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Many of Gyukusui's flutes, especially the pricer ones, have a very interesting splash of darker motley areas on the bamboo. From my limited experience it seems the pricer ones are ever more darker and more splotchy in appearance. Personally, I find the physical appearance of his flutes totally mesmerizing.
Does anyone know how he creates the darker areas on his flutes? Of course there are many dark flutes, but he seems to obtain a very unique and strking contrast between the light and dark areas on the bamboo.
My curiosity on this point was raised when I read this blurb, decribing a shakuhachi, on one of the pages on Tom Deaver's web site: (http://www.ch-you.ne.jp/users/tom-tom/)
"Somewhere during that time it also spent about one year buried in a secret mixture of chicken shit, shredded straw and other tasty ingredients; food for the bacteria or whatever that nicely colored the bamboo surface with their excrement. Kono Gyokusui 1st turned me on to that trick years ago although I've not used it much."
Is this how these splotchy areas are created on the bamboo? The bamboo is buried in chicken shit for a year? Yes? Any theories on other secret ingredients? Does this technique only work on bamboo, or would it also color other types of wood this way?
I am very curious to learn more if anyone out there has some insight to share.
Thanks
Seth
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Hey Seth. I share your appreciation of the "interesting splash of darker motley areas", though I don't know Gyukusui's look specifically. Urushi is apparently used for spashes of darkness. But I don't think this is what you're talking about.
Here's a related beginner's experiment though, for what it's worth... I played with a selection of wood staining products on bamboo a while back. Nearly useless. Even the "extra penetrating" stains (gel, thin liquid, or otherwise), left on overnight (when 5 minutes or less was advised for wood), resulted in basically no difference on bamboo skin. The stain dried and later wiped off without leaving any mark, like it was a dry-erase marker. On exposed bamboo meat (e.g. skin sanded off or exposed root nub ends), a wood stain can work well. Though the colors (cherry, walnut, etc.) normally used for wood might not be as complementary for bamboo. But that's a subjective/cultured thing.
I'm already testing my girlfriend's patience with bamboo, tools, and dust in the apartment. Chicken shit and straw won't go over well...
-Darren.
Last edited by dstone (2007-02-11 18:20:36)
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dstone wrote:
Chicken shit and straw won't go over well...
Which begs the question of what to use if you don't have chickens around.
Seriously, don't shakuhachi makers use shuai lacquer to polish the bell and seal the utaguchi?
Could they also darken and polish the outside joints or even stain down the entire outside with a thin layer of shuai?
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Perhaps if you start with a lighter coloured bamboo such as madake, you may have difficulty making it darker, but if you start with a darker coloured bamboo you may not have toomuch difficulty in making some areas lighter.
For example, I use 'black bamboo - philostychys nigra', not a high quality bamboo, but it grows on my property, is of a good diameter, and the oldest flute in Japan, circa 700 A D. is from 'black bamboo'. It is not actually black but once named it was not corrected to perhaps 'dark green. Culms vary from mid green to very dark green, and once dried turn to mid brown to very dark brown, almost black. Now, when they are freshly cut, you can apply heat to them, in a bureiki style, either over coals, over a stove element or with a propane gas torch, and this surface heating will soften oils and bring them to the surface, they can them be manipulated, either wiped off or spread around or perhaps combined with something else.
Some of my culms that I have done this to are effectively bleached to a very light tan, or honey amber colour, and around the nodes, where there is an indentation, they are dark where the oils still remain.
Kel.
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Can someone explain how to post a photo here?
What I am talking about it not produced by the staining or urushi - it looks as if some of the bamboo has been eaten away leaving darking areas. Quite striking and very unique.
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I know what your talking about. Ichijo does something similar. It was explained to me, but I forget. Good question, how do you post pictures. I looked around alittle and am lame and didn't find out how.
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Hey, Seth...
This is a Gyokusui Kono I used to own... is what you are talking about shown here?
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Whoa. That's incredible.
Last edited by Sean (2007-02-12 21:18:26)
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Seth wrote:
Can someone explain how to post a photo here?
Seth,
Please note:
In order to show photographs, members will first need to upload them to their FTP space, then post a link. Once uploaded, click on the "BBCode" link at the bottom of each reply window. This page will give you the code needed to display photos from your FTP space.
KL
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Seth wrote:
Can someone explain how to post a photo here?
