World Shakuhachi Discussion / Go to Live Shakuhachi Chat
You are not logged in.
I went to a garden store and I couldn't help myself! They had this huge over 3 meter bambo logs.
I just had to get one. It's really nice.
So now I just need som tip on what to make of it. I will however wait until I have gotten a bit better at it.
Anway... The bambo is nice and cured.. hard as steel, with a bore diameter of 33-39 mm and an outside diameter of 43-52 mm.
I saw this big flute here on the forum. There was a movieclip. It was really nice. I'd like to try and make one of those.
How do I sort out the ratio between length and bore at this size? Should I do a short big bored one or a long?
I'll provide some photos of the boo later.
// Mr.T
Offline
Fairly long. A short flute with such a large bore is going to be very difficult to play in the upper register and the upper octave will be poorly tuned. Maybe in the 2.8 - 3.2 range.
Offline
I saw this HUGE bore 1.8 here at the forum.. dunno where the post is though. There was a video. It sounded really nice.
If I take a 30 aspect ratio I'll en up with a 100 cm shakuhachi or so.. Is that like a 3.2?
Has anyone got any good pictures of utaguchis on 3.5 cm bore shakuhachi's
Do you think Jeremy's tool would do good for this huge thing? I know the holes will be a bit offset because of the big bore.
// Mr.T
Offline
Toffe wrote:
Has anyone got any good pictures of utaguchis on 3.5 cm bore shakuhachi's
Some big'uns by Kinya Sogawa:
3.2 (pitch unknown)
3.2 (D)
An elegant 3.6 (D-not large bore; note the higher angle backcut of the chinrest...)
Offline
Toffe - FWIW, I've had very good results using the online calculator for my flutes. Longest so far is 87 cm or so.
As Ed pointed out, with larger bore flutes a more angled chin cut is necessary, or else the proper blowing angle will be painful or difficult to achieve. This may entail making an 'indentation' on the lower part opposite the utaguchi, which you can clearly see in the bottom picture of the 3.6.
If I can find some large enough bamboo I want to make even longer flutes. Maybe in Japan this winter.
Offline
Well... I've obtained a fairly large piece of what looks like uncured Chinese timber bamboo. Maybe 3.5" diameter near the bottom (no root) and about 2" at the top (ten feet up). I'm going to try to get even larger ones tomorrow. The picture of Watazumi holding the enormous 5" diameter flute is inspiring...
After performing abura-nuki can the bamboo be used immediately or is further air-drying recommended?
Offline