Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I had an interesting and somewhat painful experience last week.  I bit down quite strongly on the inside of my upper lip while eating.  You know when you do, and your eyes well up with tears?  Well, it swelled up fairly well over the next 4 or 5 days, to the point where it was difficult to play.  The lump was interfering with embouchure, pushing the "opening" over to the side. 

Otsu was weak and thin, Kan was squeaky and almost non-existant.  I knew it would heal eventually but I tried to play anyways and it turned into  a neat learning experience.  I really had to struggle to get close to my best sounds, and fool around with my embouchure.  Playing with the handicap introduced a hiccup into the feedback loop that is shakuhachi playing and really made me focus on how to produce a tone.  It was like going back to square one.  I can't say I recommend this method, but it was enlightening.

This made me think about what a cool instrument this is that we play.  It is so sensitive to the state of our bodies.  I sometimes walk around my house, playing phrases over and over and not really thinking about it.  But if you DO think about it, there are so many ways to cover a single hole with a finger (not that I'm running out to my garage to crush my fingertips in a vice though...).

Sorry to ramble on,

By the way, those large rubber bands that come on bunches of brocolli can be used in pairs to hold your upper and lower lips out of the way while eating, but results may vary if you eat with others.

James