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Tube of delight!

#1 2006-04-24 11:26:16

Mujitsu
Administrator/Flutemaker
From: San Francisco
Registered: 2005-10-05
Posts: 885
Website

Kyorei Video

Hello everyone,

In June of 2005 I organized a shakuhachi benefit concert in San Francisco for the ARDS Foundation. We all enjoyed some wonderful music by Brian Tairaku Ritchie, Kiku Day and Shakuhachi Club SFO. Ron Nelson, the President of the International Shakuhachi Society, was kind of enough to shoot some video of the event. Since many of you may be familiar with the piece 'Kyorei,' I've included a link to this piece played by Brian and Kiku.

Many thanks to Suginami Aikikai for providing the venue!

Video - Kyorei

Enjoy the music!

Ken

http://www.mujitsu.com/images/shakuhachiclubsfo.jpg

Shakuhachi Club SFO:
Shig '33,' Yoonki Chai, Brian Tairaku Ritchie, Roger Rocha

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#2 2006-04-24 16:18:02

shaman141
Member
From: Montreal, QC.
Registered: 2006-02-02
Posts: 154
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Hi Ken,

Thanks so much for posting, awesome video, unbelievable Shakuhachi! I really enjoyed it! Do you know where i can get the kinko notation for Kyorei? Sorry to ask this in the recordings category:)

Sean


Find your voice and express yourself, that's the point.

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#3 2006-04-24 16:55:13

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Okay, Brian, it's official: your shakuhachi is bigger than ours. We get it. wink

That thing looks like it plays nice and low. It looks about as long as my 3.7, but with the diameter, I'll bet it's playing a LOT lower than mine. Where did you get that one?

-Eddie


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#4 2006-04-24 17:18:41

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

kyoreiflutes wrote:

Okay, Brian, it's official: your shakuhachi is bigger than ours. We get it. wink-Eddie

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way....or maybe it does. In any case hopefully you'll never know.

kyoreiflutes wrote:

That thing looks like it plays nice and low. It looks about as long as my 3.7, but with the diameter, I'll bet it's playing a LOT lower than mine. Where did you get that one?

It's a 3.2 that Mujitsu made. We bought the bamboo at a housing supplies shop in Japantown. The diameter is the thing that makes it huge. The pitch of ro is D. Therefore Kiku is playing a normal 1.8 and we are playing in (somewhat wobbly) octaves. We looked at the famous pictures of Watazumi spinning a similar flute around in a martial arts stance, estimating his height, measuring the length of his flute vs. height, and proceeded from there trying to keep the same relationship. Just to see what would happen. Because of the bore/length ratio it can only play otsu in tune.

Strangely enough Kiku had never played "Kyorei" before. She was sight reading. She's a good musician.


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

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#5 2006-04-24 17:28:20

Mujitsu
Administrator/Flutemaker
From: San Francisco
Registered: 2005-10-05
Posts: 885
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

shaman141 wrote:

Hi Ken,

Thanks so much for posting, awesome video, unbelievable Shakuhachi! I really enjoyed it! Do you know where i can get the kinko notation for Kyorei? Sorry to ask this in the recordings category:)

Sean

Hi Sean,

Thanks. For some interesting information and notation for Kyorei, check out this site.

I don't know what the copyright situation is for the notation.

   

kyoreiflutes wrote:

Okay, Brian, it's official: your shakuhachi is bigger than ours. We get it. wink

That thing looks like it plays nice and low. It looks about as long as my 3.7, but with the diameter, I'll bet it's playing a LOT lower than mine. Where did you get that one?

-Eddie

Brian and I worked on that flute a day or two before the concert. We saw a ridiculous piece of bamboo in a shop window in Japantown, SF. ...and well, you know.

It's an exageration of what a good wide shakuhachi can be. This flute is a bit too wide to be considered a decent flute. However, It's included here mainly to drive home the point that wide bore shakuhachi are not really any more difficult to play than thin bore shakuhachi. They are just different and require a different approach.

Ken

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#6 2006-04-24 18:28:21

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Last time I went out Bamboo shopping, I found a piece of Komo/kuso (?) bamboo that I almost bought. It would've been about a 3.2 +, with a very large diameter. I had just been looking at some of the spinning flute pics you mentioned, and was going off that. I'm going to go back soon, since they've opened a new wherehouse, and get a piece.

