Shakuhachi

A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the . A bamboo flute known as the or was derived from the Chinese xiao in the Nara period and died out in the 10th century. After a long blank period, the appeared in the 15th century, and then in the 16th century, the was developed in Japan. The flourished in the 18th century during the Edo period, and eventually the also died out. The developed in Japan is longer and thicker than the and has one finger hole less. It is longer and thicker than and is superior in volume, range, scale and tone quality. Today, since the shakuhachi generally refers only to , the theory that the is an instrument unique to Japan is widely accepted.

The is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS, ebonite, anodized aluminum, and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke Zen of Zen Buddhism in the practice of (blowing meditation).

The instrument is tuned to the minor pentatonic scale.

Etymology

The name means "1.8 ", referring to its size. It is a compound of two words:

is an archaic unit of length equal to and subdivided in ten subunits.
means "eight", here eight , or tenths, of a .

Thus, the compound word means "one eight " (), the standard length of a . Other vary in length from about 1.1 up to 3.6 . Although the sizes differ, all are still referred to generically as .

Overview

are usually made from the root end of (Phyllostachys bambusoides) bamboo culm and are extremely versatile instruments. Professional players can produce virtually any pitch they wish from the instrument, and play a wide repertoire of original Zen music, ensemble music with , , and , folk music, jazz, and other modern pieces.

Much of the 's subtlety (and player's skill) lies in its rich tone colouring, and the ability for its variation. Different fingerings, embouchures and amounts of can produce notes of the same pitch, but with subtle or dramatic differences in the tone colouring. Holes can be covered partially and pitch varied subtly or substantially by changing the blowing angle. The pieces rely heavily on this aspect of the instrument to enhance their subtlety and depth.

Unlike a recorder, where the player blows into a duct—a narrow airway over a block which is called a "fipple"—and thus has limited pitch control, the player blows as one would blow across the top of an empty bottle (though the has a sharp edge to blow against called ) and therefore has substantial pitch control. The term literally translates as "to the mouth that sings", referring to the upper and main hole of the flute where the mouthpiece or blowing edge is created by a natural diagonal cut in the bamboo.

The history of the shows a variety of designs of inlaid mouthpieces that vary between certain traditional Japanese schools of . Thus, the Kinko Ryu, Myoan and Tozan Ryu, differ in different features in their line of mouthpiece design, coinciding in them the total non-use in their inlay of the semi-circumference formed by the natural cut of the mouthpiece in the bamboo. Beyond the fact that these inlaid forms were a hallmark of styles and schools, the fact of inlaying a mouthpiece historically could respond to a way of repairing the instrument due to wear or damage in particular in its blowing edge.

The five finger holes are tuned to a minor pentatonic scale with no half-tones, but using techniques called and , in which the blowing angle is adjusted to bend the pitch downward and upward, respectively, combined with embouchure adjustments and fingering techniques the player can bend each pitch as much as a whole tone or more. Pitches may also be lowered by or partially covering finger holes. Since most pitches can be achieved via several different fingering or blowing techniques on the , the timbre of each possibility is taken into account when composing or playing thus different names are used to write notes of the same pitch which differ in timbre. The has a range of two full octaves (the lower is called / , the upper, ) and a partial third octave ( ) though experienced players can produce notes up to E7 (2637.02Hz) on a 1.8 shakuhachi. The various octaves are produced using subtle variations of breath, finger positions and embouchure.

thumb|upright| notation example; first two lines of .

In traditional repertoire, instead of tonguing for articulation like many Western wind instruments, hitting holes (, ) with a very fast movement is used and each note has its corresponding repeat fingerings; e.g., for repeating C5 the 5th hole (D5's tone hole) is used. or 8th century.

Travel around Japan was restricted by the shogunate at this time, but the Fuke sect managed to wrangle an exemption from the , since their spiritual practice required them to move from place to place playing the and begging for alms (one famous song reflects this mendicant tradition: ; "One two three, pass the alms bowl"). They persuaded the to give them exclusive rights to play the instrument. In return, some were required to spy for the shogunate, and the sent several of his own spies out in the guise of Fuke monks as well. This was made easier by the that the Fuke wore over their heads, a symbol of their detachment from the world.

In response to these developments, several particularly difficult pieces, e.g. , became well known as "tests": if one could play them, they were a real Fuke monk. If they could not, they were probably a spy and might very well be killed if they were in unfriendly territory.

thumb|left|upright|Performer playing at the 60th [[Himeji oshiro festival, 2009]]

With the Meiji Restoration, beginning in 1868, the shogunate was abolished and so was the Fuke sect, in order to help identify and eliminate the 's holdouts. The very playing of the was officially forbidden for a few years. Non-Fuke folk traditions did not suffer greatly from this, since the tunes could be played just as easily on another pentatonic instrument. However, the repertoire was known exclusively to the Fuke sect and transmitted by repetition and practice, and much of it was lost, along with many important documents.

When the Meiji government did permit the playing of again, it was only as an accompanying instrument to the , , etc. It was not until later that were allowed to be played publicly again as solo pieces.

