Musician Performs Portion of ‘Nishimonai Bon Odori’ (‘Dance with the Spirits’) on a Unique Hybrid Instrument

A musician from Electronicos Fantasticos performed the traditional “Ganke” of the “Nishimonai Bon Odori” (Dance with the Spirits of the Dead) on the very modern Telesen. This instrument is an amazing hybrid of a Japanese three-stringed instrument called the Shamisen and a small CRT monitor. The music is made through static electricity and a conductive plectrum.

Telesen produces sound when a player catches static electricity emitted from the CRT-TV screen by a conductive plectrum. The pitch can be changed by changing the number of stripes on the screen and the wavelength using the controller on the neck of Telesen… This is not a Japanese Shamisen, but a Teletanese Telesen.