1.8 Jiari

$1,000 - SOLD

01/07: This was my primary shakuhachi from 8/05 - 12/06. With many more in the works now, I decided that this would be my first instrument ever made available for sale. It was tough to let go of, but went to a great home and I am very happy..

August 25, 2005. This shakuhachi was a year and a half in the making--not working every day, of course, but a bit here and there, with extensive drying time between lacquer coats in the bore (over a thin cast epoxy base) and on parts of the exterior. It is only the 2nd instrument to receive the Inga stamp, and is a 1.8 jiari, made from a piece of Japanese madake (Kumamoto, Kyushu), with a silver lined Tozan utaguchi, and stainless steel center joint with rattan wrapping.

The raw bamboo culm was originally cut for a 2.0, though due to a Pterodactyl larva or other massive, ravenous insect feeding on the stalk while the bamboo was still growing (see photo), there was noticeable damage to the lower root portion. Consequently, I decided to fill / shave the root end, as well as shorten the upper section by a small amount, making it a 1.8. Initial thumb hole was filled with a birch plug, re-drilled a few mm lower, and is now perfect. However irrelevant, the bore is quite smooth and flowing; the ripples within the interior bore photo below are merely reflection artifacts.

I am quite proud of this shakuhachi, simply due to what I learned about fine-tuning and tone color adjustments. I spent the last few months mostly just working on the tonality of each note, messing them up, then re-doing it again, etc., etc. What a great learning experience! You can read about the process, and look at charts and graphs all day long, but it is not until you actually get in there, destroy a somewhat decent sound, and then figure out how to fix it, that you truly begin to understand how minute some of these changes are.

9/8/06: Met with a koto player last weekend for my first true Sankyoko experience. Mind you, I am still at the budding stages of learning this instrument, but decided to throw a couple of mics up and record an ambient version (it's a large room) of "Haru no Umi"... mistakes, rushed timing, and all (this is a hard song to play!). It does give a good representation of the tone of this shakuhachi, though.

"Haru no Umi" ~ 16Mb ~ 8:23
"Hokkai Minyo-cho" ~ 10Mb ~ 5:35 (added 11/5/06)

Older samples:

Sample 1 ~ quickie improvisation ~ 3.5mb, 1:52
Sample 2 ~ "Hanagasa Ondo" ~ short Minyo tune ~ 1.2mb, 35sec