Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Bogert wrote:

Hello All,
   I'm making a 2.1 slightly wide-bore jinashi.  All the fingerings and alternate fingerings work fine except the various kan ha notes don't work right.  Also i doesn't work at all.  I'm sure I can figure it out sooner or later, but if anyone has some tips for that I would be appreciative.  Besides that the flute plays beautifully, but those are some major problems.

Chris

Chris,

There are often upper second register issues with wider bore flutes. It's hard to know exactly without seeing and playing the flute, but here are the first things I would check:

Are the holes big enough and undercut enough? Wider bores often require larger, undercut holes to play the higher notes well.

Are the two tonic fingerings the same pitch? (All holes covered first and second register) If not, it suggests that the bore halves are unbalanced which requires major filling or subtraction. If they are in pitch, I would check all the quarter point critical areas for the problem notes. (Do you have diagrams of these areas? John Neptune has one somewhere on the net. Navaching and my shakuhachi making PDF have them as well.)  These areas often need adjustments on wider bore shakuhachi.

It could be a number of things, but these are the first things I would look for.

Good luck!

Ken

Bogert wrote:

While I'm at it, how big are the finger holes generally for fairly wide-bore flutes?  Not Taimu wide, but getting towards that size bore.  I'm working on a flute with a fellow who is also on this forum.  I'm gonna do the basics and let him take over (I think that's the plan). Thanks for all the help.

For me, the hole size depends on what voice the flute has. I base this on the personality of the tonic before the holes are drilled. If it has an introverted, inward or sweet tone, I might make the holes relatively smaller than usual. That is, if it doesn't mess up the upper second octave. For my tastes, wider bore flutes often favor a larger hole size choice. The smallest holes I use are usually around 10 to 11 mm. The biggest (for Taimu) around 15 or 16 mm. So, I suppose somewhere in the middle for semi-wide shakuhachi.

Keep in mind that these hole size decisions are based on my tastes and my response to what the bamboo offers. There is certainly a window of relativity within these specs.

Best of luck,

Ken

Bogert wrote:

Any ideas on how to stengthen U in kan?  San no U works fine, but U works not so good.  ???? 

Chris

Chris,

Sorry for the delay. I missed your last post.

One thing you could do would be to compare these fingerings played in the second register:

#1  Holes 5 and 4 closed, hole 3 half closed. Played meri.
#2  Holes 5 and 4 closed, hole 1 half closed. Played meri.
#3  Holes 5, 4 and 2 closed. Played meri.

Theoretically, these fingerings play the same note. However, on wider bore shakuhachi
there can be a slight difference in pitch and strength. If there is a big difference, or if none
of these fingerings play with strength, then some adjustment will be needed. Again, we're
probably talking about 1/4 points in the bore.

Before making any permanent changes in the bore it's always a good idea to make as
full an assessment as possible of all problems. Then, you can try to solve multiple problems
with little intrusion. Not always easy, but very satisfying when it works!

I hope this helps.

Ken