traditional Japanese music Traditional Japanese music is the folk or traditional music of Japan. Japan's Ministry of Education classifies as a category separate from other traditional forms of music, such as (court music) or (Buddhist chanting), but most ethnomusicolog ...

, ''sawari'' is the name of a buzzy sound quality, or

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...

, that is often found in and/or expected of certain traditional

stringed instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...

s. In the

shamisen The , also known as the or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...

, for example, the sound quality is produced by the first, or lowest string, which is purposely laid lower than the rest of the strings at the

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

of the instrument. This placement of the string allows the string not only to have a characteristic buzzy timbre, but it also allows it to resonate sympathetically when the other strings are plucked. In modern versions of the instrument, the

neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...

of the shamisen is equipped with an adjustment device that allows the player to raise or lower the 1st string at will, thereby adjusting the quality of the "sawari." The device itself is often called "sawari" by shamisen players and makers. The

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...

, particularly the

satsuma biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during ...

is another Japanese instrument which is known for its sawari. The make of the instrument is such that the strings are stopped by pulling them between frets that are raised centimeters from the neck of the instrument, allowing the player to create the desired sawari effect at each fret. Sawari was first found in the biwa, and this quality was a desirable trait that biwa players wanted to reproduce in the shamisen. Thus, players began to use oversized plectrums for the shamisen instead of the fingers, and the 1st string was purposely laid lower at the nut of the instrument so that it purposely vibrated against the wood of the instrument, producing the desired buzzing sound quality. Japanese composer

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Toru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...

has written that the term sawari may signify both "to touch" and "obstacle," and suggests that the sawari may be taken as "an intentional inconvenience that creates a part of the expressiveness of the sound."

References

{{Timbre Japanese traditional music Timbre

See also

References