Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

kyoreiflutes · 2007-02-03 18:10:16

I'm not sure if this it the proper forum for this, butI wanted it to be seen. feel free to move it if you want.

I was talking to my roomates last night about this, and I've been thinking about it ever since.

A few years ago, Ken LaCosse had a flute for sale at an excellent price, and I didn't get it. I still kick myself over it. Anyway. The point is, just looking at the pics alone seemed to "tell" me how it would feel when held and played. Granted, I don't know for SURE, and there's little way I can actually tell exactly what tone it'll produce, but I got a feel from staring at it what it'd "feel" like overall.

http://mujitsu.com/images/webfat.jpg

Since then, I've looked at shakuhachi differently. It seems that they're one of the few instruments of this kind where you can tell what it's going to be like before you even get near it. Granted, there are other instruments out there you could do this with, but I'm talking about the shakuhachi here.

And some flutes I can tell are going to sound like crap, due to obviously (or not so obviously) poor contruction. I wouldn't even pick them up if I saw them in person. In fact, I go into Lark in the Morning all the time to see if they've decided to upgrade thier shakuhachi, and I'm always disappointed by the lack of quality in the flutes they have. And the prices are outRAGEous. These are flutes that woudn't sell for more than $25 on eBay, and they're selling them for upwards of $185 for a tiny, not 1.8 section of black bamboo. It amazes me... if they just upgraded thier stock, they'd sell more, and then not have these crappy flutes sitting around.

ANYway. Have any of you noticed this kind of thing? Can you just look at a shakuhachi and kind of guess what it'll feel like, or am I full of hot air? I mean, I AM full of hot air, that's how I manage to play the flute. But you know what I mean.

Any thoughts, comments?

-Eddie

Last edited by kyoreiflutes (2007-02-03 18:13:11)

caffeind · 2007-02-03 18:22:18

Maybe you can see what is obviously a bad flute, but there is no way to tell a good flute. Its easy to make a shakuhachi look good on the outside but that has no relation to the way it plays.

dstone · 2007-02-03 18:55:17

Eddie, this theory could be easily tested, intermixing photos of known "great" (with strong consensus) flutes alongside flutes from the same makers with the same visual aesthetic that simply didn't turn out well acoustically or musically. I suspect you (or anyone) would fail this test.

You just can't "see" the bore, the tuning, the balance between notes and registers, how resonant it is, etc.

Here's a scenario to prove this...
1. I show you a series of clear photos of a flute.
2. You pronounce some judgement on it.
3. I take the flute to a maker, perhaps the original one, who retunes and rebalances the flute, perhaps reshaping the bore radically in places, causing a dramatic change in the sound of the flute. By radically reshaping the bore, perhaps I'm talking about neat, smooth additions/subtractions of ji and lacquer.
4. For better or worse, I think we can agree the flute will sound differently.
5. I show you a series of new, clear photos of that flute. It is, essentially, identical looking.
6. Do you pronounce the same judgement on the flute?

If the answer to 6 is "yes", then the ability to judge a flute by looking at it has been shown to have serious flaws.
If the answer to 6 is "no", then please explain how you were able to discern that the flute had been modified. I'm not saying such a skill is impossible, but we need to study this ability, so more can learn how to practice it.

Skeptically, but with respect and an open mind,
-Darren.

Last edited by dstone (2007-02-03 18:59:00)

kyoreiflutes · 2007-02-03 19:06:40

After talking about it with another forum member, I've decided that I might be more right than I had thought.

What if the photo I'm looking at shows the inside, the bore? I can judge to some extent looking at that.

I mean, how else do you folks buy flutes these days, if it isn't from photos and possibly sound clips? You go to a maker's site, see a flute you like, and buy it. You buy it because that particular flute "spoke" to you through a photo.

It's not like shakuhachi are all judged purely by thier sound. There are aesthetic gudelines for flutes as well, depending on how traditional one is.

So, yes, you can change the bore after seeing a pic of it, but then I'd wanna see another pic!

-E

Last edited by kyoreiflutes (2007-02-05 13:39:35)

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2007-02-03 18:10:16

Judging how a shakuhachi plays/feels from looking at it

#2 2007-02-03 18:22:18

Re: Judging how a shakuhachi plays/feels from looking at it

#3 2007-02-03 18:55:17

Re: Judging how a shakuhachi plays/feels from looking at it

#4 2007-02-03 19:06:40

Re: Judging how a shakuhachi plays/feels from looking at it

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