I also didn't check this account for a few days and found 48 messages.
Looks like we've found a controversial topic here. Peter Ross and Brian
Ritchey pretty much summed up my experience, so I'm really just
seconding their eloquently expressed thoughts on the matter, for what
that's worth (2 cents, do I hear 3 cents, 3 cents anyone?). I know I
can hear a difference due to materials, but the other argument, that
they don't matter, is very convincing as well, but more to my head than
my ears. If there were fifty cast-bore shakuhachi makers out there
instead of a few, perhaps the difference would be clearer. As it is,
cast-bore flutes always sound purer, less complex to me. And wood ones
sound heavier. One possibility that hasn't been brought up: bamboo
(which is a grass, not a wood), unlike any of the other materials
discussed, consists of parallel fibers running longitudinally, right?
Perhaps that has something to do with the special sound, along with the
much greater porosity of ji over resin or wood--note that non-porosity
was a stipulation for the difference of material not affecting the
acoustic properties. Just a hypothesis, but my experience, like Brian's
and Peter's, is really strong on this point. I noticed Nelson talking
about a purer sound, but that's what I find with these non-traditional
flutes, that the sound is too pure, not "dirty" enough. That's purely a
value judgement, as is that one is better than the other. If you want
that pure sound, such flutes are probably more apt to deliver it.
As for age affecting the sound, I also find that it does mellow it out.
I'd have to strain to think of an old flute (an old flute that's been
played a lot) I've played that didn't sound relatively, or very,
mellow, or a new one that didn't have a more raw timbre.
Tom Deaver and I had a talk about this one time and he pointed out, as
did Paul Hirsch, that rounding the edges mellows the sound, and that
the holes get rounded on the outside from the fingers, and a bit on the
inside from the air stream; so that alone may account for the mellow
tone. He also pointed out something that Nelson mentioned, that an oval
bore will create a more complex sound. Traditionally, Native American
flutes were made by hollowing out the top and bottom halves and fitting
them together, giving the flute an oval bore, whereas many nowadays are
made by turning them on a lathe, and since I own one of the former type
and have blown a lot on it, and have played many of the latter type, I
can say without a doubt the turned ones have a purer, less complex
tone. But different woods sound different, and at least a couple makers
have told me they use different woods to create different timbres. So,
as that Daoist master Forrest Gump conluded, "maybe they're both
right."
Peter
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