Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

can`t wait to see the pics. can you post a mp3 too?

You're going to kill us with anticipation here. Here's some other pages I found after your last couple of posts.

Someone else's page with a few diagrams and .ram sample. (This guy even made his own version out of a flute and a recorder, called it a "Sonorauros".)

The shakuhachi SP guy has an MP3 featuring the instrument too. Search for "Hietsuki-bushi".

Chris Moran wrote:

Aside from this being really cool and old and the metal mouthpiece: what is the difference between this and Monty's Shakulute, other than material difference of a bamboo top-joint?

Monty and I are both wondering that. Either I will visit him in California or we will meet in Tokyo. A lot would depend on the the bore of Monty's Shakulute head. The Okuralo has a diameter of 18.7mm at the utaguchi and is basically just a straight cylinder. A typical 1.8 has an opening of about 20 mm at the utaguchi, which continues down some centimeters (and even increases slightly) before beginning to contract.

The bore of the Okuralo is slightly larger than a typical C flute, so I would suspect that with the same type of headjoint the Okuralo would have a slightly fatter tone and stronger bottom end than a Shakulute-fitted flute.

Toby

Kiku Day wrote:

Toby,
Can you tell us if the keys are exactly like the boehm flute. I have been wondering whether it is the simple system as on piccolo flutes or it really is boehm (even though it says so in all writings - just my suspicious mind).

Shimura told me that the okurauro has this problem that it is unstable to play because you are actually using 9 fingers and holding it in vertical position.
Only the right thumb is not used to play on the flute. Is that the same on the okurauro? You have a picture or a thumb rest, is that for the right thumb while the thumb key is the B and Bb keys for the left thumb?

While waiting for Toby to reply notice that one of the pictures has a comment mentioning that it has an open G# key. This was actually what Boehm invented, the closed G# on most modern flutes where you get the G# by pressing down the pinky finger is a modification to Boehm's system. It's just speculation on my part, but since the player of the Okuralo will need to hold the pinky finger down for most notes (basically everything but the G#), maybe it aids in holding the flute vertically.

Kiku Day wrote:

Toby,
Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Do you also play the Western flute? Can you tell us if the keys are exactly like the boehm flute. I have been wondering whether it is the simple system as on piccolo flutes or it really is boehm (even though it says so in all writings - just my suspicious mind).

Shimura told me that the okurauro has this problem that it is unstable to play because you are actually using 9 fingers and holding it in vertical position.
Only the right thumb is not used to play on the flute. Is that the same on the okurauro? You have a picture or a thumb rest, is that for the right thumb while the thumb key is the B and Bb keys for the left thumb?
What is the range on this one?
How effective is meri/kari on it?

All these questions!

Hi Kiku Day,

I am a semi-professional flutist and play ethnic winds of all kinds. I picked up the shakuhachi when I moved to Japan 22 years ago and am not a great player, as I have never studied, but manage to do OK in my self-taught way...

No, it is totally Boehm system. In fact it is original Boehm system--the one he put on his flutes in the 1850s, with open G# and before the invention of the Briccialdi Bb lever for the RH thumb. The Okuralo, like Boehm's original design, places the RH thumb directly on the B key touch, with a separate key just below it to actuate the Bb. The Briccialdi mechanism, used on all modern flutes, actuates the B with a key touch below the actual tone hole, with a second lever over the B tone hole actuating the Bb. The advantage to the Briccialdi is that the Bb automatically closes the B, so that the thumb does not have to span both keys (although it does in normal practice). The disadvantage is that the logic of the keying system dictates that no key higher on the body should actuate a lower note, and vice-versa, no key lower (like the standard closed G#) should actuate a higher note.

The only divergence key-wise from Boehm's design is the absence of the small Bb trill key actuated by LH1. In Boehm's original design this was actually a B natural lever, and even into the 1920s one could still find flutes where this key actuated the B natural instead of Bb. This key is missing altogether on the Okuralo, probably because there is a keyguard for the RH at that point, to keep the pad of the first finger from contacting the keywork of the lower axle. This is a thoughtful touch when holding the flute vertically, but not really necessary.

