Session 1, find more koto in this sound pack. The recorder wasn't optimally placed in the session 1 recording, so sometimes you might hear some low impact noises transitioning through the table to the recorder. Some EQ (low cut) should be able to fix this.

We went to my friend's father to record a Koto, a traditional Japanese zither-like (table harp) instrument, consisting of a large wooden base with long strings for plucking. The strings are tuned in the Japanese pentatonic scale, allowing a mystic, mysterious, beautiful harmony. It was my first time ever playing this instrument, so don't expect wonders lol. But I tried to "feel" the instrument as well as I could, working from my limited keyboard and guitar playing skills. I improvised simple patterns, and also tried to work with call and response ideas, and bass notes, plucking the low strings with my fingers, and then plucking the high ones with a pick. Happy listening, chopping, and remixing!

In Kashiwa, Chiba, east of Tokyo. Mid October 2016.
Zoom H2n Stereo MS recording in 96Khz, 24Bit.

Comments

• 
  LotharHelgisson 1 year, 4 months ago

  And here is the second part of the project, set in the same location and using the same down-pitched tone. Thanks yet again for recording!

  https://youtu.be/3RwllTRwlyQ
• 
  LotharHelgisson 1 year, 4 months ago

  I used this sound again as an ambient background, this time in the first two parts of an audio roleplay series. I slowed the piece down a lot, which also changed the pitch, and it created a very interesting sound like strange harp music. It really added to the feel of the finished project. Thanks again for recording it!

  Here is how it got used this time:
  https://youtu.be/SZjADcI-xUw
• 
  LotharHelgisson 2 years ago

  I used this piece (with some minor alterations) as background music for an apothecary shop in an audio RP/ASMR video I completed recently. It blended perfectly into the rest of the ambient atmosphere I was trying to create. Many thanks for recording it!

  Here is how it got used:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeiYTi6w9YE
• 
  ralphhoyte 3 years, 10 months ago

  Great! Used it for my 2 1/2 hr long epic Gothic ballad Christabel Released: I was looking for a harp, but found the sound of the koto perfect for a Gothic setting, especially as the ballad could then have Japanese associations! https://ralphhoyte.bandcamp.com/album/christabel-released and https://ralphhoyte.hearnow.com/ Many thanks!
• 
  woodlandsounds 4 years, 4 months ago

  Beautiful, just beautiful. thank you so much

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