Great thinking, Tom!
Thanks.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom <shaku100@aax.mtci.ne.jp>
To: shakuhachi mail list <shakuhachi@weber.ucsd.edu>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 1999 4:55 PM
Subject: Tone
> Some of you have written asking if there is anything that can be done
about
> improving the tone of your shakuhachi. Well...
>
> So you have two shakuhachi (note that the plural of "shakuhachi" is
> "shakuhachi"); that darker colored well worn older one without a makers
> brand that obviously came from Japan and the other newer hardly used one.
> The older one has this rich full mellow tone which is more desirable than
> the harsh bright crisp tone of the other newer one. Thing is that the
older
> one was made in a time when shakuhachi makers in Japan knew little or
> nothing about getting a flute to play at current definitions of scale and
> pitch. So it isn't really suitable for some of your practices and
> performances with other instruments accurately tuned to the western equal
> temperament scale of "A" = 442 hz at 70 degrees F air temperature. So you
> are forced to use both instruments, depending upon the demands of the
music
> involved at the time. But you would really like your other newer hardly
> used shakuhachi, which is reasonably in tune with the western scale, to
have
> the tone of the older well worn one.
>
> Is there anything that you could easily do yourself to enhance the tone of
> the newer instrument? Yes, indeed!
>
> Older well worn instruments are not seen every day around here, nor every
> week, since they are now not actively sought as they were perhaps 15 or 20
> years ago. Yet the occasional one or two do appear here for reasons of
> repair or whatever. Usually, they have a fine tone although the pitch is
> somewhat different from things being made here in Japan these days. Their
> current users still use them regularly, thus the repairs. Newer slightly
> used flutes also find there way here from time to time for many of the
same
> repair reasons. They seldom have a fine tone when they arrive, but they
get
> turned into older well worn instruments before they depart.
>
> Take a very close look at the finger holes of all your shakuhachi.
Imagine
> how difficult it is for a fluid, air, to negotiate a 90 degree bend such
as
> happens when air flows in and out of non-rounded finger holes. If your
> shakuachi do not have well rounded corners on both the inside and outside
of
> the finger holes, then you will know what to do. With a small sharp knife
> of some sort and some fairly find sandpaper you can get into shakuhachi
> making by rounding the outside corners. To round the inside corners,
where
> the finger holes meet the bore, you will need another sort of tool. Years
> ago another shakuhachi maker kindly provided a bent tapered round fine
> toothed file for this purpose. It still serves well although it is now
less
> sharp than when new.
>
> For each finger hole you have one and only one chance. Blow your tone and
> then do this rounding. Then blow again. If you cannot tell the
difference,
> then you may wish to somehow restore the finger hole corners to a less
> rounded condition to compare again.
>
> Good Luck! Rounding will greatly reduce turbulence at the junction of the
> finger hole and the infinity of space beyond as well as at the junction of
> the finger hole and the bore of the flute. Consequently, less energy will
> be lost, wasted, by the air trying to decide which way to move. Let all
of
> us know if you think that this rounding makes a
> difference.
>
> Tom Deaver
>
> Bei Shu Shakuhachi Workshop
> http://www.aax.mtci.ne.jp/~shaku100/
>
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