Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I recently had the opportunity to try out some Mujitsu shakuhachi from Ken.

Since I just got my very first USB mic (a Snowflake for the Mac by Blue) I thought I would start out with the shakuhachi that I was able to make a brief sound clip of this morning before I ran out to work.

I also thought that I would add a couple of more photos to flesh out what Ken has on his site for this particular flute:


For reference, this is a photo of full front from http://www.mujitsu.com/instock.html. It is the shakuhachi listed on the very bottom of that page. This photo (above) is the best overall representation of the color of the flute. The pics of mine below are a little too 'gold," particularly the bottom two. The photos were taken in low light so I had to correct for that in Photoshop and it looks like I have over-corrected.


My pic of the famous shaped root. Approx. 1:1 magnification.


My photo of the utaguchi. Approx. 1:1 magnification.


The right side of the shakuhachi which shows the lovely sinuous shape
of the instrument that you don't see on the photos on Ken's site.


The left side of the shakuhachi.


The full back of the shakuhachi propped up by one of my favorite rocks.

Here's the page with my sound clip. Sorry I didn't do a blasting muriaki Go-no-whatever Shika-no-tone type phrase. I guess I was shy. The flute is fully capable of it and more:

http://www.chrismoran.com/main/page2.shtml

and click on the embedded mp3 player below the petroglyph picture that's titled 42 seconds of a Mujitsu 1.9 shakuhachi pitched in C

The instrument has a very fine and complex sound. Lightweight. Dense, sturdy 30+ year-old bamboo. Easy to hold. Lots of room to move tonally.

It's a traditional wide bore flute, just a bit longer than a standard 1.9 which is usually C# in pitch. This flute is pitched around C. I play it sharp of C, about the pitch of the old style komuso or Nezasaha 2.0 flutes.

NOTE: I do not own this flute. Ken has it in his stock. I'd be happy to answer any questions about my experience with it.

Last edited by Chris Moran (2008-06-06 22:04:04)