How to post an image on the World Shakuhachi Forum:
First, you must find an image hosting service. There are many free ones on Teh Intarweebs; the one I use and like is ImageShack. You must register in order to upload your images--ImageShack has a good privacy policy, and I've had no trouble with them.
You can host many kinds of images, but usually it'll be JPEGS, PNGs, GIFs, and the like.
Do this:
1. Go to this URL: http://my.imageshack.us/registration/ and register. Within 15 minutes you will receive an email which contains a login link. HANG ON to this email: It's what you will use every time you want to login to ImageShack.
2. Prepare your image, and know where it's located on your 'puter. Keep your image to a reasonable size.
3. Using the email you've received, login to ImageShack. You will get a page that is yours, and to which you will upload your image(s)--the page is labeled 'My Images'.
4. On the right side of the page you'll see a list of links under the label 'Action', and on that list you'll see, marked in bold type: 'Upload Image'.
Click it.
5. You'll get a dialog box which will allow you to browse your hard drive to get the image (click 'Browse...' and navigate to your image and select it).
6. After you see the link for your image in the 'Browse' window, click 'Upload' (or 'Cancel' if you've changed your mind). The image will appear on your 'My Images' page. Click on the small blue 'i' which is at the upper right of the image.
7. You'll get a dialog box with a list of coded URLs. I almost always select the one on the bottom: 'Direct'. Click on it to select it, and copy it.
8. Now go back to the Forum page you were on, click on the 'reply' or 'Quote' button (if you haven't already). Type:
[img]paste your copied code here[/img]
And set up the rest of your post and preview it. If you like it as is, submit it, or edit it as you see fit.
This is a picture of Tairaku as a teenager, which I submit for your edification:
That's it.
Last edited by edosan (2007-02-12 22:33:41)
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Man..he should be a model..
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Where did you find that Computer-Generated Sumo? He looks like he's from the ZBrush site.
-E
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Derek-
Yes! That's what I am talking about. In particular the black speckling. It is unearthly looking and I've seen a few that can put me into a semi-trance like state. How on earth does he do it?
And thank you all for the explanations on how to post a photo! Greatly appreciated. I'll post the pattern on my shakuhachi that I find so intriging tomorrow...
Seth
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Seth wrote:
In particular the black speckling.
Seth, if raised black bits is your thing... this might also be of interest... a "goma zuri" finish (sesame seeds). Raised black speckles, caused by fungal growth while the bamboo is still in the ground. So this isn't an applied finish, but something you could hunt for in a grove.
Ah, just found a pic of such a flute on Al's site.
Non-slip grip?
-Darren.
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That speckling is a different matter. It is caused by the bamboo being dead in the ground.
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Hi Seth,
Seth wrote:
Many of Gyukusui's flutes, especially the pricer ones, have a very interesting splash of darker motley areas on the bamboo. From my limited experience it seems the pricer ones are ever more darker and more splotchy in appearance. Personally, I find the physical appearance of his flutes totally mesmerizing.
Raw bamboo stock like this can start at around $300 in Japan. More for older pieces.
Does anyone know how he creates the darker areas on his flutes? Of course there are many dark flutes, but he seems to obtain a very unique and striking contrast between the light and dark areas on the bamboo.
Some of the makers I talked to about this suggest that the bamboo was grown this way due to soil conditions and age of bamboo when harvested. Each bamboo stalk is unique due to many reasons - the area it was grown, how much sunlight it got, if it was grown on a hill, rocky soil, or near a stream etc... An experienced shakuhachi take harvester can probably give you an educated guess on the conditions that contribute to this kind of skin coloring and texture.
My curiosity on this point was raised when I read this blurb, describing a shakuhachi, on one of the pages on Tom Deaver's web site: (http://www.ch-you.ne.jp/users/tom-tom/)
The only time I didn't have my camera with me on my shakuhachi trip of 2002 was when I visited Tom's home! He had bamboo hanging on the south side of his farm house drying in southern exposure. They were strung up like ladders. There were some with dark roots. It was a beautiful site.
Is this how these splotchy areas are created on the bamboo? The bamboo is buried in chicken shit for a year? Yes? Any theories on other secret ingredients? Does this technique only work on bamboo, or would it also color other types of wood this way?
I've seen shakuhachi that were made to reproduce this attribute. They usually look dull compared to the translucent marblized texture of the real thing. I don't know how they did it but often times, you can see chips and blond bamboo beneath.
