My apology for sending in a very badly written mail. No wonder people tell
me that I sound like a fresh-off-the-boat person.
Here is my second try of my mail. Hope it sounds little better.
Feeling ashamed in DC
Aiko Ichimura
Hello all,
I'm a new list member and dozo yoroshiku. I play the koto a
little and love to play pieces with parts for the shakuhachi.
I have a friend who's a student of shakuhachi and also a
potter. He and his shakuhachi teacher have been collaborating with his
pottery
teacher to create a shakuhachi made out of clay. I thought he was
joking. But he told me recently that they have created a decent shakuhachi
out of clay and used
it to play "Haru no Umi" in a concert. He said he would send a tape of the
concert. I thought about it. It's not so far-fetched an idea because
another instument, the ocarina, is made of clay.
He is very serious about perfecting the sound. So I suggested
hat he make zigzag grooving inside the shakuhachi just like the sugiaya
rooving inside the koto to better the sound of the instrument. He thought
that was an
excellent idea...does this sound crazy to you all? The color and
quality of sound coming out of the clay shakuhachi may however be
quite different.
The wonderful sound of the bamboo shakuhachi touches my heart
profoundly, more so than many other Japanese instruments - and that
is because the instrument is so closely approximated with human lungs &
mouth? (I believe)
Sometimes I feel I am listening to the human heart talking directly to
me....
I experienced a similar sensation when I heard wind instruments played
by American Indians, and by South American music groups such as
Inti-Illimani.
Thank you for reading this.
Aiko in DC
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