Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I would love to hear that!

THIS IS AWESOME!

chikuzen wrote:

It's interesting that during the Edo period, the ports were closed except Nagasaki where the Jesuits were given entry. Thus, the world's largest number of pipe organs now exists in Japan. There were pipe organs made of bamboo that you could have in your home. Between Tokyo and Yokohama, on any given day, there are over 25 pipe organ concerts. There are the largest number of pipe organs in any one country in Japan and also the largest number of new compositions for pipe organ and anything. Including a large number for shakuhachi and koto.

Excellent info!

Too bad Edwin Lemare didn't live long enough to compose honkyoku interpretations for the pipe organ!

Last edited by ABRAXAS (2009-10-13 11:26:14)

There are several CDs of shakuhachi and pipe organ. I have Mitsuhashi Kifu and Yamamoto Hozan playing. I also have a couple scores of the songs I performed. It was an amazing experience as it was like surfing with shakuhachi. The pipe organ spit out a zillion sounds at once and I just sort of dove head first into this big wave of sounds. They tend to have quite a huge volume so you need amplification or drown.

Chikuzen - thanks for the heads-up again!

Dust - thanks for the link!

dust wrote:

http://www.divine-art.com/CD/md3136info.htm

Hey, that link says that the one that guy plays is the only one in the world. Talk about false advertising...

No.

The Yokoyama music I was thinking of is Kai, for shakuhachi and electronic organ (on "The Art of Katsuya Yokoyama"), but I thought there was at least one more shakuhachi/organ piece he played at the '98 WSF... maybe it was music of Richard Teitelbaum, though.

I think the Yokoyama music is specifically for electronic organ  -- not sure if it could work on straight-ahead pipe organ.

chikuzen wrote:

Kiku Day wrote:

You have performed pieces for shakuhachi and pipe organ?
Would you be able to share the scores? I'd love to see them!

.
  Yes to both. There was a lady (Japanese lady, of course) at the University of Michigan when I was there in '01 who was working on her Ph.D.. in liturgical music. We played two pieces at her recital and then again about 6 months later in Detroit in a cool old church.
  I'll have to dig them out of the closet, scan them and then send them to you.

I would love to see them too. My Japanese church-organist friend was just reading this post over my shoulder and said.... GET THEM!

I did like the songs. They were funky and the organ turned them into a sort of Gothic Funk. The one sounded a bit like the old theme song to "I Spy".

Our resident historian, Justin, lives in a pipe organ factory.  Would you care to pipe in Justin?....sorry

Jeff Cairns wrote:

Our resident historian, Justin, lives in a pipe organ factory.  Would you care to pipe in Justin?....sorry

Hi Jeff
If you insist. Well, apart from my daily practices among the pipe organs here, I have actually played inside a pipe organ! It was in one of the temples where the pipe organ master was commissioned to make one, and which we were visiting for annual maintenance. The organ master said he thought shakuhachi was much more appropriate for the temple.

Pipe organ is just about the farthest opposite to shakuhachi in terms of complexity and mechanics. One we worked on had 3000 pipes, though some have a lot more. The pipe organ master seems to be quite won over with the simplicity of the shakuhachi, and the humanness that brings, the closeness and directness.

Japan's not really the best country for them to be honest. The voicing is quite delicate on each pipe, and they can slip out of tune or the tone colour can go out, so just think what all the earthquakes here do to 3000 pipes! Still, they seem to be quite popular.

Incidentally, before they had the pipe organs in Japan, the missionaries used instead viola da gamba to accompany their church services. There were even viola da gamba makers here in Japan, during the Edo period. For anyone who has not heard this instrument I strongly recommend it. It is similar to the violin family of instruments (viola, cello etc) but fell out of use and nearly became extinct, as it was not loud enough to play in orchestras. The tone colour is outstanding. I have sometimes wondered, what influence this music may have had on the native Japanese music of the period.