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#1 2006-09-07 23:46:40

Koushi
Member
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: 2006-09-07
Posts: 4

Transcription question (ka-ra)

I am transcribing a Miyagi Michio piece ("Kotori no uta") into Western notation, and it was going very smoothly until I came across a run of "ka-ra." Not being an expert in Western notation, I am not sure how this should be rendered--I am thinking it is a trill, perhaps? I am using a notation editor (Sibelius), which has a playback feature, but I can't get "ka-ra" to sound right no matter how I tweak it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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#2 2006-09-09 18:51:42

James
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 2005-12-03
Posts: 23

Re: Transcription question (ka-ra)

Koushi wrote:

I came across a run of "ka-ra." Not being an expert in Western notation, I am not sure how this should be rendered--I am thinking it is a trill, perhaps?

The fingering chart in John Neptune's (Tozan) book says that "ka-ra" is fingered with just hole 5 closed, and then executed by striking hole 1. If that's right, then I'd guess in staff notation it'd just be a repeated C (assuming a 1.8). I don't know if there's a special rhythm implied.

I've never studied Kotori no Uta, but I have a copy of Miyata's score (in "abridged Kinko" notation) which writes it as a quarter note "Hi" with a small "ka-ra" written to the side. I'm guessing he did that because there's no Kinko equivalent to "ka-ra".

Following Miyata's lead, you could just write it as a C with a small kana "ka-ra" mark next to it. Let the performer figure it out.  wink

James

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#3 2006-09-09 20:11:58

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
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Re: Transcription question (ka-ra)

I am playing it right now and the resulting sound in western terms is a trill between C (or whatever note ri produces on your length of flute) and a pitch which is only about 1/8 tone sharper. You can't write it as a trill on Sibelius because it's nowhere near a half step.

Sometimes it's a fast trill and sometimes it is played with a triplet feel. Either way the kara kara lasts for the specified duration, which can be short or long. I have never seen it used in pieces where the phrases have unspecified duration, but I could be wrong about that.

Some flutes (bad ones) don't produce this effect very well.


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#4 2006-09-10 22:56:12

Koushi
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From: San Diego, CA
Registered: 2006-09-07
Posts: 4

Re: Transcription question (ka-ra)

James wrote:

Following Miyata's lead, you could just write it as a C with a small kana "ka-ra" mark next to it. Let the performer figure it out.  wink

Thanks for the suggestion, but I am converting this to Western notation (in the hopes of getting my flute teacher to play a duet with me) and I don't think he would understand the kana (even if I COULD figure out how to do  that with Sibelius).

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#5 2006-09-10 23:05:59

Koushi
Member
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: 2006-09-07
Posts: 4

Re: Transcription question (ka-ra)

Tairaku wrote:

I am playing it right now and the resulting sound in western terms is a trill between C (or whatever note ri produces on your length of flute) and a pitch which is only about 1/8 tone sharper. You can't write it as a trill on Sibelius because it's nowhere near a half step.

My ear isn't as good as yours--thanks for the tip. Sometimes it's as helpful to know something can't be done :-)

Tairaku wrote:

Some flutes (bad ones) don't produce this effect very well.

I have a Tai Hei 1.6 that does a decent ka-ra. And fortunately, my wind synth has a "bend" key on it, so I think with a little practice I can come up with a reasonable approximation.

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#6 2006-10-26 16:22:51

JF Lagrost
Shihan/Tozan Ryu
From: Paris (France)
Registered: 2006-10-19
Posts: 73
Website

Re: Transcription question (ka-ra)

Koushi wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion, but I am converting this to Western notation (in the hopes of getting my flute teacher to play a duet with me) and I don't think he would understand the kana (even if I COULD figure out how to do  that with Sibelius).

The pitch variation is about 1/8 tone, so you can assimilate it to a tonal variation or bisbigliando. Your flute teacher can obtain a ka-ra effect on his flute by playing a C fingering and trill with the index-finger of the right hand.
There are sevaral notations for bisbigliando. Here are two exemples on different notes :

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9333/courouposlb8.jpg
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1363/dufourtcw0.jpg

But they're a bit complicated. I think you should just write a C with a trill and the two alternative flute fingerings 2/5 and 2/25 (written vertically). You can write "bisbigliando" too.

Last edited by JF Lagrost (2006-10-26 16:30:08)

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#7 2006-10-26 16:55:34

JF Lagrost
Shihan/Tozan Ryu
From: Paris (France)
Registered: 2006-10-19
Posts: 73
Website

Re: Transcription question (ka-ra)

Maybe you play Kotori no uta on a rokusun-kan. So the bisbigliando on the flute is on D, and the alternate fingerings are 134/5 and 1234/5. But the ka-ra effect is not as good as what you can obtain on C. Maybe your teacher will find better fingerings (we're late in the evening in France and I don't want to waken my daughter...)

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#8 2006-10-27 15:26:25

Moran from Planet X
Member
From: Here to There
Registered: 2005-10-11
Posts: 1524
Website

Re: Transcription question (ka-ra)

A nice example of Kara-Kara: Murasaki Reiho on the cd Aki No Yugure (Autumn Dusk) by Jin Nyodo-style shakuhachi master Yoshio Kurahashi with Wu Man on the Chinese Pipa.

I know Monty has copies of this album for sale. Quite fine throughout.


"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I am all out of bubblegum." —Rowdy Piper, They Live!

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