Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

taikoflutist · 2008-01-25 19:15:46

My name is Alexa and I am a taiko player in Santa Fe, NM. I played clarinet as a kid and I still dig it out every now and then and toot a bit. We already have a fue player in our little taiko group, and I never cared for the transverse flute when I was younger (too girly, at least that's how I saw it back then) and I thought I'd look into shakuhachi as a Japanese vertical equivalent. Shows what I know about shakuhachi. Nothing!

So I've read Ray Brooks "Blowing Zen" and I've been getting more and more into Buddhism and the spirituality of Japanese folk music as my taiko experience grows (I've been playing for a little over 4 years now) and I've been listening to some honkyoku cds (I have Ray Brooks', Stan Richardson's and another one with a picture of a monk raking a zen garden on the front) and my boyfriend took notice of my explorations and got me a really simple bamboo shakuhachi for my birthday a week ago (I'm 29 now). It took me 4 days to be able to consistently form an embouchure that got a sound out of it (no offense, but I had to aim for a jug style of playing where my lower lip became half of the mouth of the jug, it's just how I thought about it and it ended up working), and I can get two notes out of it so far, completely open and with the thumb hole covered. I've enjoyed just breathing with it, making a note, pausing, making a note again. It's a neat instrument and humbling, much more difficult than clarinet. I think I'm just poking around for the moment, trying it out, playing, being challenged. I see there isn't anybody really near me to learn from and I don't have the set-up for internet lessons, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that anyway, mentally, I mean, or financially, or in terms of my schedule. And I'm on my own as far as taiko is concerned anyway, so I'm not anxious about having limited resources at the beginning.

What's really neat about shakuhachi, though, is how it complements my taiko experiences. Taiko is so physically demanding. Shakuhachi is a very internal experience, calm and still demanding, but in a totally different way. Both are meditative, too, but it's opposite. It's kind of a yin and yang thing. It's pretty neat. I also really stunk at taiko when I first started, didn't know my left from my right, and that's probably made me a lot less afraid of really stinking at shakuhachi for a while.

But anyway, I'm really wordy when I start thinking about things, so I'll stop now. I just wanted to say hello.

philthefluter · 2008-01-25 20:10:53

When i lived in Japan I also found taiko a good balance to my shakuhachi studies. Kodo are here in Ireland next week.

taikoflutist · 2008-01-25 20:23:17

Kodo is wonderful. They came through the US last summer. I flew to Phoenix for the weekend just to see them. Very few groups come through New Mexico. Shidara will be through in April, though, and I am looking forward to that. I bet even fewer shakuhachi players come through New Mexico. There's a fellow from Boulder, CO who played at a taiko conference last summer. That was the first time I had ever heard a shakuhachi, and I thought it was a wonderful sound. I've been poking around the forum some more and discovered that there's a Rocky Mountain shakuhachi conference of some kind. I am used to learning taiko by absorbing as much at conferences as I can, and I would be game for a shakuhachi conference. I like being immersed. ( I have gone to Japan twice now to study taiko. It's so fantastic!)

mrosenlof · 2008-01-27 18:23:04

There is a nice little community of traditional Japanese musicians here in the Boulder area, come on up. I'm not really aquainted with the Taiko people, but they're here. Look at www.shakucamp.com for the annual rocky mountain shakuhachi gathering, but this year it will happen in Australia.

marek · 2008-01-28 10:22:54

Hi,

I see you talking about taikos...
Do you have any experience with a japanese taiko group Bu-Shi-Do, they should be in Prague in a few months? How are they?

Thanks a lot.

Marek

taikoflutist · 2008-01-28 13:35:06

I am sad to find out camp is in Australia this year. Oh well. I may be slightly more knowledgeable the next time around, then.

You can do a search for Bushido Taiko on Youtube. They have a few videos up. I don't actually know this group at all, so I can't vouch for them. They do have a website: http://www.j-station.biz/bu-shi-do/ which is in Japanese only, and I can't read it. Maybe someone else can? They, from their look, remind me of groups like Wadaiko Yamato. Very hip, modern style. It will probably be a great show, and probably not be much of an education in classical taiko practice, like a group like Kodo would be. I'm not particularly biased either way, though I prefer my taiko with a spiritual edge, but the contemporary styles are really fun to watch.

taikoflutist · 2008-01-28 13:41:26

So, is there a teacher in Boulder who could jump start me a bit for a weekend sometime?

Tairaku 太楽 · 2008-01-28 13:45:30

taikoflutist wrote:
So, is there a teacher in Boulder who could jump start me a bit for a weekend sometime?

David Wheeler, who is on this forum, teaches in Boulder. His name here is "shakudavid". He's one of the most knowledgeable players outside of Japan or even in Japan for that matter.

taikoflutist · 2008-01-28 15:45:15

Fantastic. Thank you for the reference. I will contact him and see what can be worked out.

chuck091956 · 2008-01-29 12:08:19

Hello Alexa,

Welcome to the world of Shakuhachi. From your posting I can see you’ve come to learn that the South West US is very lacking in Shakuhachi players and especially teachers. I live in the Phoenix area and there are only one or two other players I’ve ever heard of here.

I met David Wheeler at the Shakuhachi camp this past summer and had several lessons with him, he’s a great teacher. There are some internet training but my personal opinion is that early on, having one on one teaching with a real live person across from you will help greatly. I’ve been working on learning the Shakuhachi for about 3 and half years and I feel my skills are lacking because of not having regular sessions with a teacher.

With that said, I still enjoy my playing and will continue to practice.

And Welcome to the forum!!!

Chuck Peck

Last edited by chuck091956 (2008-01-29 12:09:59)

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2008-01-25 19:15:46

Hello.

#2 2008-01-25 20:10:53

Re: Hello.

#3 2008-01-25 20:23:17

Re: Hello.

#4 2008-01-27 18:23:04

Re: Hello.

#5 2008-01-28 10:22:54

Re: Hello.

#6 2008-01-28 13:35:06

Re: Hello.

#7 2008-01-28 13:41:26

Re: Hello.

#8 2008-01-28 13:45:30

Re: Hello.

taikoflutist wrote:

#9 2008-01-28 15:45:15

Re: Hello.

#10 2008-01-29 12:08:19

Re: Hello.

Board footer