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July 10, 2004
Choshi Variations
Today, I had the great opportunity to play on an old Yokoyama Rampo 1.8. This flute was made by the father of Yokoyama Katsuya. I was blown away to discover that one of the 1.8s I was presently tuning had a very similar feel to the Rampo. I like the timbre of older shakuhachi and strive for those characteristics. At some point in the tuning, one has to let go of the gages and tune soley by ear and playing. This is what I learned from Kinya one day in his workshop, "These gages will only take you so far. You can only make a great flute by playing the shakuhachi as well as you can".
I sat with my friend and we played Choshi together. During the piece, we both noticed the differences in interpretation. He said he learned from Katsuya and that is how he taught it. I learned from Kinya. Both drank from the fountain so why the difference? That is a question for countless debates. Japanese teaching requires the student to imitate the master. I guess at some point the young master's need to hear the music his way will force the break in tradition. I'm hoping that this question will be addressed at this years International shakuhachi festival in New York City. If you are in NYC from July 29th - Aug 1st. You must attend. Here is a link: http://www.bigappleshak.com
I will be performing and will also be making some of my shakuhachi available.
I liked the Rampo 1.8 a lot. It helped me answer some questions about volumne. The flute wasn't particularly loud but it had a great presense through out. Each tone hole FELT really good to play. Unlike the kind of modern shakuhachi that are cranked out in a short time, I got the feeling that Rampo spent a lot of time playing that flute. It is for this reason shakuhachi can cost in the thousands of dollars. It can take years to make a fabulous Jiari 1.8. Playing great flutes is an inspiration.
Posted by Perry Yung at July 10, 2004 07:06 PM