Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I'm not what I'd call a wind player, but, after playing Shakuhachi, I can more easily pick up other instruments and play them, although I find a lot of them far harder than Shakuhachi. Maybe I got lucky with the shakuhachi, though, and it happened to be "my instrument".

That probably didn't help.

-E

bluespiderweb wrote:

Do I want to give up any instruments I like to play?  No!  Being able to make all these different tones from various instruments will keep me playing them all.  Then again, I'm not driven to become the best player I can be-I want to have fun and enjoy myself, for the tranquility it brings me when I play.

Yes, it is a decision one has to make.  If I wanted to aspire to mastery of any instrument, I would probably have to make a choice, but I am happy to reach a "competent" standard on all of them.

Hi Jimbuk,

jumbuk wrote:

I'm interested in others' experience at trying to play shakuhachi together with other wind instruments.  Basic question - is it possible or advisable to work on several at once?

I am part of a theater company in New York City that perform's Andrei Serban's Fragments of a Greek Trilogy every few years. I perform in the entire trilogy which runs a fast 4 hours counting set changes.
In one piece - Trojan Woman- I play The Soldier with a Flute. In this one hour spectacle, I run around playing the silver flute and shakuhachi amidst the audience. There are scenes with fire and water an even one where a circus bear rapes Helen of Troy. It's an amazing piece of theater beautiful and haunting. The actors and audience come out of the experience together in one piece.

One of the toughest things I do in the Trilogy (aside from moving the set between productions) is having to play a fast raga on a silver flute with a tabla player and then switching to the shakuhachi immediately after to accompany a lament. It's a very "clear" moment where the audience is seated, huddled around the performers. Everynight, I get heart palpatations right at that moment wondering if any sound will come out of the shakuhachi since I've just been playing with very tight lips. It's nerve wracking but possible. I found that I had to rehearse that moment, that shift in embroucher over and over again. Everynight, before the performances, I played the entire raga with the tabla player and then immediately went into the lament. I found a way to release the tension on my lips without making a funny face.

When I recently played Irish solidly for a few days (Christmas carols etc), I found I couldn't even make a sound with my 2.6 shakuhachi when I came back to it.  I have it back again now, but it worries me that perhaps I am trying to do too much learning and playing several instruments at once.  I really enjoy the shakuhachi, but I couldn't give up Irish to concentrate on shakuhachi only (it's my roots after all!).

Please don't give up the shakuhachi!
Great things will come.
Best, Perry

Last edited by Yungflutes (2005-12-28 00:47:03)

geni wrote:

Hi.
I am have been playing Flute for 20 years , and now I learning Shakuhachi.
About the flute playing..
You have to play very relax on the flute. I use to have my embochure very tight...but that dasnt work long time.
Plus, you have been playing the flute for 1 year...somethings need time, I am still learning.
But, dont forget the embochure on the flute need to be relax, because playing relax will give you freedom to produce more tone colors,  and your embochure is not going to get tired.
You can play both shakuhachi and Flute and Sax and whatever wind instument,(there are a lot of people who do that) the key is to have a flexible emochure..and flexible come by bieng relex.
When you play first with a relax emboch , the tone dasnt sound good, but later will impruve.
Good luck men..
Geni..
P..S you dont have to give up any instrument, play them all if you have time. Just , take a long break when you swich them...(so you can relax the muscles)

Thanks Geni, that sounds like great advice.  I will try for a more relaxed embouchure on my sideblown flutes.  I guess that will happen anyway as my muscles get stronger.

philipgelb wrote:

It all depends on what you are seeking. Do you want to dabble on many instruments but not really excel with any particular one, then a multi instrumental approach will work fine for you. If you want to really develop skills on one, stick to only one.
I recomend to my students to stick to one instrument for several years before picking up a different one.
phil

I understand what you are saying, and I guess this was the point behind my question.  It is a difficult choice for me to make.  I am not a professional musician (although I have recorded and produced a CD in collaboration with another artist).  I want to do each instrument justice by studying the traditional repertoire and styles, but I don't expect to become a master of any.  With Irish music, I have a headstart by already knowing the music and styles etc on string instruments, plus I play weekly at sessions, which gives me a regular workout.  For shakuhachi, I expect to have to work harder at absorbing the culture and I plan to work with a teacher in the new year.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your contribution!