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The Satsuma Biwa
The information about the satsuma biwa is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is an introduction about the Japanese biwa in general, written by the well-known Japanese musicologist Toshiro Kido. The second chapter explains about the instrument satsuma biwa. The third chapter is about the tradition of story telling in biwa music. To go to a chapter click the corresponding link in the sidebar.
For in-depth information about the satsuma-biwa, you may visit the website Biwa Vocab - satsuma-biwa sound information system created by Junko Ueda.
This site can be best viewed by FireFox, Safari or Google Chrome (click to download).
CD: Satsuma-Biwa (ARN64577):
the recent solo CD by Junko Ueda performing traditional biwa music as well as a modern-style composition by Toru Takemitsu.
The Biwa Vocab is a vocabulary catalogue of the satsuma-biwa. Here you can find information about various playing techniques, about the notation and tuning system, the instrument as well as its history. Also, the Biwa Vocab offers you a collection of sound samples of the various playing styles in mp3-format. The Biwa Vocab has been created for anyone interested in the satsuma-biwa. However, especially composers, who interest to compose for the satsuma-biwa and would like to know more about the instrument, are invited to use this Biwa Vocab.
JunkoUeda.com is
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