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Midnight Taiko Drummers at the Calgary Japanese Festival
Clips from the Midnight Taiko Drummers' performance at the Calgary Omatsuri as well as my interview with them. Pity the camera didn't catch the part when Jenny-san steals the mic and doesn't let go until several minutes after the interview was complete.
The Midnight Taiko Drummers are always a treat to listen to. I've heard them perform at Otafest as well as at the Calgary Japanese Festival. I didn't realize until I spoke with Jenny Zhao that taiko drumming is a relatively young art:
And here's their performance clips:
Interview with Calgary Omatsuri Talent Show Performers
I have a great chat with Bryan and Colton, who performed at the Calgary Japanese Festival's Anime and Talent Show last month.
Minna-san, gomennasai! All of my sites were down for the week because of a glitch with my WordPress 3.6 upgrade (wasn't playing nicely with WP MU and my primary WP theme). At last, here is my interview with Colton and Bryan from the Calgary Omatsuri:
A Look at the Piano Brands and Finding the Best Piano for You
A short post today, courtesy of Robert Estrin of Living Piano TV on piano brands and how to find the best piano for you:
A short post today. Robert Estrin of Living Piano TV talks about the major piano brands and how to find the best piano for you: Robert Estrin on Piano Brands:
Robert Estrin on Finding the Best Piano for You:
Robert Estrin is a musician, blogger and instrument collector. His website and Youtube Channel, Living Piano is full of helpful posts and tutorial videos.
Omatsuri J-Pop and Anime Talent Show Highlights
A break from programme order to show off clips from the J-pop and Anime Talent Show at the 2013 Calgary Japanese Festival.
I'm going a little out of sequence from the Calgary Omatsuri programming schedule, simply because I feel the need to stir things up a little. A new addition to the Calgary Japanese Festival programming was the addition of a J-pop and Anime Talent Show. This part of the show featured young singers from across Alberta. They each had a chance to sing one number earlier in the day. The talent show itself was the second last event on the programme. Here is a video compilation of some of the performers:
The performers featured are: Sierra, Rachelle, Bryan, Colton, Yan (YT: Blue Reminiscence) and Kathleen (YT: Irulanne). They performed "Tsukiakari no Dearest" - Camus and Mikaze Ai, "Hikari" (AKA "Simple and Clean") from Kingdom Hearts and "Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau" from Luna Haruna and Fate/Zero.
I also had the opportunity to interview Bryan and Colton, two of the performers. I'll upload that one once I'm done editing it.
Interested in checking out the featured songs? Here they are:
Hikaru Utada
Calgary Omatsuri 2013 Interview with Martial Simard
At the 2013 Calgary Japanese Festival, I interviewed Martial Simard, asking him about what it's like to learn the shakuhachi. This bamboo flute is sometimes referred to as a "Japanese Zen flute". It's got a soft-spoken timbre, much like Martial-san.
The third annual Calgary Japanese Festival - the Calgary Omatsuri - took place on Saturday, August 17, 2013. I had the pleasure of interviewing my classmate from the Calgary Japanese Language School, Martial Simard. Martial Simard plays the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute. Here is a snippet of Martial-san's performance at the Calgary Omatsuri:
It is sometimes called a "Japanese Zen flute". Chinese immigrants introduced the shakuhachi to Japan in the eighth century. This is a photo of what shakuhachi music looks like:
This musical instrument gets its name from the following kanji: "shaku" (尺) which is an ancient measurement (equivalent to 30.3 cm) and "hachi" ((八) which means "eight". In this case, it refers to another measurement, "sun". "Shakuhachi" thus translates into English as "eight hachi" or eight tenths of a shaku. Come to think of it, my iaito is measured by shaku and sun as well.
Here is my interview with Martial-san. Prior to our chat, Martial-san informed me that the shakuhachi must be kept in the shade, so please don't mind the shadows of the dancing tree branches. Or the taiko drum in the background. It was impossible to find a quiet spot. At least my microphone picked up Martial-san's soft timbre:
If you would like to learn more about the shakuhachi, or if you'd like to learn how to play the shakuhachi, please visit the International Shakuhachi Society website.
Martial Simard was the first performer at the 2013 Calgary Japanese Festival. The Calgary Omatsuri took place at the Bridgeland Community Centre on Saturday, August 17, 2013.
Related materials:
Beginner's Guide to the Shakuhachi - website
Blowing Zen: Finding an Authentic Life, Revised updated edition - book on Amazon
Blowing Zen: Finding an Authentic Life - book on Alibris
Japanese Music Institute of America - website
Shakuhachi Music on Amazon
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