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January 15, 2006
Inserting an Ikigaeshi
I had an interesting repair for the past month with this old Myoan shakuhachi by the master maker, Shozan. You can see a photo if you search my archives below. It had 13 rattan inlays done to repair a long crack down the front.
The original opening at the top where the utaguchi is was too wide. I found that I could not play anything that required rigorous emboucher work because the air stream was dissipating around the utaguchi. Adding an ikigaeshi helped direct the jet stream. Afterwards, it played with a much more focused sound.
Previous to the ikigaeshi insert, I couldn't get a strong, flexible tone on any of the notes. Each note require a bit of searching for it's own emboucher shape and when the notes sounded, they lacked "room". After the insert was done, the flute revealed a "center". It showed me how it liked to be played. I was suprised at the beautiful and subtle voice it had through out. It also revealed two weak notes - Ro Kan and Tsu Otsu. I discussed with the owner that at the minimum, Ro kan needed work in order for the flute to have balance. I don't normally like to mess around with the bores of old flutes since I, a modern man, have no idea where Shozan's head was at when he made this flute ( or, what kind of music he made the flute to play). Messing with an old master made flute would be like painting over a Van Gogh painting just because someone felt his reds were not red enough. However, there were signs that this flute had had some bore work done to it failry recently, probably four years. How did we know? It smelled of cashew. That burnt oil smell you smell on wooden flutes. The owner had it for four years and he said it smelled like that when he got it. This gave me the green light to make this a "better shakuhachi".
Now, back to the repair. While poking around to fix Ro Kan, I found the spot to make Tsu Ostu better. It was very close to the Ro Kan spot. I adjusted them both simply and it didn't change the voice of the flute. Now, I can get it to do what I want with minimal effort.
I could sit for hours with this flute ;)
Good night all,
Perry
Posted by Perry Yung at January 15, 2006 03:58 PM