Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

amokrun wrote:

As a side note, I wonder why this sort of chin rest isn't being used by anyone.

Sometimes I see severe angled chin rests on older shakuhachi. It is almost always filed by someone other than the original maker.

I think it is tempting to file the chin rest back to make blowing more comfortable. However, like everything with shakuhachi, it is a compromise. As the chin rest angle increases, the sweet spot window decreases. It also limits the kari range.

With a less severe chin rest angle, the comfort issue can be handled by jutting the lower jaw outward slightly while blowing. This takes some getting used to. In my opinion, this is the reason why some players decide to change the original design of the flute.

Of course the degree of chin rest angle is a matter of personal taste. I don't mean to rain on your excitement! Some prefer a little more or less. However, I think the reason why most makers keep the angle slight is to widen the tonal and pitch range.

Ken

Mujitsu wrote:

With a less severe chin rest angle, the comfort issue can be handled by jutting the lower jaw outward slightly while blowing. This takes some getting used to. In my opinion, this is the reason why some players decide to change the original design of the flute.

With something like Yuu that is a good standard to go by, I tend to sort of pull back my lower jaw and also use my tongue to slightly alter the air stream as it goes past the teeth. I find this natural to do and it works fine for me. It is most likely different for everyone because we all have different facial shapes. I find that the typical chin rest tends to be a bit too sharp for my taste. However, I wouldn't touch any of my flutes out of principle. I like the idea that one should adjust himself to the tool rather than changing the tool.

Mujitsu wrote:

Of course the degree of chin rest angle is a matter of personal taste. I don't mean to rain on your excitement! Some prefer a little more or less. However, I think the reason why most makers keep the angle slight is to widen the tonal and pitch range.

I think you are right about the pitch range. It did take me a moment to find the right way to get this type of chin rest down to a really deep meri. For playing something fast where the angle changes quickly and repeatedly I would prefer the chin rest in Yuu because it is easier to alter the pitch with smaller changes. Also, really deep meri seems to require some minor adjustments in lips as well. Just pulling it down brings the blowing edge too close.

It is interesting to see how many possibilities there are with such a simple instrument. I think I should buy a stack of PVC pipes and try out different designs. I'm the type of person who understands things only after I try them out.

Tairaku wrote:

The chin rest on that flute is too extreme. If you get used to that it could make it difficult for you to play conventional flutes. Be careful.

I thought about that at first. I usually aim for 3 hours of practice every day. Most of the time I get more than that but having a hard limit makes it easier to ensure certain amount of consistent practice. This usually translates into playing whatever piece I'm working on on a 1.8 and doing all sorts of exercises in between. I have several flutes which I also play but mostly outside of the context of learning the traditional material. I have found that practicing other things and just playing for fun also helps my formal studies.

When I got my second flute - a 2.5 from Ken - I suddenly learned many new things that helped my more formal playing quite a lot. Having to suddenly focus on aspects you had taken for granted before made me understand things I had been doing all along better. The same thing happened when I got a Yuu. It was similar to my original 1.8 but still quite different in many ways. Playing both helped me understand the variables that exist within a flute. Since those days I've tried all sorts of 1.8 flutes and it has been much easier to quickly tell why they are different than the flutes I own.

The new flute is once again an interesting challenge. I had to revisit some basic techniques and figure them out from scratch. It is my first flute that jumps to Kan very easily and thus makes playing in Otsu more of a challenge than it has been before. It is also very picky about the amount of air used. Blow too hard - something that I'm guilty of at times - and you get nothing with the lowest notes. Messing around with the Ro on this flute helped me to tone down the volume of air that I was using and in turn resulted in less windy sound for Kan notes in a 1.8.

I do appreciate the concern. I will make sure to pay attention and to keep the distinction between different flutes clear. Thankfully studying with my teacher keeps me in habit of playing a standard 1.8. It is good to have something that can be considered the standard to which you can then compare all the new things you encounter.

Hey Amokrun!

Thanks for the pictures! It certainly is a particular chin rest! But as you point out I guess it kind of pushes you to play in a more kari way (which as I understand is highly desirable) and I'm sure it helps you experiment things in a different way(defenetly desirable!)

Salud!

Alex wrote:

Hey Amokrun!
I guess it kind of pushes you to play in a more kari way...

Not really. Kari is a relative thing. With that much undercut on the chinrest you are already so close to the blowing edge that you must readjust everything just to get the focused airstream back away from it in order to get a good sound. The only way that configuration would work 'normally', is if you had a very unusual chin anatomy, ie, a protruding chin bone structure.

eB

edosan wrote:

Not really. Kari is a relative thing. With that much undercut on the chinrest you are already so close to the blowing edge that you must readjust everything just to get the focused airstream back away from it in order to get a good sound. The only way that configuration would work 'normally', is if you had a very unusual chin anatomy, ie, a protruding chin bone structure.

You are right in that some amount of adjusting is necessary between that and the standard shape. It took me a day or so before I could reliably go through all notes in otsu because the sound keeps getting weaker as you go down. Ro is still tricky and has a tendency to die out if I blow rather than just breathe into the flute. On the other hand, that has been great practice for me because I have a tendency to blow way too much even though it's not actually necessary. This flute punishes it right away which serves as a good indicator that I'm losing focus.

I talked about this topic with my teacher a while ago. He explained that when he plays the opening between his teeth is fairly small. On the other hand, blowing is physically impossible for me if I try to maintain that sort of opening between my teeth. Mine is somewhat larger and I usually place my tongue differently as well to make up for that. It works just fine but isn't as natural as it could be. This flute feels much better in that respect. I suppose that my face is just incompatible with the stock chin rest. Something slightly deeped than the standard might work better in my case, although I'd have to try it to see.

Either way, thanks to everyone who commented on the topic. The great thing about this forum is that someone will always point out things that you failed to consider. Keep up the good work.