Re: Finding a Shakuhachi & Monty's Flutes

From: Reg Tanaban (reg418@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon Jun 17 2002 - 17:37:44 PDT


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Well, while this is being brought up, I might as well follow up with a =
question about the "Precision Cast Bore=A9 Technology" or really about =
cast-bores in general. From reading the mail below, it seems to me that =
the basic difference is that while a traditional maker would use tonoko =
and urushi to make ji, the cast bore maker is using some kind of epoxy =
resin?=20

(I realize there is a "=A9" after the "Cast Bore" so maybe there is some =
trade secret I'm being nosy about.)=20

So I don't know, maybe it's not epoxy resin (I thought I read that =
somewhere, but now I can't find where I might have read it); let's just =
call it compound X, OK, anyway it's not ji. From the mail it sounds like =
after the cast bore is fitted, there is a fine-tuning adjustment done, =
presumably by little bits of scraping, cutting, sanding, etc., of the =
... compound X ... bore.=20

(Again, there's the matter of the "=A9" so I won't snoop around any =
longer than absolutely necessary.)=20

A traditional maker would do about the same, but with ji. However, while =
some makers might coat the entire bore with ji before sculpting it to =
"ideal dimensions", there are also others who add ji much more =
sparingly, or even none at all (the ji-nashi makers).=20

I find curious Monty's statement that "The traditional maker puts all of =
his work into fashioning a bore from tonoko and urushi. I put all my =
work into fashioning a master form and fine tuning each instrument", =
because the second sentence is basically a mirror of the first: =
"fashioning a master form and fine tuning each instrument" is presumably =
what the traditional maker does when he fashions the bore from tonoko =
and urushi. The difference is, presumably, Monty uses ... compound X=A9 =
and this material has "certain [other] advantages" which I'd like to =
read more about.

(Er, assuming I'm not infringing on a copyright ... sorry Monty!)

Best,
Reg

  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Stav Tapuch=20
  To: Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu=20
  Sent: Monday, June 17, 2002 8:01 AM
  Subject: Finding a Shakuhachi & Monty's Flutes

  To everyone:

  I recently sent a very flipant, and not well thought out comment =
concerning=20
  Monty's high-end flutes. (The quote can be found below.)
  Monty, justifiably so, sent me a personal note letting me know that I =
am=20
  more than just a bit misinformed about his flutes. I would like to =
extend=20
  my apologies to him for speaking with authority on a topic I know very =

  little about. I also owe an apology to this forum for spreading=20
  misinformation. And, furthermore, I would like to express my =
gratitude for=20
  the gracefulness of his response.

  An old yiddish saying tells that there is a reason God put lips and =
teeth to=20
  guard one's tongue: so that you would think twice before speaking. =
Let's=20
  just say I now have a finer appreciation for this pearl of wisdom.

  Stav

  My original quote: "Because Monty uses a system to mass produce =
flutes, the=20
  insides are pretty much all the same. So the rootend or non-rootend =
debate=20
  for a Monty flute is all about appearance."

  From Monty:

  Hi Stav,

  The above mentioned statements about the shakuhachi I make are
  erroneous and far from the truth.

  First off, it is impossible to mass-produce a quality shakuhachi. I
  would consider a plastic PVC or wooden lathe-turned shakuhachi
  "mass-produced" because no adjustments made to the bore in the
  manufacturing process. Each of the student and professional root-end
  shakuhachi I make with precision cast bores are carefully fine tuned
  inside the bore with particular attention to each note of each
  individual instrument. Without doing this, none of them would play
  acceptably at all.

  More significantly, the student and root-end shakuhachi I make differ
  in more ways than just "appearance" or bamboo aesthetics. The fine
  tuning process used on the professional instruments is far more time
  consuming and meticulous than the work I put into the student flutes.
  The insides are not nearly the same as you state. The precision cast
  bore process I developed is a method used to articulate and enhance
  the acoustics of the shakuhachi with the same goals and similar
  strategy used by traditional makers. The focus is on resonance and
  timbre or tone color. We both attempt to fabricate a precision bore
  profile inside the bamboo toward these ends based on analyses of very
  high-quality gauge flutes. The traditional maker puts all of his work
  into fashioning a bore from tonoko and urushi. I put all my work into
  fashioning a master form and fine tuning each instrument. This
  technique still requires fine tuning by hand, but has certain other
  advantages which is why a number of craftsmen in Japan are now using
  it.

  All the best.

  Monty

  _________________________________________________________________
  MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:=20
  http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