One thing to think about...I'll just about be able to reach right in to sand and remove nodes, lol.

Do you guys have any more pics of the flute? It looks great, Ken. I wish I had a flute-making buddy near me!

Oh...maybe, if I look at the video, I'll know more. lol.

-Eddie

Last edited by kyoreiflutes (2006-04-24 18:30:32)


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#7 2006-04-24 19:16:40

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Great video, folks. Brian, have you or Ken found that the bigger the diamter, the deep you can do keri/meri? Perhaps it's just mine, or something to do with the angles I cut it at (kind of off a bit, a little steep), but the pitch bend-ability on my 2.4 is huge.

Kiku did a great job, especially for sight-reading...that's crtainly the smallest flute I've ever seen her play. Thanks for the video!

-Eddie


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#8 2006-04-24 19:57:00

Mujitsu
Administrator/Flutemaker
From: San Francisco
Registered: 2005-10-05
Posts: 885
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

kyoreiflutes wrote:

Last time I went out Bamboo shopping, I found a piece of Komo/kuso (?) bamboo that I almost bought. It would've been about a 3.2 +, with a very large diameter. I had just been looking at some of the spinning flute pics you mentioned, and was going off that. I'm going to go back soon, since they've opened a new wherehouse, and get a piece.

One thing to think about...I'll just about be able to reach right in to sand and remove nodes, lol.

Do you guys have any more pics of the flute? It looks great, Ken. I wish I had a flute-making buddy near me!

Oh...maybe, if I look at the video, I'll know more. lol.

-Eddie

Eddie,

Here are some pics of another flute that is about the same size. One thing to keep in mind is that as the bore increases in width, the holes need to be moved closer to the blowing edge end. Look how far off my guesses were on this flute for the first hole!

http://www.mujitsu.com/images/fat2.JPG




Also, you'll need to fill in the blowing edge node with urushi mixture, glue/sawdust, bamboo ring or whatever.

http://www.mujitsu.com/images/fat1.JPG
http://www.mujitsu.com/images/fat3.JPG

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#9 2006-04-25 00:36:17

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

That's quite the flute, and much meatier than my pieces were. I didn't get to look at thier full selection, but next time.

It looks like, on yours, you had to give the "lip rest" area a sharper angle...did you? It's hard to tell exactly. I had to do that on mine, but I think I just messed up my angle, but it's hard to describe. They play, but with a high degree of flexibility.

SO, let me ask...is there a reason why you put so much dust/glue mixture on top of the ikegashi? On mine, I just tried to leave as much of the node on there as possible, although I messed it up a bit and got too into sanding. Next Time. Did you just not trust the durability of the bamboo without something extra?

One more thing...when you say you "guessed" about the hole placement, what do you mean? Like, you just kind of have a feeling for where it should go? I'm just curious, since you know I'm into these big flutes. Thanks.

Cool pics!

-E

Last edited by kyoreiflutes (2006-04-25 00:39:47)


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#10 2006-04-25 01:11:53

Mujitsu
Administrator/Flutemaker
From: San Francisco
Registered: 2005-10-05
Posts: 885
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

kyoreiflutes wrote:

That's quite the flute, and much meatier than my pieces were. I didn't get to look at thier full selection, but next time.

It looks like, on yours, you had to give the "lip rest" area a sharper angle...did you? It's hard to tell exactly. I had to do that on mine, but I think I just messed up my angle, but it's hard to describe. They play, but with a high degree of flexibility.

SO, let me ask...is there a reason why you put so much dust/glue mixture on top of the ikegashi? On mine, I just tried to leave as much of the node on there as possible, although I messed it up a bit and got too into sanding. Next Time. Did you just not trust the durability of the bamboo without something extra?

One more thing...when you say you "guessed" about the hole placement, what do you mean? Like, you just kind of have a feeling for where it should go? I'm just curious, since you know I'm into these big flutes. Thanks.

Cool pics!

-E

Eddie,

The chin/lip rest is at a severe angle. So much, that it's filed through to the bore. It then has to be filled. The amount of filler on top of the node varies from flute to flute. It depends on the shape of the node. Wider flutes tend to need more filler in order to play with comfort.

By 'guessing' I mean an educated guess. I start with a formula, mark the holes, then adjust from there. This particular flute is so wide that it really throws everything off.

