Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Wear a warm hat, and eschew mittens.

Definitely the Yuu... A sudden drop in temp is a quick road to cracking bamboo. I know this from experience - fortunately NOT with a shakuhachi. I built a short section of bamboo fencing for a walkway and started watering some plants on a warm day. Cool water hit the bamboo that was nice and warm from the sunlight and, CRACK! It made a lasting impression on my flute storage and transportation habits...
You could also approach this Riley-style: Don a loincloth (and nothing else) and try playing under a waterfall that's a few degrees away from freezing!

Ed, did you really stop chewing on your mittens? 

The freezing falling water?  Our shower in Laramie, Wyoming was always just a few points from freezing.

Tairaku wrote:

It's dry, not cold, which can crack the bamboo. Remember bamboo will have already gone through freezing many times before even being made into a flute.

Well, cold will do it too, especially if it's rapid change in temperature. When the boo was in the ground, it had it own internal flowing moisture, which made it much more resilient and flexible in the face of temperature changes.

radi0gnome wrote:

Is it really worth it?

My guess is that just as much could be accomplished by whistling....

A friend of mine who plays suling in a gamelan had mentioned to me once that it was the difference in temperature between the breath and the bamboo, external vs. internal, temperature that causes two different rate of contraction and expansion, leading to cracking of the bamboo.  Those suling are a slight thing in comparison with the mighty shakuhachi, but has stuck in my mind ever since.

Michael

When I was studying shakuhachi in Japan in the early 1970s, I kept hearing of shakuhachi players of old doing mind-over-matter things, such as playing outside in the freezing snow until icicles formed from the bottom of their flutes. One particularly cold night on Sado Island (during a blizzard, probably close to -10 C, not counting the wind chill factor), I decided to test this story for myself. I cut off the fingers of some old gloves - thinking that would allow me to feel the finger holes better (hah!) and went outside with my best (only) 1.8 flute. Facing the wind, tears in my eyes, I began to play.

I may however, be stretching the meaning of the word, when I say that I "played" my shakuhachi. My fingers went numb moments after going outside, so I couldn't feel the holes. I soon gave up even trying to play a piece. The wind, coming straight from Siberia over the Japan Sea, was blowing so fiercely that I could barely make sounds - just a few weak upper octave notes that were ripped away immediately by the wind. I felt breathless and could only sustain these sounds for brief seconds. I could hardly hear the sounds that I did make, amongst all the carryings on of the blizzard.

AND YET!! After blowing into my flute for what seemed like a very long time (I have no idea how long - minutes?), I had created an icicle about 5-6 cm long. Wow! How cool was that!?!! It had formed at the bottom of the flute, from the moisture in my breath. You frequently see pictures of people with icicles forming on their beards, etc. Similar thing, I suppose.

I rushed inside and excitedly showed the others, none of whom were impressed in the slightest. My efforts certainly didn't make me a better shakuhachi player, but the story has been very popular with the publicists over the decades.

During my time in Japan, I often practiced in temperatures approaching 0 C, though in a blizzard only that once. Our lodgings and rehearsal space on Sado were not heated and we also practised outdoors throughout the year. I never had a flute crack on Sado. As others have said, it seems to be sudden changes in temperature/humidity that make the bamboo crack, not low, or high temperatures per se.

[I should add that on average, winters on Sado Island are mild compared to the continental winters of much of the world. I haven't experienced playing outside in REALLY cold weather.]

What I think really did help my playing, in contrast to that icicle stunt, and this too has been stated previously by others on this forum, was practising outdoors, especially in a wind, even a weak one. It's very difficult to make good sounds, particularly with a crosswind, but I think trying to do so helped me develop a stronger and more controlled embouchure. It also helped me associate 'nature' with what I was playing. In that sense, maybe even my icicle experience was a worthwhile one.

Last edited by Riley Lee (2008-12-10 06:42:35)

Geez, Riley, next you're going to tell us you only ran a 5k and then played the bongos. 

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Okay, I found playing in the wind to be VERY informative.  Above a certain windspeed it's impossible, but playing in outdoor windy places like Point Lobos and the summit of Mt. Langley were interesting exercises in mental and physical focus--and also in surrendering to the elements, which took away my notes more often than not.  This sometimes leads to the rather unromantic position of playing with one's back to the lovely vista of the sea/valley/etc upon which you'd like to gaze (looks good for onlookers, I suppose).  That's the Ma calling, I guess. 

I haven't had the pleasure of playing in the snow; last time I was in a snowy place was strictly for snowboarding, but the acoustics of a snowy open place have a certain amazing quality (clichéd terms like 'breathtaking' and 'crisp' come to mind) that I think would really enhance one's sound.  Until one's fingers and lips froze, of course.

If you get a crack in your flute, is that the end of it, or is there a way to repair it?