  ____________________________________________________

  <a =
hi">
  =

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<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Well, while this is being brought up, I =
might as=20
well follow up with a question about the "</FONT><A=20
href=3D"http://www.shakuhachi.com/Q-PCBStory.html"><FONT face=3DArial =
color=3D#000000=20
size=3D2>Precision Cast Bore=A9 Technology</FONT></A><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2>" or=20
really about cast-bores in general. From reading the mail below, it =
seems to me=20
that the basic difference is that while a traditional maker would use =
tonoko and=20
urushi to make ji, the cast bore maker is using some kind of epoxy =
resin?=20
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>(I realize there is a "=A9" after the =
"Cast Bore" so=20
maybe there is some trade secret I'm being nosy about.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>So I don't know, maybe it's not epoxy =
resin (I=20
thought I read that somewhere, but now I can't find where I might have =
read it);=20
let's just call it compound X, OK, anyway it's not ji. From the mail it =
sounds=20
like after the cast bore is fitted, there is a fine-tuning adjustment =
done,=20
presumably by little bits of scraping, cutting, sanding, etc., of the =
...=20
compound X ... bore. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>(Again, there's the matter of the "=A9" =
so I won't=20
snoop around any longer than absolutely necessary.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>A traditional maker would do about the =
same, but=20
with ji. However, while some makers might coat the entire bore with ji =
before=20
sculpting it to "ideal dimensions", there are also others who add ji =
much more=20
sparingly, or even none at all (the ji-nashi makers). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I find curious Monty's statement that =
"<FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The =
traditional maker puts=20
all of his work into fashioning a bore from tonoko and urushi. I put all =
my work=20
into fashioning a master form and fine tuning each instrument", because =
the=20
second sentence is basically a mirror of the first: "fashioning a master =
form=20
and fine tuning each instrument" is presumably what the traditional =
maker does=20
when he fashions the bore from tonoko and urushi. The difference is, =
presumably,=20
Monty uses ... compound X=A9 and this material has "certain [other] =
advantages"=20
which I'd like to read more about.</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>(Er, assuming I'm not infringing on a =
copyright ...=20
sorry Monty!)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Best,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Reg</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
  <DIV=20
  style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
  <A title=3Dtapuch@hotmail.com href=3D"mailto:tapuch@hotmail.com">Stav =
Tapuch</A>=20
  </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A=20
  title=3DShakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu=20
  =
href=3D"mailto:Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu">Shakuhachi@communicatio=
n.ucsd.edu</A>=20
  </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, June 17, 2002 =
8:01 AM</DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Finding a Shakuhachi =
&amp;=20
  Monty's Flutes</DIV>
  <DIV><BR></DIV><BR><BR>To everyone:<BR><BR>I recently sent a very =
flipant, and=20
  not well thought out comment concerning <BR>Monty's high-end=20
  flutes.&nbsp;&nbsp; (The quote can be found below.)<BR>Monty, =
justifiably so,=20
  sent me a personal note letting me know that I am <BR>more than just a =
bit=20
  misinformed about his flutes.&nbsp; I would like to extend <BR>my =
apologies to=20
  him for speaking with authority on a topic I know very <BR>little =
about. I=20
  also owe an apology to this forum for spreading =
<BR>misinformation.&nbsp; And,=20
  furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude for <BR>the =
gracefulness of=20
  his response.<BR><BR>An old yiddish saying tells that there is a =
reason God=20
  put lips and teeth to <BR>guard one's tongue: so that you would think =
twice=20
  before speaking.&nbsp; Let's <BR>just say I now have a finer =
appreciation for=20
  this pearl of wisdom.<BR><BR>Stav<BR><BR><BR>My original quote:&nbsp; =
"Because=20
  Monty uses a system to mass produce flutes, the <BR>insides are&nbsp; =
pretty=20
  much all the same. So the rootend or non-rootend debate <BR>for =
a&nbsp; Monty=20
  flute is all about appearance."<BR><BR><BR>From Monty:<BR><BR>Hi=20
  Stav,<BR><BR>The above mentioned statements about the shakuhachi I =
make=20
  are<BR>erroneous and far from the truth.<BR><BR>First off, it is =
impossible to=20
  mass-produce a quality shakuhachi. I<BR>would consider a plastic PVC =
or wooden=20
  lathe-turned shakuhachi<BR>"mass-produced" because no adjustments made =
to the=20
  bore in the<BR>manufacturing process. Each of the student and =
professional=20
  root-end<BR>shakuhachi I make with precision cast bores are carefully =
fine=20
  tuned<BR>inside the bore with particular attention to each note of=20
  each<BR>individual instrument. Without doing this, none of them would=20
  play<BR>acceptably at all.<BR><BR>More significantly, the student and =
root-end=20
  shakuhachi I make differ<BR>in more ways than just "appearance" or =
bamboo=20
  aesthetics. The fine<BR>tuning process used on the professional =
instruments is=20
  far more time<BR>consuming and meticulous than the work I put into the =
student=20
  flutes.<BR>The insides are not nearly the same as you state. The =
precision=20
  cast<BR>bore process I developed is a method used to articulate and=20
  enhance<BR>the acoustics of the shakuhachi with the same goals and=20
  similar<BR>strategy used by traditional makers. The focus is on =
resonance=20
  and<BR>timbre or tone color. We both attempt to fabricate a precision=20
  bore<BR>profile inside the bamboo toward these ends based on analyses =
of=20
  very<BR>high-quality gauge flutes. The traditional maker puts all of =
his=20
  work<BR>into fashioning a bore from tonoko and urushi. I put all my =
work=20
  into<BR>fashioning a master form and fine tuning each instrument.=20
  This<BR>technique still requires fine tuning by hand, but has certain=20
  other<BR>advantages which is why a number of craftsmen in Japan are =
now=20
  using<BR>it.<BR><BR><BR>All the=20
  =
best.<BR><BR>Monty<BR><BR>_______________________________________________=
__________________<BR>MSN=20
  Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: <BR><A=20
  =
href=3D"http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx">http://photos.msn.c=
om/support/worldwide.aspx</A><BR><BR>____________________________________=
________________<BR>By=20
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check=20
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