Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Kiku Day wrote:

Tairaku wrote:

Neptune uses a Countryman.

Do you have any experiences with these?

I like the Countryman Isomax, though I have never used it as a wireless. Here's what Ian Anderson says on his website:

"The alternative to the separate mic on a stand (which limits severely the mobility of the performer) is to use a clip-on mic attached to the head joint of the flute just to the left, or above, the lip plate. The make which I have used for several years, is the Countryman Isomax cardioid wireless model made by Countryman Associates Inc., 417 Stanford Avenue, Redwood City, CA 94063. They can be reached by telephone at 800 669 1422 or 650 364 9988. Fax at 650 364 2794. It can be supplied with the manufacturer's own flute clip which snaps over the head joint with almost no wear or tear to the silver or silver-plated surface. It is also available from specialised retailers whose names may be obtained from the manufacturer.

"I currently use a new model of microphone from Shure – the WL51 – which is a cardioid pattern lavalier-type mic designed for sound re-inforcement of actors’ voices in live stage work. It does require a top-end boost as well as low-end roll-off to sound natural when positioned close to the embouchure hole.

"I position my mic so the active surface of the mic is facing down the length of the flute, in line with the front edge of the embouchure hole. The face of the mic is only about an inch from the hole itself and is rather susceptible to wind noise exhaled from the nose of the player. A supplied pop shield is fitted to reduce breath noise and, for outdoor shows, wind noise.

"The Shure WL51 and the Countryman mics are electret mic and requires power from some source to operate. In my case, the lead from the mic goes to a Shure UC system radio transmitter belt pack, which also acts as the power supply to the mic. The signal then goes to a nearby rack-mounted UC system receiver..."

I saw in the news today that a Climate Change thing was going on in Copenhagen, have you played? How did it go, what did you end up playing in the end?

J

Best of luck!

Kiku, I'm happy to hear you'll be able to contribute the sound of shakuhachi to this event. I've been reading about this--wishing I could be there too--and as usual it looks like a draconian police reaction to anyone who wants to voice any dissent to the governments' half-baked so-called solutions to the climate crisis.

Back in the '90s when I was working as an environmental activist, I was invited to play at a conference and I could see the audience was very moved by the sound of shakuhachi. Afterwards some people came up to me and asked if shakuhachi was my profession, and I said no I was an activist. More than one opined I'd be able to influence more people by opening their hearts through shakuhachi music than any kind of regular activism, and that made, and still makes, a lot of sense to me.

I think whatever you play will be just right, the intention will be the important thing. Good if you can be miked so more people can hear and feel the power (in the sense, as I always mean it, of the "power that drives the flower") of shakuhachi.

Give'em Heaven!

Hi guys.

Thanks for your encouragements!
The gig went really well. It was somewhat a side event at the Climate Conference. It was a panel discussion organised by the company Deloitte for young and influential business leaders, who could make decisions that would make a difference.

Anyhow...

The gig: The tech people provided me with a wonderful little mic called DPA 4061 - and it worked wonders. It picked up so many details in a nice way. I was really impressed.
When I first came in playing Honte no Shirabe with the komuso gear on - there was first a feeling that people thought to themselves 'What the heck is that?' Then quickly it became a nice mellow vibe. At the end of the panel discussion the TV talk show host (who's name I cannot remember because I have never owned a TV and therefore never watch TV) asked a senior member of some NGO about his opinion of what the young business leaders have said. The senior person asked for more action from the young business people and said: 'When the musician walked down the stairs, I thought to myself: Is this the haunting music of the dead? Or is it the haunting music of the dying planet?' Although my playing was compared as 'haunting music of the dead and the dying planet' I thought that it was really nice that the music was mentioned in the panel discussion. It must mean that the music touched them somehow - or at least I think it did.
After that the band consisting of singer, percussionist, guitarist, bassist came on and so did the children's choir. I had the role of making the audience clap with the groove... and it went really easy. So... all and all a really good gig.

What was particularly nice was that I think I managed to in the first part to play honkyoku from my heart. I hope they felt it - damn it!
Copenhagen woke up this morning covered in snow! A lot of the participants must also come from countries where it never snows. I thought that was a nice introduction to this cold climate of Northern Europe. I didn't see anything nice or fun after the chaos of the morning traffic trying to get to the airport and a 6 hour delay in the flight back to London....Lots of the airport staff were busily occupied with the important people flying in...
And yes, Denmark had turned into a horrendous police state arresting peaceful people using their democratic right to demonstrate their opinions... sigh!

Well done Kiku!

Thanks for posting news of your experience; great!  Hard to imagine Denmark as a police state; is that an exaggeration?  Maybe a little violence by a few led to government overreaction.  I read somewhere it was the biggest mass arrest in Danish history.

Thanks everybody.
Yes, it was a special gig and I did take it as a total compliment to be mentioned in the panel discussion.

Lanier Flutes, Denmark as a police state... well of course it isn't but at times it could feel like it with helicopters chasing activists with lights at night. Special Climate conference prisons and mass arrest that ended in many people including the dangerous hara krishna people having to sit handcuffed on the ground for up to 6 hours in December.... Not pretty. But hey... it is a huge job to host an event like this.
It is at the same time a great honour to have my home town hosting this event.... but the most important is and I really hope they will reach an agreement that will be effective and that all countries can somewhat say yes to. Let's all blow some good distant vibes that will reach Bella Center in Copenhagen the next days...