Ramen
and Rice, the sister string duo of Kim and Mich, started playing anime
themes at conventions just for the fun of making music. Then they
started wearing costumes while they played, people started recognizing
their work, and convention organizers started inviting them to perform
at their events. "It's exploded," said Kim about their part-time
musical careers. This trip took them (Cellist "Rice" Mich is on the
left, violinist "Ramen" Kim on the right) hundreds of miles from their
California home and the college classes they attend. The day before,
their opening ceremonies performance had fans cheering and shouting out
requests for music. "It's good to know that they appreciate what we're
doing," said Mich. "Really, we're average Joes, but we want to share
the music that we appreciate so much. We still fear appearing conceited
or pretentious about it. We don't want to look like we show off, but we
want to connect with people who enjoy the music we enjoy."
The
sisters need to work out their arrangements, since there aren't any
anime music "fake books" for cello and violin. "As the violinist, I
have to take the melody part, but Mich has to take the bass line -
which can be extremely complicated," said Kim. Mich added, "What's
important is not making he melody work, it's making the music work."
The sisters admit that their mother, who wanted to be a musician but
had to delay that dream when she had to raise her children, more than
encouraged them to take up instruments. Both started on violin: "I
heard the violin when i was six and I said, `That's cool,' and my
mother said `I'll get you a violin,'" Kim said. Michelle also liked the
violin at first, "...but my mother said, `Do you like cello?' I liked
it better because of the physical feel. It wasn't supposed to be a
duet." To which Kim replied. "I'm not sure." "She was kind of pushing
us." "Strongly encouraging." Kim said she'll eventually move toward a
biology career, while Mich wants to become a full-time musician, a
tough goal to achieve in an era when symphony orchestras hare having
trouble making ends meet.
Ramen
and Rice, the sister string duo of Kim and Mich, started playing anime
themes at conventions just for the fun of making music. Then they
started wearing costumes while they played, people started recognizing
their work, and convention organizers started inviting them to perform
at their events. "It's exploded," said Kim about their part-time
musical careers. This trip took them (Cellist "Rice" Mich is on the
left, violinist "Ramen" Kim on the right) hundreds of miles from their
California home and the college classes they attend. The day before,
their opening ceremonies performance had fans cheering and shouting out
requests for music. "It's good to know that they appreciate what we're
doing," said Mich. "Really, we're average Joes, but we want to share
the music that we appreciate so much. We still fear appearing conceited
or pretentious about it. We don't want to look like we show off, but we
want to connect with people who enjoy the music we enjoy."
The
sisters need to work out their arrangements, since there aren't any
anime music "fake books" for cello and violin. "As the violinist, I
have to take the melody part, but Mich has to take the bass line -
which can be extremely complicated," said Kim. Mich added, "What's
important is not making he melody work, it's making the music work."
The sisters admit that their mother, who wanted to be a musician but
had to delay that dream when she had to raise her children, more than
encouraged them to take up instruments. Both started on violin: "I
heard the violin when i was six and I said, `That's cool,' and my
mother said `I'll get you a violin,'" Kim said. Michelle also liked the
violin at first, "...but my mother said, `Do you like cello?' I liked
it better because of the physical feel. It wasn't supposed to be a
duet." To which Kim replied. "I'm not sure." "She was kind of pushing
us." "Strongly encouraging." Kim said she'll eventually move toward a
biology career, while Mich wants to become a full-time musician, a
tough goal to achieve in an era when symphony orchestras hare having
trouble making ends meet.