The has traditionally been played almost exclusively by men in Japan, although this situation is rapidly changing. Many teachers of traditional music indicate that a majority of their students are women. The 2004 Big Apple Festival in New York City hosted the first-ever concert of international women masters. This festival was organized and produced by Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin, who was the first full-time master to teach in the Western hemisphere. Nyogetsu also holds 2 Dai Shihan (Grand Master) licenses, and has run KiSuiAn, the largest and most active Dojo outside Japan, since 1975.

thumb|American enthusiast

The has grown in international popularity in recent decades. The first non-Japanese person to become a master was American-Australian Riley Lee. Lee was responsible for the World Festival being held in Sydney, Australia over 5–8 July 2008, based at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Riley Lee played the in Dawn Mantras which was composed by Ross Edwards especially for the Dawn Performance, which took place on the sails of the Sydney Opera House at sunrise on 1 January 2000 and was televised internationally.

Acoustics

thumb|start=8|thumbtime=12|Shakuhachi played by Markus Guhe at [[St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh]]

The creates a harmonic spectrum that contains the fundamental frequency together with even and odd harmonics and some blowing noise. Five tone holes enable musicians to play the notes D-F-G-A-C-D. Cross (or fork) fingerings, half-covering tone holes, and blowing cause pitch sharpening, referred to as intonation anomaly. Especially the second and third harmonic exhibit the well-known timbre. Even though the geometry of the is relatively simple, the sound radiation of the is rather complicated. Sound radiating from several holes and the natural asymmetry of bamboo create an individual spectrum in each direction. This spectrum depends on frequency and playing technique.

Notable players

The International Shakuhachi Society maintains a directory of notable professional, amateur, and teaching players.

Recordings

The primary genres of music are:

(traditional, solo)
(ensemble, with and )
(new music composed for and , commonly post-Meiji period compositions influenced by Western music)

Recordings in each of these categories are available; however, more albums are catalogued in categories outside the traditional realm. As of 2018, players continue releasing records in a variety of traditional and modern styles.

The first recording appeared in the United States in the late 1960s. Gorō Yamaguchi recorded A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky for Nonesuch Explorer Records on LP, an album which received acclaim from Rolling Stone at the time of its release. One of the pieces featured on Yamaguchi's record was , also called (Crane's Nesting). NASA later chose to include this track as part of the Golden Record aboard the Voyager spacecraft.

In the film industry

are often used in modern film scores, for example those by James Horner. Films in which it is featured prominently include: The Karate Kid parts II and III by Bill Conti, Southern Comfort by Ry Cooder, Legends of the Fall and Braveheart by James Horner, Jurassic Park and its sequels by John Williams and Don Davis, and The Last Samurai by Hans Zimmer and Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams.

Renowned Japanese classical and film-score composer Toru Takemitsu wrote many pieces for and orchestra, including his well-known Celeste, Autumn and November Steps.

Western contemporary music

The Australian master and composer Jim Franklyn has composed a number of works for solo , also including electronics.
British composer John Palmer included a wide range of extended techniques in (1999, for and ensemble)
In Carlo Forlivesi's composition for and guitar "" (), the performance techniques were remarked as "[presenting] notable difficulties in a few completely novel situations: an audacious movement of 'expansion' of the respective traditions of the two instruments pushed as they are at times to the limits of the possible, the aim being to have the and the guitar playing on the same level and with virtuosity (two instruments that are culturally and acoustically so dissimilar), thus increasing the expressive range, the texture of the dialogue, the harmonic dimension and the tone-colour."
American composer and performer Elizabeth Brown plays and has written many pieces for the instrument that build on Japanese traditions while diverging with more modern arrangement, orchestration, melodic twists or harmonic progressions.
New York-born musician James Nyoraku Schlefer plays, teaches, and composes for .
Composer Carson Kievman has employed the instrument in many works from "Ladies Voices" in 1976 to "Feudal Japan" in the parallel world opera Passion Love Gravity in 2020–21.
Progressive rock songwriter Roger Waters played the instrument on the song ‘Me or Him’ on his 1987 concept album Radio KAOS
Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes formed a jazz quintet in 2002 called The N.Y.C. Club. They play avant-garde jazz versions of tradition American folk and blues songs with Ritchie's playing as the focal point. In 2004 they released their debut album on Weed Records.
Welsh composer Karl Jenkins features prominent solos in his 2005 Requiem, specifically in the movements where the texts are death haikus.
American multi-instrumentalist and composer Zac Zinger is a specialist, featuring it on his progressive-jazz album Fulfillment, as well as playing it on the score of Just Cause 4 and the promotional album for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, from Magic: The Gathering.
"Nobody's Listening", a 2003 rap rock song from the album Meteora by Linkin Park, features the flute.
British jazz musician Shabaka Hutchings performed shakuhachi on the André 3000 album New Blue Sun

Synthesized/sampled

The sound of the is also featured from time to time in electronica, pop and rock, especially after being commonly shipped as a "preset" instrument on various synthesizers and keyboards beginning in the 1980s.

The General MIDI standard assigns the shakuhachi to program number 78. One of the best known pop songs of the 1980s that uses this sound is "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel. This was also used in the ident of the short-lived Coca-Cola Telecommunications.

References

External links

International Shakuhachi Society
Shakuhachi flute Fingering Chart
Shakuhachi Online Study Program and Flute Store
Fuke Shakuhachi Official Site