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Shakuhachi

10K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  kymarto 
#1 ·
I was searching Garzone on the tube and I found this:



I've heard the sound before but never knew the name or anything. I really dig the sound, its a nice flavour.

Anyone have one, played one? Experiences?
 
#4 ·
I play, and they are all hand made, so you can get a real wide spectrum of instruments. Basically it is very hard to play. The Japanese say that it takes a couple of years in order to get a sound, but that is an exaggeration- I got a decent sound in about 5 minutes of farting around with it.

I believe one Japanese instrument mass-produced a plastic version of a shakuhachi, which was easier to play...maybe Zen-on?
 
#5 ·
I play, and they are all hand made, so you can get a real wide spectrum of instruments. Basically it is very hard to play. The Japanese say that it takes a couple of years in order to get a sound, but that is an exaggeration- I got a decent sound in about 5 minutes of farting around with it.

I believe one Japanese instrument mass-produced a plastic version of a shakuhachi, which was easier to play...maybe Zen-on?
Where did you get a hold of one, and learn? Self taught? Where did you first find out about them?
I'm curious
 
#6 ·
I learned of the shakahachi, (means 1 ft. 8 in.), in the mid 60's from a Canadian music prof. He studied the end blown flute in Japan. I took a course of lessons and started to learn how to read the Japanese musical notation. It was interesting but I never followed up on it. Last year, I met a childhood friend who has made a couple of shaks and gives the occasional lesson. He lives in Victoria. BC. and sounds pretty good on it.

The instrument is made from the root end of a fairly thick piece of bamboo. The inside is smoothed out a polished to perfection. There's a little "nick" at the top of the piece which you blow over and it takes a bit of practice to find just the right angle, etc. Played by a master, they can sound incredible.
 
#7 ·
#11 ·
Resurrecting this thread.

Yes, I made them in the past, no time at the moment.

I visited Monty and tried his shakulute headjoints. They work well and do give the blowing feel of a shakuhachi to the standard flute, and it is quite different than a normal flute headjoint, including the sound. You can also do standard shakuhachi techniques, including meri and kari (kind of like rolling the flute in and out to vary the pitch and the tone), plosive sounds, etc.

What you can't do is all the half-holing and shading that is possible only with non-keyed fingerholes; however this will give a whole different tone-color to your flute playing. Be aware, however, that all endblown flutes like this are going to play sharp in the third octave, although you will be reasonably in tune up to F3 or so. I have an okuralo (playing it in my avatar), which is basically a Boehm flute with a metal shakuhachi head, and I really like it. Monty's shakulutes sound almost exactly the same. You'll need to get some kind of thumbrest for the right thumb to support the instrument vertically; I think Monty has something for that.
 
#14 ·
You should at least listen to a real player. I play some shakuhachi, and also studied shakuhachi construction when living in Japan for 32 years. They only have five finger holes, so everything is done with shading tone holes and embouchure, called "meri" and "kari", adjusting angle to either sharpen or flatten the note. To learn to play shakuhachi well takes many many years. It is not difficult to get a sound, but to learn the fingerings, which often involve very careful shading of the holes, the traditional expressions, breath control and ornamentation is a very rigorous discipline.

 
#16 ·
I have played shakuhachi for a while now. I would also recommend the Shakuhachi Yuu as a great inexpensive instrument to start on. I have one I take to the woods with me when I don't want to worry about my main one. I would also recommend the Shakuhachi Camp of the Rockies as a great and fun way to immerse yourself in all things shakuhachi.

One of my favorite shakuhachi pictures -

Jaw Monochrome Monochrome photography Comfort Elbow
 
#18 ·
Put your mouth, closed, in the middle of the end of the flute. Roll it back until the bottom edge is resting on the indentation between the bottom of your teeth and your chin. Keep your lips closed and blow enough that your lips separate and allow an airstream, and aim it at the utaguchi (sharp blowing edge) of the flute. Change the angle by moving your head up and down and listen for a sound...
 
#20 ·
It is usually important to try one before you buy. There are well-respected makers whose flutes are generally consistent, but since each is handmade, there are significant variations even with a given maker. I once went to an exhibition/sale by Shinzen, arguably the most famous modern maker of shakuhachi. The prices ranged from $3000 to $50,000 (1990s dollars). I played maybe 30 of his flutes, and they were pretty consistent, but actually the most expensive was not the best, in my opinion. However that one had gold joint rings and was an absolutely beautiful piece of bamboo. The cheaper ones had various aesthetic deficiencies, such as less symmetrical root ends, joint spacings, etc.
 
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