Chiff and Fipple Forums

-Just curious. I hear they're difficult to learn but their sound is sure fine.

Howaya Brian,

I play shakuhachi. There's a knack to it, but if you have one sitting around you for a while you'll get some sort of sound to work with before too long. These moulded plastic practice shakuhachi are good: they have a tapered bore so are a bit more like a real one than the straight bore PVC practice instruments, and they are very sturdy/ don't need worry about moisture etc:

http://www.shakuhachiyuu.com/

$110 and worth it.

Regards,

Harry

Hello,

I studied Kinko-ryu shakuhachi for 4 years.
I don't play any more, but I would always suggest Monty Levenson's student flutes.

They are a little more expensive, but my teacher thought they were so good he sent for a couple from the US after playing mine.

http://www.shakuhachi.com/

Mukade

Here's a nice honkyoku piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUfFjjNYEzE

Cheers,

H

Thanks for posting that, Harry. Nice stuff.

I mess around with the shakuhachi from time to time...I wouldn't say that I "play" it. The technique takes some getting used to, to be sure, but when you manage to get your first really nice, reedy low D from a shakuhachi, it's a very satisfying feeling.

Back when I used to live in Santa Cruz, I went round to Carl ("Blowing Zen") Abbot's house a few times hoping to get lessons. Carl was very, well, zen about things and told me to take my time and consider learning the shakuhachi a lifelong project. Being young, I was impatient for a big wallop of knowledge all at once, I guess. I play one of Carl's PVC jobs and it's surprisingly nice sounding considering it's made from PVC...Better than a lot of the cheap bamboo things you see being flogged off from ethnic instrument shops, anyway. Carl also showed me his basement workshop where he had a bunch of bamboo that he had harvested from Sado Island in the mid-'70s...He was waiting for it to age a few years longer before he began working with any of it. Anybody who's mystified at how a piece of bamboo with some holes drilled in it can wind up costing as much or more than a premium-quality full set of uilleann pipes needs to understand that making shakuhachis in the traditional way is exceedingly difficult, labor-intensive, and painstaking work. I have to admit, I'm surprised that there aren't more shakuhachis made from high quality hardwoods, as that would be a heck of a lot easier...I'm sure a boxwood shakuhachi would be great...And if it wound up getting warped, then that would only contribute to its wabi aesthetic.

I lived in Japan for more than two years and during that time, I searched all over the place for a shakuhachi teacher and couldn't find one. Then, two weeks before I left, I found out there was a fantastic player that lived just a few miles away...Damn...I'd still love to get around to really learning to play it someday, though.

I did have another interesting experience in Japan, though, that I can't resist mentioning. Once, during the height of a typically muggy Japanese summer, my girlfriend and I were invited to dinner at the home of one of my girlfriend's English students. Turns out the family lived in this amazing 300+ year old house that was full of beautiful (and most likely priceless) calligraphy and other assorted artwork. There were several other guests there and I found that the locally-brewed saké did wonders for my ability to speak fluid formal Japanese...though after a few drinks, there wasn't much need for it! We were served heaps and heaps of abalone prepared in just about every sort of way you could imagine. I shudder to comprehend just how expensive a meal it must've been. Anyway, it was festival season and one of the other guests was the town's most celebrated shinobue player who was there with his son, also a very talented player. For some reason, I can't for the life of me remember why, I just happened to have my flute with me. So, we got out our various flutes; I played them some reels and a slow air and they played some wonderful tunes for me in return. We traded instruments--I made a complete arse of myself trying to play the shinobue and they found the size of my flute a bit daunting--they were both able to get a beautifully clear and perfectly in-tune 3rd octave out of it with no trouble, though--not sure if I could say the same for myself...Quite a memorable night.

I've been playing shakuhachi for about a year now. I live near Boulder Colorado, and there is a very good teacher here, David Wheeler. There are really very few places in the US where a well qualified teacher is available.

There is an active forum community at www.shakuhachiforum.com

I had six years of flute experience, so I think I had an easier time than many getting a first sound. It's a challenging instrument, but a lot of fun.

Many US players concentrate on Honkyoku -- solo contemplative pieces with a historical connection to Buddhist meditation. Other major branches of study would be Sankyoku -- ensemble playing, and Minyo -- folk songs. My teacher's specialty is ensemble playing, basically Japanese chamber music from about the 17th century onward. Ensembles are small usually with some combination of Shakuhachi, Shamisen (a 3 string fretless banjo-like instrument) and Koto (a 13 string zither about 6 feet long). The string players often have a part to sing also.

There are also players who do a lot of modern pieces or play shakuhachi with jazz or pop groups of various types.

Oh, and one comment about Mr. Pitchfork's post. There is one maker that I'm aware of who is making high quality hardwood shakuhachi. His name is David Brown in Australia, near Melbourne if I recall correctly. www.shakuhachi.com.au

I have a 2.4 (tuning equivalent to an A flute below D - close to what would be an alto silver flute) made by him from Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle. It's a nice flute and very reasonably priced. Brown says that working from wood lets him use a process that is much more standardized than working with bamboo.

My new jiari 1.8 shakuhachi made by Perry Yung:



Regards,

H.

Hi everybody

I've also been playing shakuhachi for a while !

I love the instrument , normally I play a 1.8 preWW2 for kinko,minyo and tozan pieces , and then play a 3.1 for more meditational playing .

Hi Harry , I like your Perry Yung's 1.8 .
Years ago I've also bought a 1.8 (jinashi ) from him , they are very well made and cheaper then most of the others shakuhachi made out there !

Sayonara

Manuel

Hey there. I'll be playing shakuhachi as soon as mine arrives. I ordered a sopranino recorder, a shakuhahci flute, and an ocarina. I'd say that qualifies as diverse insturmentation :lol: I belive there is alot of "Circular breathing" involved. I was looking at a some stuff on the net, and some notes require you cover 3 quarters of the hole; now that's precise! I hear that a skilled shakuhachi player can get the whole tonal range despite the fact that there are only 4 front holes, and one in the back (not as many holes as most wind instruments, of course).

Here's a bunch of sites:

http://www.komuso.com/index.html

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/shakuhachiresults.html

http://shakuhachi.org/

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... Dmp3%2Easp

http://www.sagamielectro.com/shakuhachi ... ereal.html

http://www.nyogetsu.com/index.html

Enjoy

Whistlerroberto