Resurrection of Bill Paying Tape

My boys will understand this title, even though no one else will.

For many years, Hiromi always played a certain tape of Japanese shamisen (shah-mee-sen) music while he paid the bills. It was one way to make bearable the odious task of trying to make too little money stretch for too many payments. The rest of the family would hear the music and try to stay out of his way.

For several reasons, in more recent times the bill paying routine changed a little bit. For one, when the boys started earning money, the financial noose loosened up a bit, and the soothing music was less necessary. Also, Hiromi did more of his bill paying online, and it was easier to play other music on the computer than to get the tape player with his special tape relocated to the study where his computer is. Besides, after years of use, Hiromi was afraid the tape would wear out, and he could not find that same music offered anywhere online anymore. So he saved it.

He had checked around a bit and found one company that would convert the tape to a CD for $40.00. Too expensive. He also located equipment that would allow him to do the job himself. $400.00. Way too expensive. But yesterday he hit pay dirt. An online source offers to do it for $10.00. Just right. Now all he has to do is work up the courage to offer his precious tape to the postal service for shipping.

To celebrate the new development, Hiromi played the bill paying tape yesterday. Not only that, he got out his book of shamisen music and dreamed again of really getting good at playing his very own shamisen, which is at home right now in a cupboard in our bedroom--occupying space over the stairway landing in the hall. He observed that he really needs a good carrying case for the shamisen, and that he really needs a playing partner because most of the music is written for two instruments.

"That might not be your style," he said, eyeing me, and then went on to explain what he was dreaming of--doing as they do in Japan--playing at festivals and fairs, behind a money collection container. Definitely not my style. He checked with Grant. He's happy to stick with his guitar. Maybe Shane will learn to play the shamisen. "I just need someone to play the chords in between the runs," Hiromi said. "That shouldn't be too hard."

"What does a shamisen cost--$3,000.00?" I asked.

"No. Not that much," he answered, but he did not specify an exact amount--which leads me to believe it could be quite expensive.

Hiromi's shamisen got a new lease on life the year he and Joel traveled to Japan together after Joel got old enough and rich enough to pay his own way. The shamisen went along to Japan.

A shamisen is roughly shaped like a guitar, but smaller. The "head" end has richly decorated silk fabric covering the wood sides, and leather made from cat skin is stretched tightly across the top from side to side. In the dry Kansas air, the cat skin had cracked, and made the instrument unusable. When Hiromi got to Kyoto, he looked up an instrument repair shop, and, with the extraordinary effort of the shopkeeper, got it repaired in time to take the shamisen along home.

He's practiced playing it occasionally since then. Nothing in the "music" looks recognizable at all--to me, that is.

I'm happy to have the shamisen and the shamisen music as part of life in this household--as long as looking and listening is all that is required of me. And I'm happy for Hiromi that the bill paying tape is about to have a conversion experience. Hiromi might learn to like bill paying yet. So far, I'm not betting on the chances for future shamisen concerts at festivals. I'm willing to vouch for the fact, though, that every one of our boys right now could "see" their dad seated at his desk, paying his bills, if they heard the music of the bill paying tape.