Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

1. Root end bamboo (preferably Madake)
2. 4 holes in front, one in back
3. Tapered bore
4. Between 5 and 9 nodes, usually 7
5. Undercut holes (holes that are just drilled straight are not acceptable)
6. Holes 1 and 2 are on between the 2nd and 3rd node. Holes 3, 4, and 5 are between the 1st and 2nd node. Some exceptions can be made in the case of long (2.5 and longer) flutes.
7. Bore to length ratio must produce pitch within acceptable range of the traditional. In other words 1.8 should be around D in western pitch. It is acceptable for the flute to produce a lower pitch because it has a wide bore, but producing a higher pitch due to a thin bore is not acceptable.
8. Capable of playing the traditional repertoire for the type of shakuhachi it is, i.e. short jiari flutes can play most honkyoku or gaikyoku, long flutes can play most honkyoku.
9. All or at least most of the notes and fingerings respond according to traditional expectations. Cross fingerings create the correct pitches.
10. Did I say Bamboo? 

If not it is either not a shakuhachi or it's a bad shakuhachi.

Regarding material, it's my personal opinion that flutes which are made of wood, plastic or anything except bamboo are "shakuhachi like instruments" or "practice shakuhachi" even if they are good musical instruments. The bamboo adds an intangible quality essential for understanding shakuhachi. If you play bamboo shakuhachi already you can do good things with a plastic or wood one, but if all you play is plastic or wood you're missing out on a key element.

Regarding number of holes, some people use 7 or 9 holes. They may be specialized shakuhachi, but since they don't produce the traditional sounds very well ??????????. 

I don't know if I've left anything out, it'll be interesting to see if there are other opinions.

According to these standards there are a lot of things being sold on Ebay and elsewhere as shakuhachi which are not. Not to mention abuse of the term "Hocchiku". Caveat Emptor.

sigwada wrote:

Think you left out a very  important thing  if not the most important , the blowing hole and its specs

I don't know how to describe that, maybe Perry or Ken can chime in. All shakuhachi have a similar mouthpiece the only real difference is the angle, and that has a range of acceptable cut. This falls into the category of "must be able to play the traditional repertoire" because if it isn't cut like a shakuhachi you can't do that. You can't play "Rokudan" on a quena.

Tairaku wrote:

Chris Moran wrote:

Tairaku wrote:

4. Between 5 and 9 nodes, usually 7

A Japanese Master with whom I've taken some lessons regards anything less than 7 nodes simply, as "not a shakuhachi". html

I would tend to agree with that, but there are rare exceptions. I had a very fine Kinko 1.8 which had 5 nodes. I sold it to Michael Chikuzen Gould who is using it as his main flute. It's great for "not a shakuhachi". I saw a nice Yamaguchi Shiro 1.8 that had 9 or 10 nodes, and I think we can agree Shiro knew what he was doing.

I'd like to see Micheals 5 node. It must be an excellent bore profile and whoever was that flute's maker was must have appreciated its potential. I think Masa is pretty hard on standards and people, but what constitutes "traditional" is Japanese culture is pretty well defined.

A very fine player who I saw recently has a 6-node 2.4 and it is an outstanding concert level flute. Because it was a 6 node the maker was obliged to give him a substantial discount.

The 8, 9, and 10 node flutes all have extra rings on the root and conform perfectly to the nodal placement on the rest of the flute. Those extra root ring shakuhachi look like medieval artillary. I would bet that all that extra heavy material in the root must add some intesting resonance.

If it wouldn't wreck havoc on my embrochure, I'd give my eye-teeth just to hear a 9 or 10 node Shiro in person.

Tairaku wrote:

Some of the people making "hocchiku" are ignoring those rules. American makers like Ken and Perry do not have the luxury of fussing about these matters, because their supply of bamboo is limited.

Yes. I think can see and hear where Ken and Perry have a very deep appreciation of the quality of notes and the flexibility of transitions that give them the grace to know where they can take liberty with the bamboo and where it will suffer. It takes a lot of study and learned judgement, not to mention a healthy dose of humility to make those kinds of compromises yet still honor the music and the tradition.

Tairaku wrote:

I recently played a bunch of flutes by Tilo Burdach who was a student of Nishimura Koku and makes flutes according to their "kyotaku" rules which are the seven node rule and that the holes must fall within the correct node placement. He also had non root end shakuhachi which he called "practice" that were pretty nice. He said they are for people who can't afford a rootend model. Those didn't follow the rules in terms of nodes.

Do those non-root-end flutes have any taper in the bore, constructed or natural?

Tairaku wrote:

The bamboo adds an intangible quality essential for understanding shakuhachi. If you play bamboo shakuhachi already you can do good things with a plastic or wood one, but if all you play is plastic or wood you're missing out on a key element.

I recently had a conversation with shakuhachi player Prem-Steve DeYoung about the 'intangible' quality of bamboo. We shared an observation. Although it is possible to make very nice sounding flutes from other materials, bamboo is embedded in the history and philosophy of shakuhachi. It can be satisfying to appreciate  and experience this connection by using bamboo.

Tairaku wrote:

I had a very fine Kinko 1.8 which had 5 nodes. I sold it to Michael Chikuzen Gould who is using it as his main flute. It's great for "not a shakuhachi". I saw a nice Yamaguchi Shiro 1.8 that had 9 or 10 nodes, and I think we can agree Shiro knew what he was doing.

I imagine five node shakuhachi (cut higher on the root) are made when holes and nodes won't align any other way. One interesting feature of this configuration (especially for jinashi shakuhachi) is that there is slightly less taper in the bore. This often results in a tone that is somewhere between the resistance found with a tapered bore and the quick attack of straight bore shakuhachi.

Sigwada wrote:

Think you left out a very  important thing  if not the most important , the blowing hole and its specs

There seems to be a range to the angle of the blowing edge face. There are also differences found in the depth and width of the blowing edge itself. Presumably, these differences correspond to the style of music played. Of course, like everything with shakuhachi, going too far in one direction defeats the purpose.

edosan wrote:

Note that Kinya-sensei smoothed down a couple of nodes, so the finished flutes appears to have 7 nodes--not common on a shakuhachi that long. Very elegant solution, I think.

Nice flute! It is in fact a 7 node flute. Perry told me they were selling that piece as 2.0 and he had the brainstorm to make a 2.8 instead, lucky for you!