Tony,
The term 'hochiku' may have been coined by Watazumi. He used it to
refer as much to a philosophical or spiritual approach to playing
bamboo flutes as to the manner of constructing them.
Flutes with little or no 'ji' (ji nashi flutes) existed long before
Watazumi, as did flutes with filler (ji ari flutes). The 'ji nashi'
flutes, as you guessed, were more prevalent in the Edo period than ji
ari flutes, though flutes with some kinds of material, for example
layers of 'urushi' or Japanese lacquer have also been around for
centuries. It takes many coats of 'urushi' to form even a thin layer of
filler, but it is still material. And, as Tom mentioned in his earlier
response, some of these old flutes had more than just thin layers of
filler.
The scholar and very good shakuhachi player, Simura Satosi (spelt
'Shimura Satoshi' in the Hepburn system) recently wrote a book about
'ji nashi' flutes, based upon his PhD research. The book is called
"Kokan shakuhachi no gakki gaku" (The Musical Instrument Study of Old
Shakuhachi). Mr. Simura's research led him to some interesting
conclusions.
Firstly, he observed that there were two distinct 'worlds' in
shakuhachi playing. One 'world' is that of the act of playing the
instrument. The other 'world' is the construction of the instrument. He
surmised that the two 'worlds' are different, but that they mutually
influence each other.
Mr. Simura concluded that the old style flutes are 'out of tune' when
played by shakuhachi players today because the latter don't know how to
play the former. In other words, the old style flutes, when played a
certain way, do in fact play in tune. The way in which they are
constructed demand a certain way of playing in order to play in tune.
This way of playing is not the same way demanded by modern shakuhachi.
Furthermore, when played in the way that their construction demands,
not only do the old style flutes play in tune, but they play in a way
that, according to Simura-san is more aesthetically suited to honkyoku
than what we get with modern flutes.
So, Simura-san believes that the old style, mostly ji nashi flutes were
constructed in a specific way in order to get a specific sound suited
to honkyoku. That specific way required a certain playing technique in
order to play in tune. Apparently this technique is considerably
different from the technique needed to play modern shakuhachi in tune.
One has to practice to develop this technique.
But with practice, this technique renders a 'better' honkyoku
performance than what can be produced on a modern shakuhachi played in
tune. By 'better', Mr Simura gives examples of dynamics and tone
colours, elements associated with meri and kari, tonal centres and
modes, etc.
It is not only a matter of whether or not the flutes have ji or don't
have ji. Other equally important elements in their construction are the
placement of the holes, the undercutting of the holes, the shape of the
blowing edge, the shape of the bore, manipulated by filing away the
bamboo, and so on. The makers of the time purposely and precisely made
their flutes in a certain way, for musical reasons.
I have always thought that those old flutes played out of pitch because
Japanese komuso hundreds of years ago, completely uninfluenced by
western pitch sensibilities, not too worried about 'the music', and
without such things as pitch tuners, just made flutes that were
inferior to today's flutes. Cars and computers improve over time, so of
course shakuhachi must have, too. According to Simura-san, not so!
If Mr Simura's observations and theories are correct, then this makes
me wonder about 'ji nashi' flutes made today. I think it is safe to
conclude that many if not most of the 'ji nashi' flutes made nowadays
are made so that they play in tune when modern day players play them.
Many if not most of these players use the playing technique that modern
'ji ari' flutes require.
Therefore, perhaps most modern 'ji nashi' flutes are constructed in a
way that requires basically the same 'modern' technique as 'ji ari'
flutes. There may be minor changes in technique, such as playing
softer, but nothing major. Otherwise, people like me, who don't know
any better, will complain that the 'ji nashi' flutes play out of tune.
If this is so, have the 'ji nashi' flutes made today lost the magic of
the old style flutes?
Can one even say that when you or I pick up a ji nashi flute and play
it in the same way we play our modern ji ari flutes (the only way I
know how to play a flute), if the ji nashi flute plays in tune, then
it's a lousy ji nashi flute? If so, this is real revelation to me!
Please note that just because a modern ji nashi flute is out of tune
when someone like me plays it, this doesn't mean that it's a good ji
nashi flute of the old style. It might not play in tune even in
Simura's hands.
I would imagine that most ji nashi flutes floating around today are
made so that they play relatively in tune by the likes of me, because
firstly the makers may not know how to play and therefore how to make
old style ji nashi flutes. How many people other than Simura and Tom
Deaver have access to flutes made 300-400 years ago to practice for
hours on them?
Secondly, today's buyers, who have learned on modern flutes, pvc pipes,
etc, want flutes that play in tune, and they use a modern flute
technique when they play any flute. So, the makers might be
accommodating both themselves and their buying public.
Therefore, one might ask, are most of the ji nashi flutes that are made
and played nowadays not only not very good flutes by modern flute
standards, but not even very good flutes by the old style ji nashi
standards? By the way, this is my question, and not a subject
explicitly discussed by Mr Simura. Also, I am not asking the question
rhetorically; I have my hunch but I really don't know.
One might argue that all this comes down to whether or not we take
Simura's word on what is a 'better' honkyoku performance or 'honkyoku'
sound. Mr Simura's book comes with a CD of honkyoku, which he has
performed using these old style flutes, some made in the early 1600s,
so he does give us the opportunity to decide with our own ears.
But one strength of Simura's theory is that he looked at a great number
of kokan shakuhachi and they all conformed 1) to the same basic
construction method (he used ultra sound type 'x-rays' to help
determine this), and 2) they all responded to the same basic playing
technique, by playing in pitch, and so forth. It seems that they knew
what they were doing.
The book is written in Japanese. It is published by Shuppan Geijitsu
Sha in Heisei 14 (2002?). I don't know how one might best order the
book; my copy was a gift. Mr Simura works at Osaka University of Fine
Arts. He does not speak English. If enough people wanted the book, I
might be able to put Monty Levenson in touch with Simura, People could
then order through Monty. It will probably be expensive, very expensive
if you can't read Japanese and all you really want is the CD.
Mr Simura gave an extremely informative presentation about this subject
at the World Shakuhachi Summit in Tokyo last August. He also gave a
presentation on other aspects of honkyoku at the first World Shakuhachi
Festival in Boulder in 1998.
One final thing: if Simura is right about all of this, then this
implies that a lot of thought was given way back when, by the folks we
call komuso, to the way that their instruments were made and played,
that is, to the musicality of their 'suizen'. They weren't just playing
any old 'out of tune' flutes any old way, even when 'blowing Zen'.
Best regards, Riley
On Tuesday, March 11, 2003, at 11:19 PM, shakuhachi wrote:
> Hello,
> It's been a while since the last thread on this subject and I have
> gone back
> through the archives but still have questions.
> It seems the idea of a pasted bore, finely tuned flute developed in
> the late
> 1800s or even later. A lot of what I gathered from archives suggests
> the
> Hochiku may have developed around the same time as a concept of
> Watazumido
> Shuso and his differing path from the "rest of the crowd" so to speak.
> My question is, if the late development of the Hochiku idea is correct
> just
> what existed before it and the pasted bore flutes? I would have
> guessed the
> Hochiku, a natural bore, rather basic tool in both construction and
> tuning
> would have been what the Komosu used and over the years this then
> developed
> and became more refined into what we cal Shakuhachi today. That path
> seems
> to be a natural development but from several of the accounts I have
> read the
> Hochiku and Jinari flutes may not be that many years apart in concept.
>
> Just what did the Komosu play?
>
> Thanks,
> Tony Miller
>
Sound of Bamboo
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