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#1 2005-10-26 03:26:06

Andre
Member
From: Bremen / Germany
Registered: 2005-10-12
Posts: 45

Maple Shakuhachi

Dear experts,

I found in the web two different shakuhachi made out of maple wood. There is the ZenOn flute and Mejiros "Mon". Can anyone comment which one is better. The ZenOn is nearly double the price. But both are quite cheap compared to a bamboo flute. Can this maple flutes be recommended as a beginner model for those who not won the jack pot? What else can be recommended for beginners having a low budget?

Andre

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#2 2005-10-26 09:24:17

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Maple Shakuhachi

Andre wrote:

Dear experts,

I found in the web two different shakuhachi made out of maple wood. There is the ZenOn flute and Mejiros "Mon". Can anyone comment which one is better. The ZenOn is nearly double the price. But both are quite cheap compared to a bamboo flute. Can this maple flutes be recommended as a beginner model for those who not won the jack pot? What else can be recommended for beginners having a low budget?

Andre

I like the shakuhachi Yuu, which is easily found on Ebay. It's the most inexpensive shakuhachi that has good musical standards. It's made from plastic. So even when you eventually get a bamboo shakuhachi it's useful as a spare or you can keep it in your car, go to the beach and you don't have to worry about it cracking. I practice with mine in the sauna. The maple shakuhachi have similar advantages. However despite their musical acceptability plastic and maple shakuhachi lack charactaristics of bamboo which can only be described in metaphysical terms.

The other option you have in inexpensive shakuhachi is to buy real bamboo shakuhachi on Ebay. As you have already discovered this is a gamble. Otherwise some shakuhachi dealers have reputable vintage flutes in the $500-1000 range. The Yuu is slightly over $100 by comparison.

Some makers including people on this forum sometimes have quite inexpensive bamboo shakuhachi for sale on their web sites. Monty Levenson makes nice non-rootend student flutes which you can find on his web site.

There are a lot of options for beginners and people on a budget. I recommend students to start with something that is inexpensive and move to a good bamboo flute as soon as they have made a serious commitment to shakuhachi. It's advantageous for the student to play well enough to choose a bamboo flute that suits them.


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

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