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I just made this a couple of days ago and it seems to work. Now I need to learn how to make notes.
Does anyone know if this is madake? I purchased this bamboo at a hardware store so I have no idea.
Last edited by purehappiness (2009-01-17 17:09:47)
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Hello Purehappiness, it looks like madake. The thickness of the walls suggest that.
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It is very strong and hard. Thought would be great if I got lucky and actually made my flute from madake.
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looks nice looks like it would work ok...did u burn it or drill it? I hope you enjoy it and make alot more and pass em around and around. I enjoy making flutes from tiki torch bamboo ;-)
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I drilled it. I started out small then used a dremel to enlarge the holes. The bore diameter was small so I tried to enlarge the opening and cracked the bamboo though. I will have to make another. I learned a lot from this one though.
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Well, I cut the cracked section of bamboo of my flute(near the mouthpiece) and now it is about 4 inches shorter. It still seems to work but it is quite a bit higher pitched. I will keep it to play around with. It is something to practice with until I get a real shakuhachi.I don't have anymore bamboo to try another build with
Last edited by purehappiness (2009-02-03 06:22:53)
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There is a interesting story associated with this piece of bamboo. I had picked this up in a hardware store a few years ago for whatever purpose. Then last summer we had a robin make a nest in a tree right next to our deck. She had four babies. Well, one day a big black rat snake snuck up and tried to eat them.I was inside at the moment and me and my wife heard all kinds of noise coming from outside. We went out and saw the mother and father robins squacking up a storm and that is when I saw the big snake circling around the babies in the nest. Well, I did not have anything to remove the snake with so I grabbed a squeegie I had on the deck at the time and pulled the snake off the nest and managed to get it to the ground. After that I managed to scare it off and got it to go back into the woods. later, I realized I may need something to defend the baby robins with. That is when I thought of the bamboo. I cut a spear edge to this 6 foot piece and was ready to save the robins again if I had too. Well, the snake did not come back. Now, I made my first flute from this piece. I guess the moral of the story would be that I managed to take something I was going to use to harm something(the snake) and use it for a peaceful use instead. It makes me feel like this shakuhachi has made me become more of a sprirtual and peaceful person.
The sad part of the story is that the wife and I believe that a hawk eventually did get the baby robins. We cannot be sure but the second batch of babies were abandoned and we had one die in our hands. We did save one and give it to a person that knew how to raise baby robins. So hopefully, at least one made it. It goes to show you how hard life can be for our feathered friends.I believe this whole experience has made me a more spiritual person.
I also learned that sometimes no matter how hard we try destiny cannot be changed. Sad but true.
Edit:Perhaps it was also destiny that that piece of bamboo came into my hands in the first place.
Last edited by purehappiness (2009-02-03 17:16:30)
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Wasn't sad for the hawk, though, and perhaps it fed its own babies with the robins.
[And the story was good for me....]
Last edited by edosan (2009-02-03 12:57:51)
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True. From the hawks perspective it was a good day.
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It is sad though when you get to watch these robins hatch and be fed everyday by their mother only to have them attacked by a snake and eventually get eaten by a hawk(I think). We never saw the hawk eat them. The second batch of babies did die because the parents disappeared.I was outside one day with my dog and a big hawk swooped down by the nest and flew into the woods. He landed on a clump of dirt and looked back in the direction of the nest.So, I assume that the hawk was the culprit. He was probably watching the robin feed her babies until the moment was just right to attack.It shows you how hard life is for creatures in the wild. They struggle and struggle only to possibly live just a few weeks longer. If anything this showed me how precious life really is.I learned a lot from it.Enjoy life everyday to its fullest.
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