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Hi Zachary,
Good question, but what took you so long to ask? (<" I say this with
a smile because I get it all the time.
The answer is simple. Opinions about the "fact or fiction" of
woodwind acoustics aside, which would you rather own as your personal
instrument, a shakuhachi made from PVC or one made from madak=E9
bamboo? The preference is obvious and it's hardly "romantic
sentiment".
=46urthermore, why bother making a flute out of plastic water pipe when
crafting one from bamboo requires the same amount of time and
attention to detail. (I would argue that working with bamboo is
actually easier. Ever try sanding PVC?)
I would also suggest that a well-playing shakuhachi -- made from any
material -- is impossible to mass-produce. Nor could it be sold "very
cheaply", as you suggest. Wooden lathe-turned models made using a
reamer to fabricate the bore attempt this, but do not come close to
the standards demanded by most professional players. Unless the bore
profile is meticulously fine-tuned to within a a few hundredths of a
millimeter along its entire axis, the instrument will not perform
adequately. That process requires a great deal of time and effort,
not to mention expertise as a craftsman and player. I've yet to see
the machine that can accomplish this task.
Polarizing this issue into opposing camps of "science vs. art" is
useful up to a point, but ultimately misses the boat. The experience
of shakuhachi is a total one, encompassing and transcending such
dualistic explanations . As you well know, the encounter with this
instrument can be simultaneously visual and tactile, emotional and
deeply personal as well as acoustical. Bamboo and its long history
as a human resource, in and of itself, is a fundamental undeniable
part of that experience, In this regard, the science of sound does
not take away from the mystery of shakuhachi. It only adds to it.
Correct, there's a thriving business awaiting someone who can figure
out how to make a really great inexpensive shakuhachi out of PVC.
Sorry, but that person just doesn't happen to be me. I'm too busy
scouring the hills trying to find the perfect piece of madak=E9.
Monty
>"Monty H. Levenson" <monty@shakuhachi.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>This became quite clear to me when developing a technique for
>mathematically scaling the bores of various sized flutes to produce
>a prototype for my 2.8' (Key of G) shakuhachi. In order to minimize
>variations in wall thickness and resulting finger hole depth, I
>attached bamboo mouthpieces to PVC flute bodies which were then
>outfitted with precision bores. The sound of100% bamboo instruments
>that grew out of these experiments is indistinguishable from the
>prototypes. They have identical pitch, timbre and resonance
>qualities.
>
>
>
>Monty,
>
>I don't mean this to sound snide at all, but if that is the case,
>then why don't you just mass produce flutes made to your
>specifications out of PVC? They wouldn't be pretty, but they'd be
>very cheap, and if they had the exact same sound, the only reason
>people would object would be romantic sentiment for the appearance
>of bamboo.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Zachary
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<html><head><style type=3D"text/css"><!--
blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 }
--></style><title>Re: Sound Material</title></head><body>
<div>Hi Zachary,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Good question, but what took you so long to ask? (<"
I say this with a smile because I get it all the time.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The answer is simple. Opinions about the "fact or fiction"
of woodwind acoustics aside, which would you rather own as your
personal instrument, a shakuhachi made from PVC or one made from
madak=E9 bamboo? The preference is obvious and it's hardly
"romantic sentiment".</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Furthermore, why bother making a flute out of plastic water pipe
when crafting one from bamboo requires the same amount of time and
attention to detail. (I would argue that working with bamboo is
actually easier. Ever try sanding PVC?)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I would also suggest that a<u> well-playing</u> shakuhachi --
made from any material -- is impossible to mass-produce. Nor could it
be sold "very cheaply", as you suggest. Wooden lathe-turned
models made using a reamer to fabricate the bore attempt this, but do
not come close to the standards demanded by most professional players.
Unless the bore profile is meticulously fine-tuned to within a a few
hundredths of a millimeter along its entire axis, the instrument will
not perform adequately. That process requires a great deal of time and
effort, not to mention expertise as a craftsman and player. I've yet
to see the machine that can accomplish this task.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Polarizing this issue into opposing camps of "science vs.
art" is useful up to a point, but ultimately misses the boat. The
experience of shakuhachi is a total one, encompassing and transcending
such dualistic explanations . As you well know, the encounter with
this instrument can be simultaneously visual and tactile, emotional
and deeply personal as well as acoustical. Bamboo and its long
history as a human resource, in and of itself, is a fundamental
undeniable part of that experience, In this regard, the science of
sound does not take away from the mystery of shakuhachi. It only adds
to it.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Correct, there's a thriving business awaiting someone who can
figure out how to make a really great inexpensive shakuhachi out of
PVC. Sorry, but that person just doesn't happen to be me. I'm too busy
scouring the hills trying to find the perfect piece of madak=E9.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Monty</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type=3D"cite" cite><font face=3D"Arial">"Monty H.
Levenson" <monty@shakuhachi.com> wrote:</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type=3D"cite" cite><font face=3D"Arial"><br></font>
<blockquote><font face=3D"Palatino"><br>
<br>
This became quite clear to me when developing a technique for
mathematically scaling the bores of various sized flutes to produce a
prototype for my 2.8' (Key of G) shakuhachi. In order to minimize
variations in wall thickness and resulting finger hole depth, I
attached bamboo mouthpieces to PVC flute bodies which were then
outfitted with precision bores. The sound of100% bamboo instruments
that grew out of these experiments is indistinguishable from the
prototypes. They have identical pitch, timbre and resonance
qualities.</font><br>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type=3D"cite" cite><font face=3D"Palatino"><br>
<br>
Monty,<br>
<br>
I don't mean this to sound snide at all, but if that is the case,
then why don't you just mass produce flutes made to your
specifications out of PVC? They wouldn't be pretty, but
they'd be very cheap, and if they had the exact same sound, the only
reason people would object would be romantic sentiment for the
appearance of bamboo.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type=3D"cite" cite><font
face=3D"Palatino"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type=3D"cite" cite><font
face=3D"Palatino">Sincerely,</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type=3D"cite" cite><font
face=3D"Palatino"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type=3D"cite" cite><font
face=3D"Palatino">Zachary</font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
</body>
</html>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 03 2003 - 09:09:50 PST