Just so we're on the same page here, keep in mind that these kinds of extra wide bore flutes are made as experiments. They are basically one octave flutes. The second register is way off. Sometimes it's just fun to do something ridiculous to see what happens.

Ken

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#11 2006-04-25 11:48:22

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Yeah, my bigger flutes aren't so in tune. I'm still going to have a buy a 2.4 sometime, but for now I'm just experimenting. My bigger flutes are playing in 2nd octaves, but not in pitch. It's fun to play them still.

Thanks for all the info!

-E


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#12 2006-04-25 11:52:37

dstone
Member
From: Vancouver, Canada
Registered: 2006-01-11
Posts: 552
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Tairaku wrote:

We looked at the famous pictures of Watazumi spinning a similar flute around in a martial arts stance, estimating his height, measuring the length of his flute vs. height, and proceeded from there trying to keep the same relationship. Just to see what would happen.

Brian/Ken, what a great flute!  Weaponized, I suppose the military would call that a BFF or BFB... 

I'm looking at a couple of Watazumi covers and I think you nailed it!

Watazumi trivia question, if anyone knows...  I understand he practiced with the Jo stick (jojutsu or jodo or ...) for health or defense, but I thought Jo were typically 4 shaku long, so did he actually -play- pieces that size, also?  That might involve some seriously modified hole placement and sizing...

-Darren.


When it is rainy, I am in the rain. When it is windy, I am in the wind.  - Mitsuo Aida

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#13 2006-04-25 12:11:32

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: Kyorei Video

Watazumi-do didn't care about no stinking hole placement and sizing...



http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/6261/watazumidosoroshi4mc.jpg

Last edited by edosan (2006-04-25 12:12:13)


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

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#14 2006-04-25 15:07:29

shaman141
Member
From: Montreal, QC.
Registered: 2006-02-02
Posts: 154
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Hi Ken, Thanks for the link, great page! I have a couple questions about the notation though. Are the backwards c shaped markings-beginning after the second note a nayashi or atari? They occur throughout the piece....and at the top of the 5th line there is a kind of wavy line, do you know what that indicates?

Thanks for your help!

Sean


Find your voice and express yourself, that's the point.

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#15 2006-04-25 21:19:18

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: Kyorei Video

A suggestion:

Most of these elements become clear if you have a recording of 'Kyorei' to follow along with. Here's a link to a very fine rendition by Phil Nyokai James on his website. Nyokai learned it from Kurahashi-sensei, who learned it from his daddy, who learned it from Jin Nyodo, so it's a dead on rendition of that notation to which Mujitsu linked (which--although it's a beautiful, historic and esoteric thing--is probably not the best notation to use to learn the piece):

http://www.nyokai.com/music.html

The phrases are clearly delineated by the breath marks, and if one listens carefully, one can hear everything that's going on in each phrase with respect to the notation.

Try it. You'll like it.


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

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#16 2006-04-25 22:44:45

Larry
Member
From: Columbus, OH
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 58

Re: Kyorei Video

Great play along video.  Thanks for sharing Ken!

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#17 2006-04-26 11:17:09

Mujitsu
Administrator/Flutemaker
From: San Francisco
Registered: 2005-10-05
Posts: 885
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

shaman141 wrote:

Hi Ken, Thanks for the link, great page! I have a couple questions about the notation though. Are the backwards c shaped markings-beginning after the second note a nayashi or atari? They occur throughout the piece....and at the top of the 5th line there is a kind of wavy line, do you know what that indicates?

Thanks for your help!

Sean

Sean,

I'm not sure what you mean by the backwards C markings. The wavy lines indicate that you start very meri then slide up into pitch. If you listen along with recordings it becomes evident what is happening.

Ken


edosan wrote:

Watazumi-do didn't care about no stinking hole placement and sizing...

What's art without a little show biz?!!! lol

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#18 2006-04-26 21:12:27

geni
Performer & Teacher
From: Boston MA
Registered: 2005-12-21
Posts: 830
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

hi Ken
man, I love that flute.
do you have another one?
geni.
P..S it can be very useful in my neighborhood;-)

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#19 2006-04-27 10:07:18

shaman141
Member
From: Montreal, QC.
Registered: 2006-02-02
Posts: 154
Website

Re: Kyorei Video

Ken,

Good point, I will check out the recording Ed recommended. I'm sure it will clear it up. Kind of an impulse question I guess...smile

-Sean


Find your voice and express yourself, that's the point.

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