Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

lowonthetotem wrote:

Q:  Is Frank's yellow bamboo Madake?  The web site only describes it as yellow.

Around 2001, I asked Frank himself what species it was and he said, "...it's all the same." He didn't know.

Best, Perry

Toby wrote:

Hi Perry,

Nothing against black bamboo,

Hi Toby, I didn't take it that way. Black bamboo is hardly used bamboo crafts of Japan, at least from what I've seen. Any thoughts on this?

I just wanted to point out that black does have more of a tendency to crack than madake. Binding black certainly seems a necessity.

Yes, and this was what I wanted to address. When ever I get a delivery of Black bamboo, I anticipate hearing the dreaded "snap" coming from the shop. My Madake from China rarely cracks but the black bamboo has a very high rate. In fact, I  was trying to find other ways of using it since I hate to waste bamboo. Then I came across an incense seller one day and got this idea.


I had a lot of split pieces so the work was half done!

In my travels through Japan I once chanced on a grove of madake that was naturally black. Amazing looking, and I have never seen anything like it anywhere else. Unfortunately it was in a public park, and there was no way to get at it (:-{

Toby

Yes, I was warned that individual "pruning" on public property would be very frowned upon.

All the best, Perry

I was told that in Japan the black bamboo is cut into strips and used as material for inlays.
Kurt

Toby wrote:

Well, when you have groves of moso and madake everywhere, why would you use anything else?

How commonly is moso used? My understanding (from Perry) is that the higher density of nodes makes tuning much more time consuming (more material to work out). Also, my moso pieces which I harvested about 6 months ago all cracked during a recent period of high humidity.

Zak -- jinashi size queen

Yungflutes wrote:

Hey Guys, I think Toby meant that those two species are more commonly used for most Japanese crafts in general, not for shakuhachi making specifically. But I think Moso could work for some huge Hocchiku for sure!

John Neptune uses Moso to make drums and percussion instruments for his Take Dake outfit.

You can do some great things with moso, just not with flutes. Generally, at least, the bore is too large, and the root structure is totally different, with a whole bunch of nodes crammed near the end, making it near impossible to drill the lower holes without hitting them. Buji's is unusual in that regard. It does make killer flower vases...

John Neptune told me about making his bamboo orchestra (including drum heads!). He says that only Japanese bamboo has the necessary resonance to make good (non-wind) instruments. I'm not exactly sure why, but I have seen a lot of different bamboo species from warmer climes, and it is generally softer and pithier, which might explain the difference. One of my favorite sights in Japan is a bamboo grove in the snow...

Toby

Last edited by Toby (2008-08-14 03:08:26)