Musicians?

[madelineanne]

Hey, yeah, for a long while I have tried to resign myself to the idea that I probably will not be able to play piano during my time with JET/abroad just because I expect there will be neither the room nor the sound insulation for one. I was once a piano major and know how difficult it can be to play a keyboard, too. Still, I have heard of people renting uprights, and I was wondering if it is at all possible in a rural area if you have a place of you own (ie, not a dorm-style apartment). I'm sure it's difficult and expensive, but when I worry about possibly losing my ability to play piano, I have to ask: has anyone heard of someone renting an upright piano in Japan?

[Kirari]

i would imagine your pred if they have an instrument they don't plan on taking with them would ask/inform you about it before deciding whether to do something about it. but some (read 1 or 2) of my friends literally opened their closets to find "oh, a guitar!" i'd imagine that's a fairly rare occurrence, though... there are tons of "recycle shops" but i'd imagine some people are either too intimidated or too lazy to go through the process of selling their instruments back. much easier to just leave it for the successor JET to deal with. (this is why i have a fair amount of junk i will never use, but don't quite know how to get rid of... D: )

Lol, reminds me of this:

[Roy Cadillac]

I've been a touring musician for a few years, and there is no real trustworthy way to transport instruments on a general flight. The best thing to do is get it shipped by a specialist company. There are a bunch if you google it. I have had drum shells come back flat due to the way airlines treat baggage, so if you looking to get your stuff to Japan then this is the best option. Usually they are shipped on water so it takes longer but at least you're guaranteed to get it in one piece.

[teabot]

Hey, yeah, for a long while I have tried to resign myself to the idea that I probably will not be able to play piano during my time with JET/abroad just because I expect there will be neither the room nor the sound insulation for one. I was once a piano major and know how difficult it can be to play a keyboard, too. Still, I have heard of people renting uprights, and I was wondering if it is at all possible in a rural area if you have a place of you own (ie, not a dorm-style apartment). I'm sure it's difficult and expensive, but when I worry about possibly losing my ability to play piano, I have to ask: has anyone heard of someone renting an upright piano in Japan?

one possible workaround is to this problem is to buddy up with your music teacher. you might be able to use the school's piano (every middle and elementary school i've been to had several pianos/keyboards) if your free periods coincide with the music room being empty or during the afternoon break or after school if the band isn't practicing. this will vary based on how nice/friendly your music teacher is, as well as your/your school's schedule(s), but it's one thing to think about.

depending on your location, there might be other places outside of your apartment/school to practice or learn piano, but obviously such options will be limited in the inaka, unfortunately... the easiest way to go about it is with is buying or ordering a keyboard or electric piano, but i know some people are picky about actual pianos versus electronic compatriots.

[ljoekelsoey4]

Hey, yeah, for a long while I have tried to resign myself to the idea that I probably will not be able to play piano during my time with JET/abroad just because I expect there will be neither the room nor the sound insulation for one. I was once a piano major and know how difficult it can be to play a keyboard, too. Still, I have heard of people renting uprights, and I was wondering if it is at all possible in a rural area if you have a place of you own (ie, not a dorm-style apartment). I'm sure it's difficult and expensive, but when I worry about possibly losing my ability to play piano, I have to ask: has anyone heard of someone renting an upright piano in Japan?

one possible workaround is to this problem is to buddy up with your music teacher. you might be able to use the school's piano (every middle and elementary school i've been to had several pianos/keyboards) if your free periods coincide with the music room being empty or during the afternoon break or after school if the band isn't practicing. this will vary based on how nice/friendly your music teacher is, as well as your/your school's schedule(s), but it's one thing to think about.

depending on your location, there might be other places outside of your apartment/school to practice or learn piano, but obviously such options will be limited in the inaka, unfortunately... the easiest way to go about it is with is buying or ordering a keyboard or electric piano, but i know some people are picky about actual pianos versus electronic compatriots.

i have a digital piano at home, VERY similar in touch to a grand piano, the weighting of the keys is perfect, and graded from the bass to the treble registers. got it first hand for £800 http://www.korg.co.uk/products/digital_ ... _lp350.asp

my point being you can get a very realistic electric piano for under £1000

[rm725]

Also a singer. I've been involved with Chapel music at uni for three years, touring etc. would love to keep going with it., or do some music with the kids, etc..

I wondered about a JET choir actually... it's a thought!