I am very curious to learn more if anyone out there has some insight to share.
Thanks
Seth
Here's some photos of an Inoue Shigemi I just did some work on.
It has one of the darkest roots I've ever seen. My camera does not do it justice.
It would take a great craftsman and artist to reproduce this kind of nature.
Namaste, Perry
Last edited by Yungflutes (2007-02-13 13:16:48)
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Yungflutes wrote:
It would take a great craftsman and artist to reproduce this kind of nature.
Wow, that last one is a really beautiful flute.
The colors and texture and lack of shine evoke "bamboo, leather, and cast iron" to me. Ugh, that sounded like a wine tasting. Thanks for sharing those pics, Perry.
-Darren.
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Here is what I am talking about.
Perry- I think yes, this was started by nature, but it seems there was some other process carried out to emphasize the contrasting tones. But, I would not be terribly surprised to learn otherwise.
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in woodworking its called spalting and is achieved by leaving a piece of wood in some shadowy place touching the ground which has to be naturally humid there. you can put it /the rootend area with a sealed hole and the bamboo end WAX SEALED in compost for gardens and and maintain everything humid but not much/. the idea is the things to darken but to catch it BEFORE IT ROTS. its trickybut beautifull. the bamboo root is covered naturally with the same compound/leaves,dust,bugs.../
in fact all the pieces i have thrown at the backyard spalted but you know the rule-if you throw a hundred $ piece for sure it would brake. just a joke,i am sure it will not if there is humidity. just time patience and control
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Thought I'd just add my two yen worth on the black marking issue. I've been digging madake in Kyuhsu, Japan for 20 years now and the markings are caused by a fungi that gets under the upper layer of skin. It isn't restricted to the root end, but tends to be found there and just above ground level. The colour can range anywhere from a light brown to black and yes, the darker the better from an aesthetic point of view. Such bamboo does tend to draw a better price when sold either as a completed instrument or as is.
The speckling is as Tairaku suggested, a result of harvesting dead bamboo that has dried in the ground. It's generally lacking oil at the time of harvest. Generally not a desirable trait.
If any of you are interested in some mottled bamboo stock, contact either me or Derek Choice off-list.
Jeff
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Maybe these are the kind of chickens you want. Thanks, Edosan, for the information on ImageShack.
Last edited by Daniel Ryudo (2007-02-20 21:59:17)
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Hi all
I saw mant people out there facing problems in uploading their photographs and downsizing the photos for avatars.....because of either larger photo files or pixels...
here is a solution for Macintosh users....
there is a free software called ImageWell......u can use it to downsize your photos....to any size (both in terms of file size and photo size itself!!!)
the software can be downloaded for free here; http://xtralean.com/IWOverview.html
Cheers!!!
Shashank
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hi, this talk always tries my creativity and having nothing else to do today...
i will be happy if you spend just one minute here
http://costademaria.googlepages.com/darkshakuhachi and see how i made it with almost no talk and more images. by the way this was a green bamboo piece only before one month ago. i tried some techniques of fast drying without splitting , its 2.4 , near rootend,perfect measures-not wide bore. very well in tune and plays good for me. the holes are 11.5 cause its for me. please have in mind that it is not finished yet. it will be fine wool sanded and then again tung oiled to achieve glossy even surface,cause my idea was this.or just sanded to take the gloss and then slightly polished with a cotton or wool cloth till it looks natural. i tried it on a little piece and it looks natural like never laquered. so i would be happy for some criticizm from your side, i am just learning
below are some of them -
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They look great. If you are looking for advice, I would put on as little oil on as possible. Sometimes I finish shakuhachi with just a drop of oil mixed with very fine bamboo dust and wipe off all excess oil after rubbing down. I use a little more on the roots but hardly any on the rest.
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thanks,this is more like a varnish than oil.it hardens for 1/2h to an hour. thats why if i like to look like it have never been varnished can take away the gloss by steel wool and then satin polish with a cotton or wool cloth. i know what you mean but the picture is not so real,flash... i mean i search waterproofness,cause i simply can not put after that too much energy in caring for the bamboo not to crack. if you go to the link above you can see the varnish/oil i use. its non toxic,mixture of linseed and tung i think and apart from this is waterproof, vapor proof,uv resistent, and believe or not fire proof, also even saltwater proof. i like stuff like this
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