In addition to noticeable differences in the size and shape of the instrument overall, its tuning, and the snakeskin, the shape of the ''chimi'' is one of the more noticeable differences between the Okinawan sanshin and the Japanese shamisen, which uses a larger, flatter plectrum, called a ''bachi'', which is held in the hand and often used to strike the strings or the body of the instrument in a percussive manner. The sanshin's delicate snakeskin could not long survive such strikes, and they are not used in Okinawan music. | In addition to noticeable differences in the size and shape of the instrument overall, its tuning, and the snakeskin, the shape of the ''chimi'' is one of the more noticeable differences between the Okinawan sanshin and the Japanese shamisen, which uses a larger, flatter plectrum, called a ''bachi'', which is held in the hand and often used to strike the strings or the body of the instrument in a percussive manner. The sanshin's delicate snakeskin could not long survive such strikes, and they are not used in Okinawan music. |