The gottan (ごったん), also known as the hako shamisen ("box shamisen") or ita shamisen ("board shamisen"), [1] is a traditional Japanese three-stringed plucked instrument, often considered either a relative or derivative of the sanshin, itself a relative of the shamisen.
Differences
The major difference between a sanshin and a gottan is that the body of a sanshin tends to be made of a hollowed wooden cavity covered with a type of membrane, whereas the whole of a gottan – body, neck, and all – is made up of solid wood, usually of a single type, often Japanese cedar. [2]
The gottan's musical repertoire is often light and cheerful, including many folk songs.[ citation needed] Like the shamisen, it was used for door-to-door musical busking, known as kadozuke. [3]
Often the gottan is compared to the kankara sanshin, an Okinawan instrument related to the sanshin, due to its relative inexpensiveness (made from a used metal can) and ease of construction. The equivalent all-wood Okinawan instrument is the ita sanshin. [1]: 22
References
- ^ a b Henry Mabley Johnson (2010). The Shamisen: Tradition and Diversity. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-18137-3. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Experimental Musical Instruments. Experimental Musical Instruments. 1993. p. 35. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ Hugh De Ferranti (30 May 2009). The last biwa singer: a blind musician in history, imagination and performance. East Asia Program, Cornell University. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-933947-13-6. Retrieved 6 January 2013.