The subject of quality versus price is a touchy one since shakuhachis
are not cheap, and the more money is involved the more people's egos
and emotions get involved as well. But it's too tempting a subject to
leave it alone so here goes. In my experience, sound quality, looks,
and the maker's reputation all contribute to a flute's price, as they
could be expected to. Other factors may play a part as well, like
historical importance and such with old flutes, but especially for new
flutes these three seem to be the biggest ones, with just their
proportion being different in each case. I've seen mediocre flutes by
famous makers priced high, and often they looked really beautiful, so
here the quality was a distant third to the other factors. On the other
end of the spectrum you have flutes that may have cosmetic defects or
have cracked that are cheap considering their sound quality. Then you
have old flutes, which is a whole other thing because their sound tends
to be more individualistic so taste plays a bigger role. Also, a lot of
older flutes have less balance than new ones, so they have to be judged
by somewhat different standards. Even with new ones, what makes a
shakuhachi sound good is in part just a matter of taste. Do you like a
hard or soft sound? Diffuse or concentrated? Bright or dark? Loud or
soft? There are hard-to-play flutes that have incredible depth, if you
can get it out, and others that are easy to play but more limited in
their sound. Which is better? Obviously the one you prefer. Of course,
out of 100 flutes it wouldn't be too hard to divide the fine flutes
from the not-so-good ones, but beyond that it could be just a matter of
taste.
As for good flutes necessarily being hard to play, I'm not so sure
about that. Definitely that's often true with Yokoyama Rampo flutes,
for example, but I've also played very nice instruments (even by Rampo)
that sounded good as soon as they were picked up.
The other point Stav made was about having a large collection of nice
flutes. I'm sure any shakuhachi lover with enough money would buy as
many flutes as they could; so would I perhaps. But I think that,
especially with shakuhachis, every instrument is so individual in its
temperment and quirks, that the more you play it the better you will
sound on it. Personally, I feel it's hard to get really deeply into
more than a handful of flutes. Maybe I'm unusually slow, but I've been
playing my 1.8 for 7 or 8 years now and I'm still finding more things
in its sound, andI feel like I've barely scratched the surface with my
2.4 after 3 years. Just my two centavos...
Peter
PS is shakuhachim a variant plural form? '-)
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