Do you all know the instrument called the shō? Yes, it is the instrument used in gagaku that makes that “pwaaah” sound. You may know it from Etenraku. When Super Mario is played on the shō… what on earth is this? Even the sounds of Super Mario getting coins and mushrooms are reproduced exactly… Well, well, so the Super Mario theme was traditional music after all (not really).
The shō uses bamboo pipes to resonate metal reeds, so it certainly has a metallic sound, but I did not expect it to fit this perfectly. In fact, this shō does not appear to be a traditional instrument: it seems to have an expanded range and keys that make covering the finger holes more agile. In terms of flutes, perhaps it is like a modern flute with Boehm-system keys, whereas the flute traverso is the traditional shō. In Japan, the koto world has also expanded instruments with the seventeen-string and thirty-string koto; China is similarly enthusiastic about this area. For example, inspired by the Hungarian cimbalom, large yangqin with damper pedals have been made. This shō may be part of the same lineage!
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