Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

amokrun · 2007-04-26 11:27:33

There has been some talk about small flutes - mostly as humor. Still, I am somewhat curious. How small can a shakuhachi be before it becomes unplayable? I think the smallest ones I've seen on sale were at around 1.3 or so. I believe it was Toffe here on the forums who showed me a 1.0 flute that was apparently unfinished at the time but seemed playable enough. Not sure about the tuning or anything but at least you could play it somewhat.

Is there some particular limit that would prevent one from making flutes smaller than some particular size? I would assume that tuning - especially getting kan right - would turn into a nightmare. I also have a feeling that past some size the blowing end of the flute would become rather small and it might get hard to actually hold the flute correctly.

ps. Toffe, still have that flute around? Care to post some pictures?

Last edited by amokrun (2007-04-26 11:30:01)

mrosenlof · 2007-04-26 12:25:07

I have a "C" tinwhistle handy, so I took the head off and played the tube shakuhachi style. It's 25.2 cm long. That would be what - 0.83 or something. My fingers fit OK, and I got something resembling a tone out of it easily. So I'd say you could do a bit shorter than this with a metal tube. Too much smaller than this and my fingers start running into each other, but that's a 6 hole whistle.

-mike

Tairaku 太楽 · 2007-04-26 18:28:58

How about this one? Is that small enough for you?

http://www.kokingumi.com/art.html

I had the distinct pleasure of playing it and it's fully functional. Fascinating.

amokrun · 2007-04-26 19:09:07

Tairaku wrote:
How about this one? Is that small enough for you?

http://www.kokingumi.com/art.html

I had the distinct pleasure of playing it and it's fully functional. Fascinating.

How far can you get with that? I would assume that tuning the kan notes, never mind dai kan notes, would be a real pain. With that size I'd be really surprised if it actually produces a sound that is roughly in tune with something. Still, I suppose that if you know what you are doing you can do things others believe are impossible.

Now what would be nicer than raising a tiny bamboo bonsai and turning it into a flute once it grows enough. I started growing some bonsai some time ago as many people recommended it for a good way to learn patience. Would be really interesting to see if bamboo grows thick enough in such setting. Most bamboo bonsai that I've seen have only barely looked like bamboo because they have been so thin.

Thanks for the link!

Yungflutes · 2007-04-26 19:53:25

Hi, I made this .9 when my daughter was 2 months old. It's about 10" long. The aspect ratio would make this a wide bore shakuhachi

The tonic is Kan no Ro on a 1.8. It plays well up to the middle of Kan. Above that, everything is flat. I figured it would take her a few years to be able in kan anyway:)
Namaste, Perry

Tairaku 太楽 · 2007-04-26 20:18:40

amokrun wrote:
Tairaku wrote:
How about this one? Is that small enough for you?

http://www.kokingumi.com/art.html

I had the distinct pleasure of playing it and it's fully functional. Fascinating.
How far can you get with that? I would assume that tuning the kan notes, never mind dai kan notes, would be a real pain. With that size I'd be really surprised if it actually produces a sound that is roughly in tune with something. Still, I suppose that if you know what you are doing you can do things others believe are impossible.

When I said fully functional I mean fully functional. I played Kumoijishi on it, including meri notes and everything. It was awesome!

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2007-04-26 11:27:33

Tiny flutes - how little is too little?

#2 2007-04-26 12:25:07

Re: Tiny flutes - how little is too little?

#3 2007-04-26 18:28:58

Re: Tiny flutes - how little is too little?

#4 2007-04-26 19:09:07

Re: Tiny flutes - how little is too little?

Tairaku wrote:

#5 2007-04-26 19:53:25

Re: Tiny flutes - how little is too little?

#6 2007-04-26 20:18:40

Re: Tiny flutes - how little is too little?

amokrun wrote:

Tairaku wrote:

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