[aran]

Interesting thread guys!

I have a basic home studio and a rack of guitars here in Scotland. Recently, I sold off a few beautiful guitars that I wasn't sentimentally attached to, before I head over to Japan later this year. I also sold my big Korg keyboard. I have too much gear anyway, a spring cleaning was definitely overdue!

I'm hoping to bring a simplified version of my setup to Japan: laptop, interface, headphones and a small strip of keys for midi. Also, one of my stratocasters in two pieces in my suitcase! Hoping to pick up a cheap but good nylon string acoustic somewhere over there too. I guess I'm more of a guitar player than anything, but I like composing electronic songs.

Although I'm certain I'll be extremely busy, I don't want to lose the option to compose and record songs should I be inspired!

[Hawkeye]

Hey guys. I play piano (badly though, hehe). I'm in constant search of time to practise! Obviously i couldn't bring my piano over here with me... I weighed buying one for a long time, til I eventually did ... (sorta helped me with my recontracting decision too, lol) It wasn't exactly cheap, but with what we're making you can more than save up for it. I started playing violin a year before I came on jet, but i decided not to bring it with me when i was coming because 1. at the time i wasn't sure i was going to continue and 2. didn't think i would stay for more than a year and 3. can't speak japanese, so no hope of taking violin lessons right? WRONG! should've brought it, lol.
Sheet music.... yeah. I regret not bringing mine over with me. Should've. Mostly if i really really want to play something I find it on the internet, or i ask my music teachers at school for sheet music (they've been very helpful!) Or, a lot of bookshops have a sheet music section which is great! So don't worry about it too much, you'll always find something to play!

[drock]

Interesting thread guys!

I have a basic home studio and a rack of guitars here in Scotland. Recently, I sold off a few beautiful guitars that I wasn't sentimentally attached to, before I head over to Japan later this year. I also sold my big Korg keyboard. I have too much gear anyway, a spring cleaning was definitely overdue!

I'm hoping to bring a simplified version of my setup to Japan: laptop, interface, headphones and a small strip of keys for midi. Also, one of my stratocasters in two pieces in my suitcase! Hoping to pick up a cheap but good nylon string acoustic somewhere over there too. I guess I'm more of a guitar player than anything, but I like composing electronic songs.

Although I'm certain I'll be extremely busy, I don't want to lose the option to compose and record songs should I be inspired!

I don't know if you know, but it's pretty easy to find cheap musical instruments over here because of places like Ochanomizu in Tokyo. Ochanomizu is known for a street lined with guitar shops and musical equipment. Oh, and used equipment is usually in really good condition here. My band mate bought a Fender hot rod deluxe super cheap at a music shop in Narita and I bought a $1800 Roland TD-8 electric drum set for 80,000 yen. A freaking steal.

[aran]

I don't know if you know, but it's pretty easy to find cheap musical instruments over here because of places like Ochanomizu in Tokyo. Ochanomizu is known for a street lined with guitar shops and musical equipment. Oh, and used equipment is usually in really good condition here. My band mate bought a Fender hot rod deluxe super cheap at a music shop in Narita and I bought a $1800 Roland TD-8 electric drum set for 80,000 yen. A freaking steal.

Thanks for that drock, it sounds pretty awesome. I'm not sure if my placement will make places like Ochanomizu very accessible to me but I have heard many good things about used musical instruments in Japan. I may just not bother taking an electric guitar over with me initially (us UK JETs have a 20kg weight limit on each of our two bags). My brother will hopefully visit sometime in the first six months, so he could always bring one over should I be stuck. Can't believe the deal you got on your drums, unreal.

[JupiterStar]

Soooo late to the party here, but yay!!! Other musicians!!! I majored in opera for my undergrad and popular music studies, performance emphasis for my master's, so I'm another no-you-don't-understand-I-HAVE-to-have-my-music-stuff person for sure ^_^. I've been singing for my whole life, playing flute pretty seriously as a secondary instrument for most of it, and also do passably well with guitar, piano, ukulele, autoharp, and violin; but obviously not all of those are coming with me, just the guitar and flute, and maybe the ukulele if I have room to ship it with my sheet music and winter clothes. Hearing that there are inexpensive instrument shops is a HUGE relief, I was worried I was going to lose all my violin and piano ability while I was over here, but if I can find even just cheap used ones that stay in tune and not much else...yay! Now, here's hoping I can find a choir and a voice teacher to keep my voice in shape.

