SHAKUHACHI: Japanese musical instrument
https://worldhitz4u.blogspot.com/2014/03/shakuhachi-japanese-musical-instrument.html
The shakuhachi is a blown flute from
Japan. The flute was traditionally introduced from China into the country in
the 8th century and underwent resurgence in the early period of Edo.
The musical instrument is traditionally manufactured of bamboo, but versions of
the instrument now exist in ABS and hardwoods. The musical instrument was used
by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of suizen. The
musical instrument is often tuned to the minor pentatonic scale.
The term shakuhachi means ‘1.8
shaku’, referring to the size of the musical instrument. It is a composition of
two words: the shaku is an archaic unit of length that is equal to 30.3 cm and
subdivided into 10 subunits, and the hachi means eight, eight sun.
Shaku-hachi means one eight sun, the
normal length of the musical instrument is approximately 55 cm. other versions
of the musical instrument differ in length from about 1.3 shaku to about 3.3
shaku. Although the sizes of the instrument vary, all the instruments are all
known as shakuhachi.
The musical instruments are often
manufactured from a root end of a bambooculm and are totally versatile musical
instruments. Skilled players of the musical instrument can produce virtually
any pitch they desire from the shakuhachi and perform a wide range of original
Zen music, group music with the koto, biwa and the shamisen, folk music, jazz
music and some other modern genres.
Much of the shakuhachi’s subtley
depends in the rich tone coloring and the ability for the instrument’s
variation. Various embouchures, fingering and mount of meri can manufacture
notes of the same pitch, though with subtle or dramatic variations in the tone
coloring. The holes of the musical instrument can be closed partially and pitch
differentiated by altering the blowing angle.
Unlike the recorder, where the player
of the musical instrument blows into a duct, a narrow airway over a block that
is called fipple, as such has limited control of the pitch, the player of the
musical instrument blows as one would blow across the top of an empty bottle
and so have a considerable pitch control. The five finger holes of the
instrument are tuned to pentatonic scale without half-tones, though styles
known as meri and kari, in which the blowing angle is adjusted to bend the
pitch of the sound upward and downward, the player of the musical instrument
can bend each pitch as much as an entire tone or more. Pitches may also be
lowered by partially covering or shading the finger holes of the instrument.
Since most pitches can be gained through many different blowing and fingering
styles on the musical instrument, the tone quality of each probability is taken
into consideration when playing or composing. The musical instrument has a
range of two octaves and a partial 3rd octave. The various octaves
are manufactured with the use of subtle variations of breath and embouchure.
Because of the skill needed, the time
that is involved and the range in quality of the materials to craft bamboo
shakuhachi, somebody can budget to pay from about US$300 to US$5,000 for a new flute or a
used flute.
The bamboo flute was first introduced
to Japan from China during the 6th century. The main musical
instrument, shakuhachi is different from the Chinese counterpart.
During the medieval period, the
musical instruments were most popular for their function in the Fuke sect of
Zen Buddhist monks, called komusō, who used
the musical instrument as a spiritual tool. Their songs were paced according to
the breathing of the player and were well thought-out to be meditation as much
as music.
The shakuhachi has traditionally been
played by just men in japan, even though this situation is changing swiftly.
Many teachers of the traditional version of the musical instrument indicate
that a majority of their scholars are female. The 2004 Big Apple Shakuhachi
festival in New York City of United States hosted the 1st ever
concert of international women masters of the instrument. Ronnie Nyogetsu
Reishin Seldin organized and produced the festival.
The first non-Japanese to become a
master of the musical instrument is the American-Australian Riley Lee. He was
responsible for the shakuhachi festival that was held in Australia and Sydney
over 5 to 8 July 2008, based on the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music.
The main genres of the shakuhachi
music includes; Honkvoku, sankvoku and shinkvoku. The sound of the musical
instrument is also found from time to time in non-traditional non-Japanese
music, from electronica to pop-rock music to jazz music, specifically after
being commonly shipped as a contemporary musical instrument on different
synthesizers and keyboards starting in the 1980s.