about / faq
Where am I?
Umm... you're at a website. ;P The Ramen & Rice website, to be exact. This site is dedicated to the violin and cello duo generally known as Ramen & Rice (R&R).
Who exactly are Ramen & Rice?
Ramen & Rice are sisters Kimberly and Michelle, respectively. Both of them enjoy music, anime, and video games. As a way of sharing their interests with each other and other fans, they bring their instruments along and play anime and game music themes in the hallways of anime conventions. You can usually find them near the dealers' room line, since there would be a lot of people appreciative of a little entertainment while they wait to go in. Both of them have been playing their respective instruments (Kim/Ramen on violin, Michelle/Rice on cello) for a number of years and only recently began applying their skills to playing anime/game music as a duet.
(Here's an interview by Akadot that explains pretty thoroughly what R&R are all about.)
Okay. So what's this site for then?
Because R&R is a group for the fans, by fans, they wanted an easier way to find out directly what people wanted them to play. This website is our way of simplifying contact between convention-goer and R&R. So this website will be dedicated to hosting R&R's ever-growing song list, a submit-your-request page, and a list of appearances they will make and have made. It's just a site (rather than a shrine) of all the necessary information.
Are you Ramen or Rice?
Actually, I'm neither. :) I go by the name "Kass" online, or Cynthia in 'real' life. But because I'm the most tech-savvy friend that R&R have, the duty of making a website for them fell to me. Not that I mind, of course. ^.^ I love their music as much as the next anime otaku, so putting up a site like this is really an honor for me, though they'd slap me for saying such a thing. ;P
What's Ramen's and/or Rice's e-mail? I wanna tell them something.
That's great. They really love to hear from people. So contact me and I'll forward your message to them. I know it seems like a lot of work and maybe a bit distancing, but it's a step we deemed necessary. Because Ramen and Rice are busy people like we all are and prefer to keep their e-mails private, if you want to get a message or question to them, you can simply contact me and I'll be happy to pass it along.
Do R&R have a CD that I can purchase, or any mp3s that I can download?
No. R&R have not recorded any music for the public and they have no plans to do so. To forestall people asking "why?", it's because of all the copyright infringement issues involved.
Where's the sheet music?
There is no sheet music. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. We do not have sheet music here. Do not ask me "how do I get the sheet music" from the list, because it doesn't exist here. If you've ever seen R&R play during convention, you'll know that they never use sheet music and they don't use sheet music to learn how to play songs either, since they arrange the music completely by ear. So we do not have sheet music here and please do not e-mail me, asking how to retrieve it. If you want sheet music, there are a few sites that I've linked to on the links page. Perhaps those sites will have what you are looking for.
How come there's no juicy biographical info about Ramen or Rice?
Because that's not what the site is about. As I stated earlier, this site's purpose is to create a link between the audience and the performers. All Ramen and Rice want to do is play what everybody else wants to hear. Thus the site focuses on getting your requests on what they should learn to play and informing you about what they already know.
Bottom line: this website is less about who Ramen & Rice ARE and more about what Ramen & Rice DO.
Got a question that I missed? Contact me and I'll either add it to this page or reply to you personally about it.