Hi all,
First, a note to all of you in and around the Bay Area....I had been
planning to be there around the 5th of September, but circumstances
require a change in plans, and give mea few days of dead time as well,
so I may go there this weekend. If any of you would like a lesson or
are looking for a shakuhachi in size 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, or 1.9, you can
email me off the list.
The t'aegum, though it is a side-blown flute, sounds somewhat similar
to a shakuhachi as it has a very large mouthpiece which allows for
about as much pitch variation as a shakuhachi, and gives the flute a
somewhat breathy tone, though the paper insert gives it a muchier
reedier sound than even the reediest shakuhachi.
What I find interesting about it and shakuhachi is that it seems that
among at least some people t'aegum is associated with a similar Rinzai
Zen aesthetic, though I don't know how official that association is.
One of its formeost players, Kim Young-dong, certainly falls in that
group. Personally, I think the music, by virute of the somewhat similar
construction and sound of the instruments, natrually lends itself to
that aesthetic.
Peter
--- "Reid ." <reid1898@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for all the information regarding Korean flutes. Very
> interesting.
> Last night on the Discovery Channel there was a documentary about
> North
> Korea. A couple of times they played short phrases on a flute as
> part of
> the background sounds. They didn't show the flute or say anything
> about it.
> It sounded very nice, and it didn't sound high pitched. Does
> anyone
> happen to know whether that was a tanso, a taegum or a different
> flute?
> (Maybe it was a Shakuhachi that they designated as a Korean
> instrument.)
>
> Separately, I remember hearing several years ago about a Korean
> golfer named
> Young Song. Too bad he didn't study music instead of golf.
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: ribbled@med.kochi-ms.ac.jp
> Reply-To: Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
> To: Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
> Subject: Re: Tanso/Korean Flute
> Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 12:33:02 +0900
>
>
> Regarding tanso...
>
> "Players of the old tanso are renowned for their ornamentation of
> melodies,
> with a catalogue of complex pre-tone and after-tone decorations.
> Less
> vibrato was possible than on the taegum (a horizontal flute, around
> 80-85
> cm, made of a length of yellow bamboo with prominent nodes), a
> function of
> the limited potential for lip movement on the small mouthpiece (as
> Peter
> pointed out).....The 40 cm long tanso is related to the larger, 60-65
> cm
> t'ungso. The latter, also known as the t'ongso or t'ungae, once
> played in
> the orchestra at the Rite to Royal Ancestors, had six finger holes.
> Akhak
> kwebom attributed to it a range of just over two octaves, but rural
> t'ungso
> lack any standard form." "Texts state that King Sunjo (r. 1801-34)
> imported the tanso to Korea (alas, no million year history) While
> some
> scholars
> suggest that these texts document its first appearance on the
> peninsula,
> all we should conclude is that the instrument had not been used in
> court
> ensembles before this time"...as compared with the shakuhachi, as has
> been
> pointed out, both instruments share a common layout of four anterior
> finger
> holes and a posterior thumb hole....also "the base of both
> instruments
> flares out, since it is cut from the root bulb. Old jade examples
> have
> been discovered and today plastic seems unfortunately to be gaining
> popularity (like PCV pipe with shakuhachi?)" - from Korean Musical
> Instruments by Keith Howard, pp. 46-48, OUP 1995.
>
> Some years ago I picked up a taegum in South Korea ...quite an
> interesting
> instrument, a horizontal flute with a mirliton (tissue cut from
> bamboo or
> reed creates a buzzing effect) but perhaps is more of a spiritual
> analogue
> to the shakuhachi...also with a very long history...in legend
> attributed to
> King Shinmun (r. 681-92) ...who was instructed by a dragon to cut a
> flute
> from bamboo on a mountain peak in order to protect his realm...."A
> flute
> was made from the bamboo and, whenever this was played, enemies
> retreated,
> illnesses were cured, rain came after drought, and the sea remained
> calm"
> (p. 43, Korean Musical Instruments).
>
> Cheers,
>
> Dan Ribble
>
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