Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Karmajampa wrote:

I have read instructions to make the 3rd hole smaller than the other hole. 9.5mm or 10mm with the others 11mm or 11.5

Can some light be shown as to the reason for this ?

I am making my flutes so far with all holes 9.5 with an average bore dia of 20mm. I find any pitch change with opening very small or un-noticable. Probably my limited experience. I like to play the 9.5mm hole and find an 11mm hole too 'fat', again probably my limited playing experience.

Certainly my flute making is benefited by my flute playing, and vice versa.

Thanks,
Kel    §

Kel,

That is a very good question. I have some thoughts about this. These thoughts are based on personal experience without any historical confirmation.

One possible reason for the smaller hole #3 could be aesthetic. If the hole is smaller, it can be located slightly further from the root. Therefore, all the holes are closer to being equidistant from each other. If equidistant holes are desired, the adjustment satisfies this aesthetic.

(It's interesting to note here that the modern Tozan school does not use a smaller 3rd hole. Many of the older Myoan Jinashi shakuhachi do not as well. However, the Kinko school does)

Also, on some flutes, I've noticed that the 3rd hole area plays with slightly higher volume, presumably because of the physics of the flute. Since a smaller hole can reduce the volume, I've often wondered if this was also a reason for a smaller hole.

Again, these are only observations I've had along the way. I'd be interested to hear observations as well as historical information that others might have.

Ken

Yungflutes wrote:

Hi Ken,

Mujitsu wrote:

One possible reason for the smaller hole #3 could be aesthetic. If the hole is smaller, it can be located slightly further from the root. Therefore, all the holes are closer to being equidistant from each other. If equidistant holes are desired, the adjustment satisfies this aesthetic.

I hung out with Fujimoto Tatekawa a few times in Tokyo. He's a modern Tozan maker who makes fabulous modern flutes. His Chi holes are as large as the others. We we're talking about the Chi hole size once and he mentioned that Japanese liked things very orderly. The holes were placed in equidistant so it would look good. As we all know, most early flutes have an extremely sharp Chi as a result. And since a smaller hole means a flatter note, this explains why Chi is smaller than the others. Even then, it's usually still very sharp on the older jinashi flutes.

Here's a link to a flute I retuned for this specific reason - http://www.yungflutes.com/log/archives/ … ntiqu.html

Mujitsu wrote:

Again, these are only observations I've had along the way. I'd be interested to hear observations as well as historical information that others might have.

Ken

I always wondered if the Ou notes came about because they were constantly shading the note to make it flatter. And, Perhaps one day, an unidentified Komuso said, "Wow! I really like it when it's really really flat!",  then poceeded to write it into the Honkyoku.

Peace, Perry

Thanks for the story Perry. It makes very good sense. It's interesting to see how conventions evolve.

Kel-
As long as you are happy with tuning, volume and aesthetics, it makes sense to create holes to your liking.

Since we're on a form/function topic, and if you'd like to open up a can of worms, here's one hole size plan designed to satisfy function:

On some flutes, depending on bore size, the volume from tsu up to hi increases with each note. One way to adjust for this volume discrepancy is to make 'tsu' (hole #1) the largest. Then, make each ascending hole slightly smaller. (Of course you'll have to change the placement slightly for the correct pitch) Flutes don't always follow this volume pattern. However, it can be interesting to be aware of volume along with pitch so you can juggle adjustments when the situation arrives.

Ken

Chi being sharp when all holes same size.....yes, I have noticed that on a few of my flutes, which has put me in a spin !

The original observation was from a "Blowing Zen" diagram.

When you are saying "to narrow the hole is to flatten it, conversely to widen it is to sharpen it", are you actually saying "to raise the top side of the hole is to sharpen it", or are you saying the overall hole diameter increase will sharpen it ?

I will be putting this to test on my next few flutes, that is, wider holes 1,2,4,5 and narrow 3. It may take me a few to notice anything.

One more question, 'do you find the wider hole easier to partially cover than a narrower hole ?'  Again I will observe this for myself but am interested in any personal view.

Thanks,
Kel     §