I have to disagree with Shimura. I find holding the Okuralo totally stable: actually more stable than a normal concert flute, which I am totally used to. The flute is supported at four points: the embouchure, the LH first finger pad, the RH thumb and the RH pinky, which--as on Boehm flute--remains mostly anchored on the D# key. The RH thumbrest adds stability vertically. The concert flute is not so well anchored at the embouchure, and has a tendency to roll. Not the Okuralo.

The simple system evolved from the renaissance flute, with six holes on top and no thumb hole. This is a standard design today among many ethnic flutes, as you probably know, such as the Indian bansuri, the Japanese shinobue and the Chinese dizi and the Korean taegum. The final incarnation of the simple system still had six holes covered by the fingers, but included many reverse-sprung keys to produce accidentals, which otherwise were played by imperfect cross-fingerings and embouchure adjustments (shades of the shakuhachi!). The simple system bore, like the shakuhachi, was a reverse cone with a cylindrical head. The Boehm flute, by contrast, has a perfectly cylindrical bore with a head joint which contracts near the top to bring the partials into line (which would otherwise be out due to some other acoustic factors that I won't go into here).

BTW modern piccolos are keyed identically to Boehm flutes, without the extension down to C (they only go to D2). The only other modification is in having a doubled hole for the RH thumb B natural (for acoustic reasons apparently). It is signifcant to note that the bore can be either cylindrical or reverse-conical, like simple system flutes. Cylindrical piccs tend to be rather shrill and loud, and are generally never used in concert situations, only in brass bands and the like.

What is interesting about the Okuralo is the fact that it has both a cylindrical body and a cylindrical head. This gives it a rather unique tone color in the world of Boehm-type flutes. The range is the same as the concert flute, nominally C1-C4, but the upper few notes are about 25 cents sharp, as they are on all end-blown flutes (including the shakuhachi and others like the South American quena).

I'm finding that blowing it is more demanding and critical than the shakuhachi: the "sweet spot" is much smaller, and therefore so are meri and kari. Actually meri is about the same as on shakuhachi, but kari seems much more limited. However more on that as I actually learn to blow the thing...

Hope that answers your questions.

Best,

Toby

Toby,
Thank you so much for your very informative description of the okuraulo. Very interesting.
I hope to get the chance one day to try one.
At least now I know I can write that the okuraulo is boehm system with peace in mind even though I have never seen or played one for real! Thanks!

I'll be there soon. I've promised my mum to take her to Tokyo after I finish writing.
Then I'd really love to try yours. Thanks for the offer. I will take you up on that!

Whew! OK, I finally have a sound file up.  I do a bit of improv first on a standard 1.8 shakuhachi, then something similar on the Okuralo, and then something again on a concert flute, just for comparison. I fired up my old Rev7 to add some reverb just for the spaciness of it all, and because I don't think I could stand to hear myself dry.

The link is here to download the mp3, because I can't figure out a good place to host it. This works and is safe:

http://rapidshare.com/files/145480353/s … e_demo.mp3

A word of warning here: I am super-rusty on all three of these instruments, not having played all a total of more than a few hours this year. I am also obviously not an actual shakuhachi player, being self-taught. So this is strictly for a comparison of the tone quality of these three instruments.

The Okuralo, as it turns out, has a wonderful rich almost-shakuhachi tone, but it is definitely a hybrid between the actual shakuhachi and the concert flute which I play last for comparison. I always thought that the Okuralo must have been somewhat deficient--neither this nor that, but it turns out to be *both* this and that, and therefore it puzzles me that it disappeared. I think Monty has a good idea with the Shakulute!

Well, enjoy...

Toby

Last edited by Toby (2008-09-15 10:25:41)

WOW ! ! !
Thank you so much for that sound demonstration.
It was very interesting to hear the 3 instrument played right after each other. The okuraulo has quite a deep and nice broad sound. Food for thought.
I very much look forward to try your instrument!

For now, thank you for your beautiful playing ! !
Kiku

P.S. Rusty? Who?