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I found a reliable bamboo source here in Istanbul and I want to learn the dimensions of Watazumi Hocchiku.
We need : Maximum diameter of mouthpiece , Maximum diameter of used bamboo and total lenght and the bore diameter and if available bore dimensions.
We found 2 inches to 5 inches or 50mm to 120 mm or 5cms to 12 cms diameter , and total lenght 2 meters long dried bamboo. .
your reply , your advise is very important.
Any advise is needed.
Thank you very much,
Peace,
Mustafa Umut Sarac
Istanbul
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Its all about aspect ratio- width to length. If the flute is too wide then it will only play the lower octave as the kan register will be out of tune..which can be fine...but it will limit what you can play. I believe many of Watazumi's giant flutes you see in some of the pictures are one-octave flutes. If you are going for a wider bore- which Watazmumi is famous for, have then length be on the long side. I would shoot for something with an outer diameter between 47-50. No wider than 50mm. Length, in my opinion, would be somewhere between 2.8- 3.5 shaku (84cm- 106 cm) if you can reach. With that diameter, if you go much shorter it will be more difficult to pull off. But Ken is known for pushing the aspect ratio, making shorter flutes within that diameter range...check out his Taimu flutes if you haven't already. This forum will have everything you need to know, so I would recommend spending some time and reading all relevant posts from over the years. I took about a month to do that and now I've bee able to make some really sweet Watazumi style Hocciku. Between reading the posts in this forum and making mistakes and trying different things, you will eventually be able to make some really nice flues but it takes patience and a willingness to make mistakes and learn from the process. Good Luck!
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For hole placement with longer wider flutes I have found this formula to work quite well.
hole 1: (starting from the bottom) length/ 4.47 = where to place hole 1 measuring from the bottom of flute.
hole 2: (distance from hole 1 to hole 2) length/10
hole 3: (distance from hole 2 to hole 3) length/10.90
hole 4: (distance from hole 3 to hole 4)length/8.09
hole 5: (thumb hole- distance from 4 to 5) length/18.09
Is the Bamboo root end? if not, try to get a piece that is cut as close to the ground as possible. the nodes get closer towards the roots and the bore profile will narrow further towards the ground which is ideal. Search this forum to find more about ideal bore profile. The larger you make the opening at the bottom the higher up hole one will need to be. I would recommend starting with an opening at the bottom that is no more than 2.5 cm if upper outer diameter is about 50mm. Then drill hole one. If pitch of hole one is too high, open up the bottom slowly as that will raise RO, and check. If hole one is too low then the hole itself will need to be enlargened. hopefully, this makes some sense.
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Dear my friend, Thank you very much for your posts. These are invaluable for me. I found an bamboo furniture maker and he said to me that lets meet and have a tea and than we find your bamboo. I think they have 2 meters long bamboos but I will ask for root end. By the way , do hoccikus done by dried bamboo or wet green bamboo. They have dried ones. I think this is the most important question now.
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I'm happy to help however I can. I have benefited so much from the hundreds of posts by other experienced makers on this forum so if I can give back in any way I'm very happy to do so. Again, there is so much valuable advice from some really reputable shakuhachi makers on this forum so I would definitely spend as much time as you can reading as much as you find relevant. It will save you a lot of time and mistakes in the end.
As to your question- Dried bamboo is what is used to make flutes. There is a particular process used to cure and dry the bamboo for shakuhachi which you could search for more on this forum. But dried bamboo will work. Likely a furniture maker will not have taken the extra amount of effort and energy to dig up the root end. I would assume the bamboo is cut close to the ground. So you want to search for a piece that has been cut as close to the ground as possible. The indications to look for is that the nodes will get closer together and the walls of the bamboo get thicker closer down to the ground. If he has pieces that are two meters then you can cut it to the size you want. Hope that helps.
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