Madame Butterfly meets Urban Cowboy II

Jumat, 25 November 2011 Diposting oleh friant di 02.27 0 komentar

I've just been fiddling around with trying to get a video of the jazz combo mentioned in the previous post on YouTube. I think I may have figured it out. If it works, it isn't of the greatest quality since it was taken in low light with a rather small and unstably held camera, but can give you an idea of the sound of the instruments. Also, I need to learn how to edit video. I am really a novice in this area. If you click on the title of this post it will automatically link you to the video. 1000 pardons.

PS: If you read this post and the link works for you, I'd appreciate a short comment like: "Yup, it works!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiI9gnrfaKo

Madame Butterfly meets Urban Cowboy

Kamis, 24 November 2011 Diposting oleh friant di 18.19 0 komentar

My old friend, Madame Butterfly, invited me to a concert of traditional Japanese music recently. She is an artist of the traditional instrument known as the koto 琴、a kind of harp. Many people in Japan have an interest or hobby known as shumi 趣味, often in traditional areas such as ikebana, tea ceremony, calligraphy, traditional sports such as kendo 剣道, a kind of fencing, etc. English Conversation is another, less traditional, area of interest. Those interested in studying about an interest form groups around a teacher, called sensei 先生, who is a master in the area. Madame B. is the sensei of her group interested in playing and performing koto concerts. I was the sensei of an English Conversation group of which Madame B. was a member. At any rate, pictures are worth 1,000 words, so here are a few pictures from her concert entitled “My Life's Road”.