Introduction to Midare

INTRODUCTION TO MIDARE BY ZUMI-KAI

            The instrumental group Zumi-Kai’s piece, Midare, is a traditional Japanese song that uses the specific Japanese instrument the koto. The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument that is similar to the Chinese instrument zheng and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. This instrument is what we can see brings an “Asian sound” to this piece. This piece is often used to soothe and calm.

            This piece begins calm and simplistic with a koto solo. Right of the bat, we can hear the dissonances that are prominent in Traditional Oriental music. The Koto instrument creates movement for the piece through the use of glissandos and ambiguity in the meter, or pulse, of the piece.

            Here is the link to follow along in this piece as we go further into this investigation of musical links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ8ZRg_gdhY