Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

After 2.5 years of struggle, I was able to finally understand why I had this ten minute window of play time before all dissolved into squawks and cracks. Within the first ten minutes of play, for the last couple years, I have been able to create incredible sound and music. After that: put it down because the sound literally disappeared. Pick up the NAF and continue creating the music. The frustration was terrible.

Along came Perry's drone and radi0gnome’s suggestion that muscle fatigue was the culprit. With the drone, there was no temptation to play anything but Ro because that is all there is! Listen to the subtle changes. And as I did, I also felt the muscles just above the mandible start to tire out and tighten. And at that precise point the cracks appeared and the lights went out.

It was something I should have been aware of but it was too subtle to notice. At the beginning of the didge season, in Seattle that's spring through the end of summer, the difference in my abilities are astounding. Early spring, no bounce breaths or extreme rhythm jumps. By August I'm screaming. Why? Muscles in the diaphragm are not in shape. You can't miss it with the didge. But with the tiny muscles of the jaw, I was blind.

So thank you Perry, for the drone, and radi0gnome, for the insight. I now see a path to the next step in my skills! Now I understand why Ray Brooks’ original master teacher told him to play Ro at least one hour a day. It had not occurred to me that it was a muscle workout.

D.J.