Why is a shakuhachi so expensive?!?

[talasiga]

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Dan Parker, who made the shauhachi and who has made recordings playing the instrument, said that the flute was tuned to "yellow bell" tuning, which is thought to be the sound of nature but not right on western tuning. However, a chose approximation to the notes on the flute are: B, D, E, F#, A.

With a little effort you would get the scales for the following pentatonic raagas:-

B Shiv-ranjani;
D Bhoop (or transcribe Auld Lang Syne to D);
E Vrindabani Sarang (or transcribe Oro Se Do Bheatha Abhaile to E);
F# Malkauns (very Blusy); and
A Durga

You can find interesting traditional, jazz fusion and folk fusion renditions of them all on the net.

Try before you sell? What do you reckon? Been there, done that already?

[JessieK]

I ordered the book.

[Nanohedron]

Doug, on the shakuhachi, there are as many as eight holes, I have been given to understand, and which is considered the norm, and I've heard quite the array of melodic possibilities played, and well beyond the pentatonic. I would well imagine there are lesser-holed varieties of the beast, though. What I do know is that the name comes from "shaku", a unit of measurement generally describing the flute's length, and "hachi", or eight --the number of holes. To be honest, I don't know if that means six toneholes and embouchure and bell, or eight toneholes. I've never looked that closely. Anyway, my sources have always mentioned the "one shaku, eight holes" reasoning behind the name.

Where's Glauber when you need him???

i'm no Glauber but...

shakuhachi means 1.8 shaku. that is the most common length, so that is the generic name. there are other lengths, 1.3, 2.4 etc.

a shaku is something like a cubit, IIRC it was the length of the forearm from wrist crease to elbow crease.

AFAIK most shakuhachi are pentatonic and seldom have eight holes. Japanese traditional music is based on pentatonic scales and any diatonic or chromatic music in Japan reflects Western influence.

I stand corrected, then. Reading through this thread it appears that there are various tunings, then, which was my first hunch when I got up this morning, given that Japanese trad was based on modes, and I imagine it is still. If they're pentatonic, some of those modes use intervals that stand outside my usual conception of "pentatonic".

[rh]

If they're pentatonic, some of those modes use intervals that stand outside my usual conception of "pentatonic".

Pentatonic just means five tones to the scale. Much if not most East Asian music is pentatonic but they may use different scales.

From Infoplease.com ( http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0825989.html ):
"The Japanese use two basic types of scale, both pentatonic. The first, used in sacred music and common to all of East Asia, has two modes—ryo, the male mode, and ritsu, the female mode. The more frequently used scale, found also in Indonesia and S India, emphasizes semitones and exists in three modes, all used freely within the same composition—hirajoshi, the most important, roughly represented on the piano by the series ABCEFA; kumoijoshi, second in importance, approximated by EFABCE; and iwato, approximated by BCEFAB."

another quick intro to Japanese music can be found at:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/MUSIC.HTM

[Cathy Wilde]

Originally they were played by mendicant monks called Komusou who wore head-covering basketry over their heads --maybe you've seen photos of them.

I'm still trying to figure out how one fits 25 inches of flute under basket-headgear.

[mrosenlof]

Whoever said the Shakuhachi is 1.8 shaku is correct. 1 shaku = .994 feet or 30.3 cm, so 1 shaku, 8 "sun" is 54.5 cm, or 1 foot 9.5 inches, more or less.

Standard for the classical Shakuhachi is a pentatonic scale. Can't remember if it's 4 or 5 holes. As you might guess, I don't play the thing.

A saying about learning Shakuhachi is "Kubi furi san nen", meaning it takes three years to learn to move your neck.

I talked with a player once. The natural tuning of the instrument was the Japanese "YO" (sunny) scale. To play the "IN" (cloudy) scale, he did a lot of head movement to get the notes correct. There might have been some half hole action too. Both these scales are what we would call pentatonic minor, but the IN definitely sounds darker.

The notation is more or less like tabular notation. They show numbers which indicate which holes are uncovered. I'm not sure how note duration is noted.

The YO scale has intervals more or less like E F# A B D E
I'm not getting the IN scale without something handy to toot on, and I"m at work... It starts out F# G B and then something... The 'something' part changes between ascending and descending.

[glauber]

Originally they were played by mendicant monks called Komusou who wore head-covering basketry over their heads --maybe you've seen photos of them.

I'm still trying to figure out how one fits 25 inches of flute under basket-headgear.

It's a vertical flute; sticks out from under the basket.

[mrosenlof]

[quote="Cathy Wilde"][quote="Nanohedron"]Originally they were played by mendicant monks called Komusou who wore head-covering basketry over their heads --maybe you've seen photos of them. [/quote]

I'm still trying to figure out how one fits 25 inches of flute under basket-headgear. ;-)[/quote]

The shakuhachi is held vertically, points down toward the player's feet.

Looks Like Glauber beat me to it, with a better answer...

[glauber]

What's the story behind the baskets? I seem to recall faintly that these wore disgraced persons for some reason? Or maybe they just thought the baskets were a great fashion statement?

I found a Yahoo shak group:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/komuso/

Nice picture there:

[Ash.]

The baskets created a kind of separation or detatchment from the
world at large, it was all part of the medatitive process of the
instrument...a search for that one perfect sound which would lead
toward enlightenment...if only briefly.

[glauber]

[rh]

yup

[glauber]

The baskets created a kind of separation or detatchment from the
world at large, it was all part of the medatitive process of the
instrument...a search for that one perfect sound which would lead
toward enlightenment...if only briefly.

I think my confusion came from reading that many ronin joined the Fuke. At some points, the stories get mixed up (like for example, i've read that these ronin started using the root ends of the bamboo for flutes to make them sturdier so they could used as clubs. I take all this with a grain of salt, since i can't read Japanese and i imagine this kind of tradition gets mangled a great deal.

I've read in several places that Fuke himself didn't play flute; he didn't speak either, but carried a bell and rang it everywhere, and was able to help people attain enlightment that way. The monk that succeeded him was the first one to play flute.

The flute itself probably came from China. They still have 5 and 6-hole vertical slot flutes.

There are transverse flutes in Japan too, btw. I think they have 6 fingerholes. They often have laquered bores. Shakuhachi are made with laquered and non-laquered bores. The non-laquered tend to be the more expensive ones, and fewer people make them.

[Cathy Wilde]

Dang, I was hoping I could get one to cover my head when I played Irish flute. Got a gig coming up ....

Seriously, thanks for the info, and I hope I haven't offended anyone with my lame attempt at levity.

[Ash.]

Glauber...i read the same thing somewhere about the root end being
used as a means of self defence...Apparantly some of the wandering
monks were disgraced, armourless samuri...they were forbidden to
carry the trad weapons and so utilised the flutes heavy end...if needed,
of course on those long lonely treks on the open road.

i think this is a historical fact...but dont quote me on that...lol