Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Tamane (玉音) often causes trouble in the beginning. But it is really fun once you can do it!
I have no video links, but if you can to flutter tonguing while singing, you can do tamane.

Start with a flutter without trying to hit the shakuhachi with your breath or create a sound. Once you can do that and feel you can do it for a longer stretch - then try to control and direct your breath to hit the utaguchi and thereby create a sound. In the beginning only a fluffy airy sound will come out from your efforts, but eventually it will come...

IF you can't flutter tongue even without the shakuhachi, try to practice it just with singing. No flute in any case. Some people can't do it, and apparently it can be genetically conditioned - I have been told by another shakuhachi player who went to see a doctor because he couldn't do it. So, if you are one of these cases, then you can develop a sound very similar to tamane by doing the same technique as when gargling. With practice you can control how the gargling sounds from very small vibrations to what sounds identical to tamane.

Good luck and have fun!

purehappiness wrote:

I have tried it and can do it by fluttering my tongue against the front part of the roof of my mouth. When I go against my teeth I lose the sound from the flute. I guess I just need to keep practicing.I am intrigued by the crane sound.

Thanks

Try working on the one which uses the vibrating uvula; that's what most people do anyway, in my experience.

From 'Playing Tips', by Kakizakai Kaoru:

Well, today I am finally going to write about tamane. It's something I have avoided because it is so difficult to explain. I will do my best here, but I highly suggest that you get a teacher who can do the technique to show it to you in person.
 
Tamane can be divided broadly into two types:
 
Type 1: This type involves trilling the tip of your tongue to create a vibration. It is like the trilled –r” of Spanish. Place the tip of your tongue lightly against the front part of the roof of your mouth, then blow air between the tongue and the roof of your mouth so that the tip of your tongue flutters (vibrates) quickly. Once you get the hang of this, you might find that you cannot do it simultaneously with playing the shakuhachi. It takes time to adjust to trilling your tongue while keeping the mouth shape required to blow notes. My advice is to relax. You definitely won't succeed with two much tension in your mouth.
 
Type 2: This type involves vibrating your uvula [the little thing hanging down in the back of your throat]. Constrict your throat somewhat, then close it off with your uvula. Blow air through, and the uvula should vibrate as it passes through. Think of it like snoring. If it's hard to visualize, lie on your side and try snoring! It's OK if the vibration occurs on the in-breath. Like the first type of tamane, it takes practice to be able to do this while playing the shakuhachi. Remember, it's important to relax.

Both techniques revolve around causing a vibration while maintaining the mouth shape necessary to play the flute. This can be a difficult technique to catch, but you will get it if you keep at it.

And...

Last month, I talked about how there were two main types of tamane.

The first type involves vibrating the tip of your tongue, while the second type involves vibrating your uvula. The first type tends to result in larger and slower tamane, while the second tends to result in smaller and faster tamane. Type 1 can sometimes sound too loud, while Type 2 can be not loud enough.

Also, some people just naturally have trouble with one or the other. For example, even some Spanish people cannot trill their r’s, and some people have an uvula too small to vibrate.

Actually, there yet another part of your mouth which you can use to vibrate and create tamane: the center of your tongue. You can raise the center part of your tongue up to the roof of your mouth, then blow air through it to cause it to vibrate. This method of tamane can strike just the right balance between Type 1 and 2 described above.

No matter what style of tamane you try for, you won’t be able to do it well without a lot of practice. My teacher Katsuya Yokoyma used to play all of Rokudan using tamane to practice.

What you want to aim for is control over your tamane such that it begins just when you want it, you can play it softly, and it fades gradually along with any note.

Thank you very much. I have a lot to practice with now.

Thanks

purehappiness wrote:

Just tried the uvula method and that seems easier.

Thanks again everyone.

Hi Greg, The way I learned Tamane from Kinya was to start at the base of the throat and think about a soft gargling, yes, mouthwash.

There are many ways to produce this effect.

Have fun!

Perhaps I mean tabane. I just read that there is tamane and tabane. Tamane being a glottal trill and tabane being a fluttering tongue. I just read this at komuso.com.So, tamane would be a gargling type effect and tabane would be a fluttering tongue technique.

I have seen a reference to Jin Nyodo's writings for 'tamane/tabane'.

Yes, I learned (from Kurahashi-sensei) that tamane and tabane are two different techniques, tamane with the uvula and tabane with the front of the tongue. It seems that most people can do one or the other better -- I have no trouble with tamane, but tabane is more difficult for me on low notes. In Tsuru no Sugomori pieces I sometimes like to use both techniques for contrast -- they do sound different from each other.

The fun way to practice tamane or tabane is to pick a technically easy piece -- Kurokami, Rokudan, a minyo piece, whatever -- and try to play it all the way through using the technique.

Kiku Day wrote:

Tamane: 玉音
Tabane：束音　

Taba means bundle or bunch while tama means ball, sphere etc....

That's strange, as 玉 in Chinese is the character for jade (the semi-precious stone) and was originally a pictograph of three (三) pieces of jade strung (串) together. Is it possible that the current Japanese usage of the character is a simplification of some other?

I don't think I've ever seen a score which called for tabane, either. Do some schools 'prefer' it?

Zak

Last edited by Zakarius (2009-09-25 01:56:41)

Zakarius wrote:

Kiku Day wrote:

Tamane: 玉音
Tabane：束音　

Taba means bundle or bunch while tama means ball, sphere etc....

That's strange, as 玉 in Chinese is the character for jade (the semi-precious stone) and was originally a pictograph of three (三) pieces of jade strung (串) together. Is it possible that the current Japanese usage of the character is a simplification of some other?

I don't think I've ever seen a score which called for tabane, either. Do some schools 'prefer' it?

Zak

Hi Zak.

If you look up 玉 in for example this useful translation website: www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?9T
they write ball, sphere or coin (and king in Shogi) but it also means jade as you say.
When I look at this character I always think of ball - but I may not be the best person to ask.