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August 27, 2005
Retuning Old Shakuhachi Flutes
An interesting repair this week. This flute was won on eBay sometime ago. This is a old flute, probably around 50 -70 years old according to the natural patina.
I noticed right away there were some major tuning problems. Here was the give away. There is a tone hole drilled near the bottom of the root. By the looks of the hole, it was made long after the flute was originally made. There was no urushi on the inner walls. This brought the tonic from B to D.
The Chi and Re looked like it had recent work.
I noticed that the top three finger holes have been enlarged infact. The lacquer on the inner walls appear new and the edges of the holes are crisp. Flutes that are older usually have rounded edges from wear over time. Good flutes, that is.
The Tsu and Re were in tune with Ro but the top three holes were more than a semi tone sharp.This means the flute wasn't anywhere near a Minor Pentatonic scale, the standard shakuhachi scale. In this case, bore work would not fix the pitch. I needed to plug the old holes and redrill new ones. Here is a finger hole plug made from Phyllostachys Nigra. I prefer to use a different color bamboo so as to accent instead of hide the repair. I also liked the contrast.
Now this eBay purchase is a workable shakuhachi.
HEAR this old flute.
The root had signs of insect damage. This is the reason many makers soak the roots in old car oil while the bamboo cures. The old oil prevent insects from gnawing away at the precious root.
Until the next repair, your shak doc, Perry
Posted by Perry Yung at August 27, 2005 10:39 PM