glossary
A glossary of terms used to describe the technical aspects of asalato performance, within the context of infolato.
Note: many of these are terms that I invented or adapted, and are not consistent across all asalato players. I have written it as follows to aid in organizing asalato techniques. Some of these techniques or definitions have no original term.
position
How the asalato are held, or what direction they are moving.
flip side/thumb side
Involving the gourd moving towards the thumb.
flip position
Holding the gourds with the free gourd on bottom. This is the "normal" playing position.
flop side/pinky side
Involving the gourd moving towards the pinky.
flop position
Holding the gourd with the free gourd on top. This is the playing position after catching a flip.
hand reference
active hand
The hand that is moving to execute the technique. Relevant for knocks, where both hands are involved in a single technique.
opposite hand
The hand that is recieving the technique. Relevant for knocks, where both hands are involved in a single technique.
free/held gourd
free gourd
The gourd that is swung around (not held). Always refers to the gourd being swung, even if it switches due to an air-turn or other technique mid-performance.
held gourd
The gourd that is held in the hand while playing (not swinging). Always refers to the gourd being held, even if it switches due to an air-turn or other technique mid-performance.
articulation
How the sound is created. If applicable, how the gourds are hitting each other.
strike
Two gourds hitting each other, in any manner. Used as an articulation-independent word for two gourds hitting each other.
hit
Sound is produced by two gourds within the same hand striking each other, through swinging the free gourd in the air. This means that the free gourd leaves the player's hand.
Examples include den-den and flip-flop.
click
Sound is produced by two gourds within the same hand striking each other, without swinging. Examples include click.
knock
Sound is produced by two gourds between different hands striking each other. Examples include knock.
tap
Sound is produced by two gourds striking each other: one that is held in a hand, and one that is currently in the air. Borrowed from kendama "tap" terminology.
shake
Sound is produced by the particles inside the asalato striking the asalato gourds inside, through shaking the asalato.
throw
Sound is produced by the asalato leaving the player's hand (i.e. the asalato is thrown in the air).
catch
Sound is produced by the asalato landing in the player's hand (i.e. the asalato is caught from the air).
body
Sound is produced by the human body, without involving the asalato. Examples include stomp.
These do not create sound, but involve the movement of the asalato in a similar way.
pitch
Techniques that involve changing how the asalato resonates in order to change the pitch. Examples include boca and finger pitch.
coil
Techniques that manipulating the asalato through the fingers, usually using the string. Examples include finger coil.
pose
A physical stance or pose.
rub
Techniques in which the asalato are striking at an angle to each other.
grab
Stopping the movement of the free gourd within a hand.
grip
Ways of holding the asalato. An example of an alternate grip includes goofy.
prevalence
How common is this technique (among the Japanese/online asalato community)?
These are from my own observations, and are useful as a metric for learners to see which asalato techniques to learn first, but these are not concrete views of how prevalent each technique is.*
core
This technique is used by all asalato players.
standard
This technique is used by high-level asalato players, i.e, it would not be out of the ordinary to see a high-level asalato player use this technique.
extended
This technique is used by some very advanced asalato players, but it is considered unusual.
theoretical
This technique is known to be possible, but has not yet been incorporated into musical phrases or rhythms.
difficulty
How difficult is this technique?
easy
This technique could be taught to a non-asalato player in less than 10 minutes.
medium
This technique could be taught to a non-asalato player in less than 1 hour.
hard
This technique depends on previous techniques to learn.
very hard
This technique requires active muscle development over a sustained period of time (such as thumb click) or requires a high level of coordination (such as very hard throws).
position
start position
The position the hand must be in to start playing the technique.
end position
The position the hand will be in after playing the technique.
dynamics
Relating to how loud or quiet a technique is.
volume
At what dynamic is this technique easiest to execute, with good sound quality?
range
How much can the dynamic be varied?
ease
How easy is it to play this technique at different dynamics?
rhythm properties
comfortable tempo
An estimated comfortable tempo to play the rhythm. Some techniques can only be played comfortably at certain tempo. This varies between players.
shake style
Whether the shake pattern is straight, alternating, swing.
handedness
Whether the shake pattern starts with the same hand each time, or alternates between which hand starts.
borrowed Western percussion terms
tempo
The speed of playing. Measured in beats per minute (BPM).
diddle
Playing two notes with a single motion; borrowed from rudimental percussion.
choppy
When a technique or rhythm takes a lot of technical ability and causes the hands to feel tired easily.
found object percussion
When objects not normally thought of as percussion instruments are used as percussion instruments. An example would be using a trash can as a drum.