[Shaku] RE: shakuhachi V1 #1006

I am tapering the inside of the hole with a round wood file and then a
chainsaw file. What are you using ?

I use a round wood file, and various small hobby files, and sandpaper
wrapped around a dowel.

Those hole positions look similar to what Monty mentions in his booklet
where the upper holes are 10% of the length.

Yes, that's right, they are if I recall correctly. They are also what
Murai=san uses.

The room concept looks very useful and is something I have not yet explor=
ed,
I assume the figures you give are percentages of length,

Yes, starting with room 1 at utaguchi end...

Is your figure for
room 4 correct at '58L' or should that be '68L' ?

Room 4 is correct at .58L, room 4 is a small room. room 1 is pretty tiny
too. The rooms are not of equal size.

I have been reading that site on a daily basis lately Charles, I prefer
bamboo to PVC, the unexpected feels more like 'real life' and keeps my
curiosity threshold at a higher level. ;-)

I agree...I also think that Nelson, although erudite, is just plain wrong
about a number of his conclusions...ultimately you cannot be a good maker
without being at least a decent player and last time I checked Nelson
proudly indicates he doesn't play...maybe that's changed, I don't know. I
can't imagine anyone who can't get the 3rd octave notes like Re Dai Kan and
the 2nd octave cross fingerings like San no U, and Ru, and who understands
koro-koro, really being a good source of shakuhachi making wisdom (knowledge
in action = wisdom, not just knowledge in words or equations)....How can
they evaluate their success or lack thereof?

If you want to read a text that is deep from a maths point of view,
try the Lew Paxton books that Monty sells: Secrets of the Indigenous flute
or something to that effect...Paxton knows what he's talking about. He's as
wacky as Nelson, perhaps smarter about maths, and obviously a player.

Re the curve at the bottom, makes little difference...the tapered bore does
make a difference though, contrary to Nelson's ideas...not that a
cylindrical bore is bad, mind you...but there are some subtle things about
the taper. Paxton's book goes into this and also into the effect of having a
thick wall re the holes...it effects the tone color and the tuning, as one
of the other posters mentioned...
Another important thing is the exact shape and depth of the utaguchi.
And the distance from the utaguchi blowing edge to the back of the flute
should be about 20-22mm, ideally. When I'm working with larger bores I put
an insert in at the top so that that distance is correct...not everyone
would agree with that but it's worth trying if you have a large bore
instrument that you can't get a strong sound from.

good luck,

joel

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Received on Wed Jan 11 08:45 PST 2006