Speaking as someone who had to move overseas temporarily before; no matter how many pages or how long it'll take to copy stuff, I HIGHLY recommend doing so and shipping mostly photocopies with just the originals of the stuff you know for sure you'll use in masterclass or pro settings. I found that, at least for me, photocopies actually took up the same or more room as my sheet music books did, so when I moved from Colorado to Scotland and brought along the majority of my sheet music with me, I just brought the books and binders. And then the bleeding postal service LOST THE ENTIRE BOX ON MY WAY HOME, despite it being the only box that I had tracking and insurance on. So basically, I had to replaced 70% of my sheet music, all of it the stuff that I used the most, and even with insurance it cost me a bundle, not to mention the stress and emotional toll being really high (I still haven't gotten all of it back, like the individual song sheets and some of the rarer stuff, and a large portion of what I have gotten back, if it wasn't an in-print book, I only have as photocopies that friends and teachers donated).

I still think shipping is the best and pretty much only option; I tried packing just the tiniest portion in my suitcase initially (1 exercise, 1 etude, and 2 music books apiece for flute and guitar, 1 large binder of vocal stuff, and 1 oft-used vocal rep book), and even that took up way more room than expected and added about 7lbs to my luggage weight. But I would think anyone who needs to have originals of their music for masterclasses and whatnot probably only needs a few select books and pieces for those situations, and the rest I'd say it's DEFINITELY worth the time, hassle, and cost to photocopy and ship over binders of copies just to be on the safe side.

And now that I'm done scare-mongering...anyone know of any good resources for finding local groups and teachers, other than just our school music teachers? ^_^.

[teabot]

just wanna share an idea i saw the other day. i was ridiculously early for a train one night last week, and as i was sitting on the platform at near midnight, i realized that off in the distance in a park near the station, there were two guys sitting practicing their instruments. one of them literally managed to drag his drumset (or at least a significant portion of it--it was far enough away that it was difficult to see) out there to practice where he wouldn't be bothering others. the other guy was singing and possibly had a guitar. so there's one solution to the poor noise-insulation problem, but it depends a lot on your area and the portability of your instrument. lol

[deepblue]

Thanks for this thread--we have a good group of musical people here!

I've been musically involved most of my life and while I used to play the cello and sing, now I'm mostly interested in song writing and the electric guitar. According to the Pre-Departure Orientation at LA yesterday, bringing any "odd shaped" instrument on the plane might be an issue, depending on your airline. An electric or Acoustic guitar doesn't fit the prerequisites for carry-on for our airlines, and I don't trust or want to ship/check my guitar over there, so I'm also in the boat of "must find a guitar asap" once I get to Japan. I presume Japan will have good music shops, the important question will likely be the amount of yen we want to shove out. We should keep each other in the loop and try not to get ripped off if we can help it!

Finding instruments aside, I'm very very interested in jamming with anyone who has an inkling of interest, and ideally I want to start a band once I'm there (the next Monkey Majik?). My major influences are classic/grunge rock and folk (The Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, Wolfmother, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, The Avett Brothers, etc), but I also like a diverse range of other stuff, including Japanese pop, electro, indie and so on. Playing/technique wise I'm pretty amateur yet, but I want to learn and grow musically with other JETs who love music while I'm there. I know sound-level and locale can be an issue, but I'm confident we can figure it out. Message me if you are interested, keep playing, and cheers to everyone

[positivity]

As someone else posted -- I have definitely seem people drive out to a semi-rural area with no houses immediately around and set up their drumkit to practice. As many people have said, build quality of houses in Japan kind of sucks and walls are almost always very thin. If you are near a large city there will most definitely be music practice studios where you can rent a room but obviously that's kind of a pricey option - the cheapest I've ever seen to hire a drum room was ~1000yen an hour.

[JupiterStar]

Sorry, totally off-topic, but I have to brag; while shopping, I came across a bunch of sturdy, well-made electro-acoustic guitars and ukuleles made from cigar boxes. After debating and checking them out for several days, I finally bought one today, pretty much just to take with me to Japan. Because it doubles as a carry-on.

As is, the cigar box part still works, and the guy who made them fixed it so that I can put things like fabric, books, etc., inside of it without damaging anything.

So not only is it smaller than my regular guitar and therefore DEFINITELY within carry-on restrictions, it IS a carry-on. I feel waaaaay too happy about this.