Traditonal instruments songs?

[Jpstw]

Hello, Im am interested in hearing and relaxing my mind to some traditional instruments the Japanese culture used in the past dating back all the way to the Medieval Ages. I think the main instrument im looking into is a Mandarin, the instruments you hear on usually Samurai or some type of Martial Arts movies?
Do anyone know of any music group or musicians who focus just producing either instrumentals or a women singing in it would be nice as well, anything would do. Thank you

P.S. a Mandarin is a type of guitar somewhat right :bluush: ?

[Rena]

P.S. a Mandarin is a type of guitar somewhat right
I thought it's a language

[Kinsao]

I think you mean "mandolin"? :?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandolin

I'm not sure that's a Japanese instrument, though... :clueless: the most well-known "traditional Japanese" instruments are the koto (introduced to Japan from China) and the shamisen. http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/music/musik40.gif http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/028.gif

The Wiki article on Japanese music has quite a long list of traditional Japanese instruments:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_music

Here is another site about Japanese traditional music:
http://jtrad.columbia.jp/eng/index.html

I'm afraid I don't know of any groups that play traditional music, though... :kanashii:

[Jpstw]

whoops lol yeah your right, sorry i havent got much sleep lately lol!

thank you on the instruments though lol,

[furan]

welll.... *stretches*

there are a few guys out there... naturally...
Joji hirota's a well established Japanese folk singer... but also does traditional japanese drumming and he's AMAZING... seriously, i saw him at this years woman and i was like.... O.O
he often gets a group together and they play stuff... including... i've fogotten the actual name, but it's the Japanese version of the chinese bamboo flute? anyways, it's very good...

Oki Dub Ainu Bando are great... i can't seem to find anything on them on the net which is annoying, but he's suposibly a world renound... tonkori(sp?) player... and he mixes traditional sounds with almost a regea type beet sometimes...

there's also Gou Yue... he's chinese and would blay the chinese bamboo flue (and actually has a recipie book ^^; ) but they're similar sorts of sounds, and his music is absolutely gorgeous, i was moved to tears when i heard him live...

actually a lot of soundtrack music incorparates traditional Japanese instruments... Joe hisashi who dose a lot of scores for the Ghibli Studios films is very fond of using them ^.^
and supprisingly a lot of traditional instruments are used in the Naruto soundtrack too...

THEN... if you really wanna hear some interesting stuff... there's a popular 'rock' band called Kagrra, who incorpatrate a mass blend of traditional Japan with the modern day pop culture... bringing in a merge of jazz beets too to some exstent. infact one of their more rencent PVs (promotional vidios) they feature umm... i think it's the Shamisen... Kinsao will correct me on that (shh don't tell anyone i didn't know :D) but it's not 'heavey' rock so if you wanna hear different sounds with traditional instruments, they're definatly your guys!

they're all worth having a look into... i think that's just about it that i know...
o, well there's Sada Masashi too ^.^

[Morning Masamune]

Gackt also did a traditional sounding song once called "Shimauta".
It also featured traditional vocals from a female chorus and older sounding male.
Oh, and the shamisen is rather prominent.

Random knowledge: Gackt opened his Sixth Day Seventh Night concert by playing the shamisen.

[taka]

Famous Shamisen players who I know are

AGATSUMA Hiromitsu (上妻宏光)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2urizgzIeKE

Yoshida-kyoudai(吉田兄弟)　Yoshida Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhfEEfUZFfE

[furan]

o, i've actually heard of them!!!!
but... where and why i have no idea.... :?