 300 new works for the musical instrument before he died in a train crash at the age of 62. He also was the inventor of the 17-stringed bass version of the musical instrument, provided new playing styles, advanced traditional forms and increased the popularity of the musical instrument.

A koto is manufactured of Paulownia wood. The treatment of the instrument before making the instrument differs tremendously: one producer of the musical instrument seasons the wood probably for a complete year on the roof of the roof. Some wood may have small treatment. The musical instrument may or may not be ornamented; some decorations are inlays of ivory and ebony, the shell of tortoise and the metal figure.

The bridge of the instrument is often manufactured of ivory, but in the modern days, plastic are typically used. A player of the musical instrument can change the pitch of the instrument’s string by manipulating or moving the bridge of the koto. For some very low notes, there are small bridges manufactured, and specialty bridges that has three various heights, depending on the necessity of the tuning. Some players of the koto may use an emergency measure, using the bridge of the instrument upside down, when small bridge is not available for some very low notes. Such arrangement is not stable and the bridge of the instrument has the tendency of falling down.

The strings of the musical instrument are manufactured from a many materials. Various kinds of plastic strings are popular on the koto. Silk strings are still found on the instrument. The silk strings are often yellow in color, though they can cost more and are not so long-lasting, but it has claimed to be more musical. the strings of the koto are tied with a half hitch to a roll of paper, approximately the size of a cigarette butt, strung via the holes at the instrument’s head, threaded through the holes at the back of the instrument, tightened and knotted with the use of a special knot. Special machine can be used in the knotting of the instrument’s strings, though they are normally done with the hands. One can tighten the string of the koto by pulling the string from the behind, or sitting at the side of the musical instrument, even though the latter is much difficult and needs much strength from the arm.

The influence of the western pop music in the Japanese world has made this musical instrument less popular, even though the instrument is still developing as a music instrument. The 17-string bass version of the musical instrument called jūshichi-gen in Japanese has become more popular over the years since it was developed by Miyagi Michio. Also ther are 20-string, 21-string and the 25-string versions of the musical instrument.

Popular solo performers outside of Japan include the koto master and award winning artist called Elizabeth Falconerwho also studied for ten years at the esteemed Sawai Koto School in Tokyo, and also Linda Kako Caplan, a Canadian grandmaster.In March 2010, the musical instrument received general international attention when a video associated by the Grammy Award-winning hard rock band tool on its website turned into a viral hit.