Dear Brian,
By no means a trivial issue, in my less than humble opinion...ain't
no placebo effect neither.
Besides the feedback issue (the sesquipedalians call it
"proprioceptive feedback") on your bare chin skin for the always
critical mouthpiece, and hence utaguchi placement, in the airstream,
there is also the equally important element of the DISTANCE of the
utaguchi from the lips. The further the blowing edge (utaguchi) is
from the lips, all else being equal, the more diffuse the airstream,
ergo the more aimless the tone.
This is also why most of us (even the beardless ones) play a little
or a lot flat, since it is more productive in our embryonic state of
airstream production to play a little (or a lot) meri, sacrificing
accurate pitch for perhaps better tone. One negative effect of this
habit (among others...) is that one has much less room to go DOWN
more in pitch; say, to achieve the deadly tsu no meri...
This is yet another reason to hang around a teacher from time to
time--to get the overall pitch calibrated. Of course, one can also do
this with a tuning meter or a keyboard; usually a humbling experience.
Cheers,
eB
"Maybe I'm just being duped by the Zen du jour touchy feely aspect of
the portrayal of the shakuhachi for westerners but what the hell, I'm
enjoying it."
--Karl Young (esteemed e-list member)
>Ok, I'm really serious about this question. Does (or, perhaps
>better stated, can) a beard interfere with blowing?
>
>Maybe it's my imagination, but it seemed that as my beard lengthened
>under my lower lip, I had gradually more and more difficulty getting
>a good tone. Frustrated, I shaved that area, and, after a few
>attempts to "find" the correct spot, my tone seems much stronger. I
>also notice that, without the interfering hair, the tactial
>sensation of the shak pressing against my "naked" lower lip area
>gives much better (and subtle) feedback for correct placement.
>
>Is this the placibo effect or am I on to something? Come to think
>of it, I don't know of any top shak artists that have heavy beards
>around their chins.
>
>Cheers!
> Brian
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 03 2003 - 09:09:50 PST