Worm Hole Shakuhachi
I’ve been trying to catch upon a lot of repair work that came during our family trip. Two old flutes were purchased on ebay and sent to me for evaluation. This one had a worm hole.
Shakuhachi Notation
Back in town and soooo excited to jump right into a four hour Honkyoku workshop with Ralph Samuelson. I was playing everyday while on vacation but not in any focused manner so it was great to sit in a room of serious (but fun) players!
Journey into Stillness, Shakuhachi and Yoga
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We were spending time in Barrington, RI last week for summer vacation. There is a great YMCA camp for the kids. They can swim, do nature walks and arts and crafts all day while eating grandma’s cooking in the evening. While the kids were at camp, my partner and I were practicing yoga at Synergy Yoga.
R.I.P. Tom Deaver.
Tom Deaver, a very influential shakuhachi maker passed away yesterday.
When I was studying shakuhachi making in Japan, visiting with Tom was one of my inspirational highlights.
Tamuke ( 2.0 Hocchiku ) for Tom:
Summer Shakuhachi Sale!
6/30/10 UPDATE.OK, the three day sale is over as I’m officially out of town, but the discount remains until I return. All purchased will ship on Aug 5th. I’ll continue to take commissions and give estimates on repairs via email but soon my response may be slow as I’ll be in the mountains.
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Just finishing setting up shop in Barrington and I had a shakuhachi making student come by. We made, repaired and played shakuhachi in 94 degrees! Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwhiches were served.
Japanese Madake Bamboo
I was going through my stock of Japanese Madake Bamboo yesterday looking for suitable pieces for two new commissions - a Chikusing 2.4 and a pro-level YUNG Model 1.8. I use Japanese Madake bamboo for my highest grade instruments as these are used in traditional shakuhachi flutes made in Japan. These pieces were either harvested by me personally in Kyushu and Tokyo around 2003 - 2005 or purchased from Kinya Sogawa, my shakuhachi making and playing sensei in Saitama, Japan. Notice the desirable dark, mottling texture on authentic Japanese Madake. Man, I was bummed to find a piece with a long crack through the bore.
Shakuhachi, Kids and Art
Here is Sasa’s foray into full back art last week. We’ve been seeing a lot of contemporary art lately so it’s easy to see why she wants to explore more than the usual blank piece of paper to paint on. A while back, some one asked her how old she was. Her reply was, “I’m six years-old, and I’m an artist.” As I mentioned in a previous post, I hope she can hang on to this kind of openness as she grows up and becomes a professional artist (not that she has to follow in her parents footsteps ). Most practicing artists discover sooner or later that their work becomes a business. The question is how to maintain focus on what’s important and have fun doing so.
My Good friend Scott wrote a great blog entry about what it takes to be a professional artist, Check it out here: Zen-No-Mind
Chikusing Model Shakuhachi Commission
I’m soooo exited about this Chikusing commission. I’ve had a streak of luck lately where the flutes are almost making themselves. More often than not, when making Jinashi style flutes, a lot of time is spent adjusting the bore for optimal playability while retaining an organic feel in respect to balance, response and tuning. A few flutes recently exhibited perfect aspect ratios and seemingly made themselves. This 2.7 was commissioned by a student of Micheal Gould. He wanted the best Choukan bass shakuhachi I could make in the Jinashi style, which is my Chikusing Model. So I asked Kinya if he could spare a 2.7 piece of bamboo. He sent me two pieces a 2.7 and 3.0. Both were harvested by Kinya around 2000 near Osaka.