“What a waste of talent…this is awesome,” one Twitter user commented.
Visit any elementary or junior high school throughout Japan and you’re bound to hear the dulcet tones of a recorder, as it’s a staple of the music curriculum. Twitter user @oktj_ has taken it one step further and learned how to play the recorder with her nose. This is nothing new; people have been playing the recorder with their nose for a long time now. One man even played a game of Super Mario using his nose and a recorder.
No — what is impressive is that she can play two recorders at the same time. Not only that, she can play two separate melodies at the same time.
世界に一つだけの鼻 pic.twitter.com/XxUz1PTbhL
— はるか2号👃 (@haruka_2go) January 13, 2020
In the video, @oktj_ , or Haruka as she goes by on Twitter, is playing SMAP’s “Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana” (“The One and Only Flower in the World”). The song is one of the best-selling songs of all time in the Japanese charts and despite being released in 2003, it’s still well-loved and a staple at karaoke. But Haruka deliberately posted her video with the caption “The One and Only Nose in the World“, as both nose and flower are pronounced hana in Japanese.
It is definitely an impressive talent, and many people were keen to congratulate Haruka on her performance. “It’s amazing that you can perform different melodies at the same time! How long did you practice for?” one user asked.
Haruka replied, “I’ve been a member of the swimming club at school for three years now, so I had a lot of practice breathing through my nose.”
While her efforts at swimming club have definitely contributed to her talent, it’s clear that Haruka has been practicing for a long time, or at least since September 2018.
https://twitter.com/oktj_/status/1036873919427371009Twitter was full of mixed praise for the recorder performance.
“That’s an impressive lung capacity!”
“Wonderful!”
“Please teach me your ways!”
“What a waste of talent… this is awesome.”
“I feel like this isn’t the most productive use of her obvious talent.”
“Unbelievably, I actually watched the whole video. Thanks for the wonderful music.”
While many people were amazed with her talents, a lot of commenters were puzzled by the presence of a packet of sliced bread on the table while she performed.
“Does the bread have any particular meaning?” one Twitter user inquired.
“It’s delicious,” Haruka replied.
But if you look closer, it appears that she is using it to balance the left recorder, as it is slightly shorter than the recorder on the right. “In fact, I purposely ate some of the bread to get it to the right height,” Haruka added.
“I was so intrigued by the bread that I couldn’t focus on the music at all,” added another Twitter user. “When is the expiration date?”
“Three days ago,” Haruka replied.
And finally, the most important question: “Don’t the recorders smell bad?”
“I only use my nose for blowing out, so they don’t smell,” Haruka remarked. “If I breathed back in through my nose though I’d probably die.”
And Haruka isn’t content with just two recorders. “The next step is to add more recorders,” she commented on Twitter. One netizen remarked, “If you add a harmonica and play it with your mouth, you’ll have a full orchestra!” and Haruka was quick to respond. “If I’m using my mouth to play, I’ll have to try to play using my ears next.”
We’re certainly looking forward to seeing her efforts in the future. Perhaps she’ll extend her musical repertoire to include a two person harmonica duet?
Source, featured image: Twitter/@oktj_
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