工工四 – Karakui

Introducing okinawa-sanshin.net’s kunkunshi database

2010/01/312010/01/31 Haisai Richie1 Comment

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Upon hearing of okinawa-sanshin.net’s kunkunshi database my first thought was “cool, there’s finally a website that makes available kunkunshi for all to enjoy.” But, alas, the website is actually a database for existing kunkunshi books. Still, it’s a great way to search for a song to find out which kunkunshi book it’s in to save you time with your collection at home or if you’re out shopping for one.

All we can hope for in the near future is to see these book companies take the next step and go digital for say, Apple’s iPad. 😉

Sanshin Kunkunshi Database (三線工工四データベース)

KunKun4 Editor Screencast

2009/11/222009/11/22 Haisai RichieLeave a comment

Here’s a screencast for pc-rs.com’s KunKun4 Editor. I found a few things that don’t seem to be working yet (e.g. emailing kunkunshi, playback, formatting) but overall, this is an awesome tool available on the Web. Enjoy!

(I also have the screencast up on Vimeo.)

KunKun4 Editor – Simple Sanshin Source

2009/11/182009/11/18 Haisai Richie3 Comments

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Wow, this is pretty cool. KunKun4 Editor is a Flash-based Web app that lets you create your own kunkunshi to be saved to your PC or emailed to a friend. I played around with it a little and it seems to work very well.

(Via Simple Sanshin Source.)

Simple Sanshin Source requests your kunkunshi scans!

2009/10/282009/10/28 Haisai RichieLeave a comment

Kenji is requesting your help in sending him scans of kunkunshi. More information on how to send it to him can be found on site: Simple Sanshin Source. If he selects your kunkunshi, he’ll post it on the site with a “romaji translation and a small description of what the song is about.”

Website: Simple Sanshin Source

2009/01/252009/01/25 Haisai Richie2 Comments

Simple Sanshin Source is “an English-based guide to the Okinawan sanshin” that features kunkunshi (sheet music), lyrics, and tips by Kenji, a self-taught sanshin enthusiast. Given that I haven’t been very good at updating Three Strings, Simple Sanshin Source looks to be the online place to learn about the sanshin. There’s also a YouTube channel with sanshin tutorials so check it out!

Ryukyu Beatles, not an insect, rather, it’s the name of an album

2008/09/152008/09/15 Haisai RichieLeave a comment

Yup, Richie here at Karakui.com is a pretty big fan of The Beatles and it’s pretty cool to see their music redone with an Okinawan twist. The group of this wonderful album are calling themselves “Soul Gakudan” and they’re none other than Toru Yonaha (sanshin, fue), Kazunari Uechi (taiko), Yoko Onaga (koto) and Natsuko Morita (kuucho). (That’s Toru in the YouTube clip performing “Day Tripper” in Koza.)

The first pressing of the 10-track album—released on 6/18/08—comes with a kunkunshi (or kururunshi) booklet and is currently on sale for ¥2,000 at retailers like CDJapan.

Track listing:

NORWEGIAN WOOD
TICKET TO RIDE
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK
YELLOW SUBMARINE
OB-LA-DI, OB-LA-DA
DAY TRIPPER
MICHELLE
IN MY LIFE
NOWHERE MAN
HEY JUDE

Web: Uta Sanshin Circle

2008/01/272008/01/27 Haisai Richie2 Comments

Found a link to this wonderful website (kept by a fellow Mac user too 😀 ) in my referral log and I thought I’d share it with everyone. The Uta Sanshin Circle is a resource for those who live in (or are visiting) the mainland USA with information on classical and minyou classes. It looks like they’ll have their first meeting on February 10th so check out their website for more info: Uta Sanshin Circle.

Singer Kozue Chinen posts kunkunshi of her song ‘Imenshori Iijima’

2007/12/032007/12/03 Haisai RichieLeave a comment

In a very cool move, Okinawa minyou singer Kozue Chinen posted kunkunshi (musical notation) of her composition “Imenshori Iijima” on her blog along with the lyrics which are a tribute to her hometown. “Imenshori” means welcome in Iijima (Iejima) dialect and she also links to a YouTube clip of her performing the song.