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June 03, 2004
Jiari Shakuhachi Tuning VS Jinashi.
I just did a repair for someonewho bought an "antique" shakuhachi on EBAY. It's probabaly around 20 years old, 80 years short of being an antique. The tuning was a bit off for a Jiari flute but the seller refused to offer a refund although his auction stated "No refund unless grossly misrepresented". The buyer said had he known it was this out of tune, he would not have bid on it. Some of the notes, including RO, was almost semitone off. That's way off for a Jiari flute. Since it was advertised as in perfect tuning, I would consider this misleading unless the seller was unable to judge shakuhachi tuning. Since the shakuhachi is a nonfixed-pitch instrument, like the violin, it can be manipulated to play a range of pitches within three semitones on each hole. It would be easy to say "I played it in tune on an digital tuner". If one plays softly, the note will be flat. If more air pressure is introduced, the note sharpens. It's possible that the seller is not a proficient shakuhachi player and therefore did not understand how to judge shakuhachi tuning. Which prompted me to write my thoughts below on shakuhachi tuning.
Jiari means with Ji paste and jinashi means without Ji paste. When Ji is used to fully tune a bore, the pitches should play very close to perfect pitch with the same breath velocity across both octaves. This is the reason for Jiari. If it is jinashi, the pitches can play up to 25 cents flat or sharp on each tone hole and still be acceptable. The bores of jinashi flutes are usually wider and can respond easier to pitch bending. The flute plays fine now.
The Tsu was the worse culprit. I enlarged the hole to bring it to pitch.
EBAY can be a great place to buy things. In fact, I do a lot of my shopping there!`Just make sure you check the sellers refund guarantee.
Posted by Perry Yung at June 3, 2004 08:41 PM