Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

lowonthetotem · 2008-07-31 13:14:14

I have a 80-100 year old 1.9 that I got from Perry. It is really a great flute. I enjoy meditation every morning with this fellow, but I have a conundrum. It have two small cracks on the foot. If I keep it in some very humid conditions, the cracks close. But they have to be VERY humid; the foot sitting directly on a damp cloth. Anything else and the crack reappears. However, the damp atmosphere is causing some erosion of the interior lacquor. Much of the the interior lacquor is original, so I'd like to keep it as long as I can. What should I do? Should I bind the foot of my beloved? I really love the flute and want to play it for a long time. It is sweet and soulful and has been around longer than me. I want to be sure I keep it as close to the tradition in which it was made as possible. Really, to me it is a gem. I don't want to screw it up. If Perry could give me some direction, that would be great. If this should be i a different forum please feel free to move it.

Yungflutes · 2008-07-31 14:12:24

lowonthetotem wrote:
I have a 80-100 year old 1.9 that I got from Perry. It is really a great flute. I enjoy meditation every morning with this fellow, but I have a conundrum. It have two small cracks on the foot. If I keep it in some very humid conditions, the cracks close. But they have to be VERY humid; the foot sitting directly on a damp cloth. Anything else and the crack reappears. However, the damp atmosphere is causing some erosion of the interior lacquor. Much of the the interior lacquor is original, so I'd like to keep it as long as I can. What should I do? Should I bind the foot of my beloved? I really love the flute and want to play it for a long time. It is sweet and soulful and has been around longer than me. I want to be sure I keep it as close to the tradition in which it was made as possible. Really, to me it is a gem. I don't want to screw it up. If Perry could give me some direction, that would be great. If this should be i a different forum please feel free to move it.

Hi lowonthetotem,

I don't recall seeing those cracks. Were they there before? It could be that the cracks will never open up. The root end of many a shakuhachi often have small cracks that will never open up. From what it sounds like, the damp rag may cause mold so I would refrain form using it.

You can send the flute to me and I'm be happy to bind it. That would be the best thing for the flute. Or, if you feel a bit handy, you can do it yourself. I'll be glad to send you instructions. I believe there is a link somewhere on the forum to how I would bind it.

Please feel free to contact me directly.
All the best, Perry

lowonthetotem · 2008-07-31 14:47:13

I think I will bind it with the bow line that is often recommended. It is a wonderful flute. We have a personal relationship. I am not so concerned about the musicality of the instrument as the the meditative presence of it. I worry about the mold too. I want it to stay the same for as long as I can preserve it. But you know, you want in one hand and s++t in the other. It is a beauty. I enjoy sitting every morning with it. It is important to me that it lives on. I'd like to give it to my kid. We will see. Thanks, Perry. The cracks were there when I got it, but they are ver small. I have decades in mind. I do not want them to grow. I worry alot. I will try to post some pics of the cracks , but I'd have to let it dry out first. I want to avoid that as much as possible. Perhaps you kept it in better shape than I.

lowonthetotem · 2008-07-31 19:00:49

I posted a pic of the foot on my blog. I hope you will take the time to look. Thanks.

http://shakuhachibreath.blogspot.com/

Last edited by lowonthetotem (2008-07-31 19:01:14)

Moran from Planet X · 2008-07-31 20:22:04

I have a couple of old flutes with root cracks that deep and deeper. I believe that unless I use the flutes as jack-levers to change a tire that they'd be okay. And if they did somehow crack, then I'd have them bound.

Recently I sent a flute to Ken to fill some remnant snow-fissures in the root and a bell-end crack just because I was going to send the flute in the mail to a couple of people. I won't bother to bind the root. I don't even think it was necessary to fill them.

Is the flute jinashi?

Yungflutes · 2008-08-01 09:11:45

lowonthetotem wrote:
I posted a pic of the foot on my blog. I hope you will take the time to look. Thanks.

http://shakuhachibreath.blogspot.com/

Nice looking blog!

I didn't notice those cracks when I had the flute. Many times cracks that appear at the root will not get bigger. But on very rare occasions, I have seen and repaired cracks at the root that did open up into the bore. If this flute want to do that, bindings won't hold. The bamboo walls at the root and are dense (and stuborn), if it wants to open down there, it will. In the past I have embedded 1/4" long U Nails all around the crack. This does the job.

