Kabuki+Vocalists

=Kabuki Vocalists= By: Josh Ingle The Japanese art of Kabuki, much like Kathakali of India, is heavily dependent on music provided by an orchestra onstage. The musicians and actors have an intensely reciprocal relationship. According to Kabuki historian, Earle Ernst, the music of Kabuki rises out of the actor, and can be seen through his movement and actions. The actors are not dictated by the music, contrarily, the actor serves as a conductor to the musicians. Kabuki was originally a dance form, and over the years ( minus the addition of narrative text and dramatic interactions) has not changed much.(Ernst)

A Bunraku Puppet and It's puppeteer

In ancients Doll theater styles (such as Bunraku), which heavily inspired the Kabuki art, there was a chanter (a man who sang or read the text of the play aloud) accompanied by a shamisen player.These musicians were known as //Chobo//, meaning "to come out" or "to declaim". These musicians would accompany the dolls onstage and relay to the audience what was going on, as well as what the characters were saying. They performed on a small rotating platform on stage left, equipped with a beautiful lacquered plaque used to hold the show's text. In Kabuki, a similar set up exists as well as a few others.(Ernst) There are two types of music performed on the Kabuki stage, called the //debayashi//. Within the //debayashi//, there are two groups: the //nagauta// and the //joruri//. //Nagauta// consists of an orchestra accompanied song or chant, which would be located on a tiered platform at the back of the stage called an //atoza (Gunji)//. Joruri, is similar to //chobo//, in that it consists of highly dramatic recitations with a shamisen accompinament, located on stage left on a small platforms.(Ernst) The singers/chanters, the shamisen, and the actors voice all share a aural continuity, which provides a fluid like flow between the three sources of music.When one finishes, another takes its place. The Kabuki vocalists, perched on the //atoza//, usually consist of two singers (sometimes more) who announce whats happening in the scene or what a character is feeling. The actors themselves serve as vocalists, in that their dialects and differentiation of tone are extremely music like in quality. If there is //joruri// used in the play, the chanter and Shamisen accompinance will be located on the previously discussed, stage left platform, called a //yamadai// (Gunji)//.// This chanter will provide a dramatic reading of the events taking place during the show but never really sings. They exist more as an accompanied accompanance. In both of the mentioned music forms, the instruments (drums and shamisens) parallel the vocals very intensely, and help to bring out the recitations of the singers and chanters. Years of training is required to be a Kabuki vocalists or chanter, and in Kabuki, perfection and attention to detail is everything (Ernst). media type="youtube" key="Io5vITTsNpU" height="344" width="425"

Sources: -__The Kabuki Theatre__ by: Earle Ernst. 1974 -__Kabuki__ by: Masakatsu Gunji. 1985 -__Google Images__ -__Youtube__