My suggestion is add some bindings but not use more than 60% humidity to store the flute. If the cracks continue to open, send the flute to me.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Chris Moran wrote:
Is the flute Jinashi?

Yes, a lively one. And if I remember correctly, with an Ivory inlay.

All the best, Perry

lowonthetotem · 2008-08-01 10:48:54

My suggestion is add some bindings but not use more than 60% humidity to store the flute. If the cracks continue to open, send the flute to me.

In FL it is hard to find a place that is 60% humidity. I only recently started using a damp rag while it is in the bag (1 week). I'll stop. They are not a serious issue now, but I just wanted to nip it in the bud. Thanks for the info. I'd been told that if the flute was played regularly, it should not crack, and I have been playing it regularly. I practice daily, although I went out of town recently and had to leave it home. I'll keep you posted.

Toby · 2008-08-04 01:09:25

The flutemaking sensei that I studied with at Meijiro do not worry about cracks in the root end, and as Perry says, the thickness of the culm at the root makes binding ineffective. Actually, I think you are better not to keep it too damp, as the main problems with cracking generally appear as the flute cycles between extremes of humidity, repeatedly swelling and shrinking. Any flute can crack, whether played regularly or not, it is the changes that are the killer (both in temperature and humidity). I heard a story from a friend of Yamamoto Hozan. During a tour in the US, after a practice session, he set the flute down on the top of the piano to have a smoke break. Suddenly there was a sound like a rifle shot, and everyone knew exactly what had happened. He picked up the flute and the top joint had a split from top to bottom. He had used the flute for years in Japan, but the change in climate had proved too much for it.

Of course the stresses in the thin bamboo of the top joint are competely different from those at the root. At worst, if the cracks do continue into the bore, it is unlikely that they will affect the sound unless they are quite wide, as the end is already open to the ambient atmosphere and therefore is not a pressure node, where cracks would have the most effect.

I do suggest that you keep the flute well oiled: oil fills the pores of the bamboo and keeps them from absorbing water, which keeps the bamboo from swelling.

Toby

Last edited by Toby (2008-08-04 01:12:47)

Nyogetsu · 2008-08-04 11:45:49

This is what works for me.
For the past 2 or 3 decades I have had the most Japanese made, root- end, traditional Shakuhachi in the world including Japan. I have consistently had (for sale) between 100 and 200 of these flutes. They are, for the most part, not mine. I sell them for other people - one man in particular, who is perhaps the world's largest collector. But he is in his late 80's and I have been selling off his entire collection for the past 18 years.

For many years I kept the Shakuhachi (all lengths) wrapped in plastic , with a Dampit inside each, and inside a clever polyurethene case (with foam gaskets) that I designed. There was also water in plastic dishes inside each of 4 quadrants in the case. This system lasted for years, but eventually was compromised due to warping of the case, combined with the foam disintegrating. Then I was in for trouble ! I had a year of about 25% of the flutes (mostly the ones I never played) cracking. I had them all repaired by Perry and Monty (they both did great jobs - all of there repairs have held up for the past 6 years.

Then I had a student of mine Chris Yeatman (who is also a master cabinet maker), design a beautiful 8 foot high , 3-shelved case for the flutes. Now Chris has built recording studios and is familiar with the technology necessary to get a sound-proof, air-tight door. He used this technology on my case. I put plastic water bowls on each of the the three shelves and a little bit of tea-tree oil in the bowls to alleviate mold - but the Shakuhachi are left UNWRAPPED.

I have had NO cracks for 6 years. The case was not cheap, but the workmanship was the finest of any piece of furniture I've ever owned. Tairaku has one of Chris's cases, as does my student Barbara Krooss.

As far as my personal 5 or so flutes which I play at performances, none of them have ever cracked. When they are traveling (out of the case), which is often, I do use the Dampit and plastic method.

I hope that this helps a few of you!

Ronnie

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2008-07-31 13:14:14

My Baby

#2 2008-07-31 14:12:24

Re: My Baby

lowonthetotem wrote:

#3 2008-07-31 14:47:13

Re: My Baby

#4 2008-07-31 19:00:49

Re: My Baby

#5 2008-07-31 20:22:04

Re: My Baby

#6 2008-08-01 09:11:45

Re: My Baby

lowonthetotem wrote:

Chris Moran wrote:

#7 2008-08-01 10:48:54

Re: My Baby

#8 2008-08-04 01:09:25

Re: My Baby

#9 2008-08-04 11:45:49

Re: My Baby

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