Hotchiku
Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Italic title
The Template:Nihongo3, sometimes romanized as Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration, is a Japanese aerophone, an end-blown bamboo flute, crafted from root sections of bamboo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
}}</ref> The bamboo root is cleaned and sanded, resulting in a surface patterned with many small, circular knots where the roots formerly joined the stalk. The same part of the bamboo plant is also used to produce the Template:Transliteration but, unlike the Template:Transliteration, the Template:Transliteration's inside (bore) and outside surfaces are left unlacquered, and an inlay is not used in the mouthpiece. The membranes at the nodes inside a Template:Transliteration bore are generally left more intact than those of a Template:Transliteration, though older Template:Transliteration also share this trait. Together, these characteristics make for a visibly and audibly raw and organic instrument. Template:Transliteration are sometimes referred to as Template:Transliteration, meaning "without Template:Transliteration [a paste made of clay and lacquer, used to smooth the bore on modern Template:Transliteration], one-piece"; Template:Transliteration are not cut in two pieces for crafting or storage, unlike modern Template:Transliteration that are used as musical instruments.
Template:Transliteration have four holes down the front for fingers and one hole on the back for the thumb of the upper hand. The instrument is capable of a range of at least two octaves, and more if the instrument is well-crafted and in the hands of an experienced player; they can be fashioned to any length, suitable bamboo permitting, with longer instruments having their frequency range shifted proportionally lower. Template:Transliteration are typically longer than other variations of the Template:Transliteration, and almost always thicker and heavier.
The techniques for playing the Template:Transliteration are similar to Template:Transliteration techniques, although the sound resulting from Template:Transliteration is more fragile and possibly less well tuned to musical scales than are modern, refined (Template:Transliteration, or tuned Template:Transliteration) Template:Transliteration. The angle of the Template:Nihongo3, or blowing edge, of a Template:Transliteration is closer to perpendicular to the bore axis than that of a modern Template:Transliteration, but this is mostly a choice of the maker depending upon the size of the bamboo. Older Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration also share this trait, though unlike Template:Transliteration they usually have an inlaid blowing edge. This property, along with the unlacquered bore, results in a rough and breathy timbre.
Because of its extremely natural construction, the Template:Transliteration is commonly used for Template:Nihongo (blowing Zen meditation). Playing traditional Template:Transliteration is generally only attempted by highly skilled Template:Transliteration musicians, since the blowing and fingering techniques required for Template:Transliteration have to be altered considerably. Since Template:Transliteration are not generally tuned to a standard musical scale, they do not commonly accompany other instruments.
Distinctions between Template:Transliteration and traditional Template:TransliterationEdit
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The term Template:Transliteration was popularized by Watzumi Doso.Template:Who Traditional Template:Transliteration were quite similar, with three primary differences. First, modern Template:Transliteration performers such as DosoTemplate:Who and OkudaTemplate:Who often prefer exceptionally long Template:Transliteration, while Template:Transliteration rarely exceeded 2.1 Template:Transliteration. Second, Template:Transliteration had an inlaid mouthpiece, which protects the blowing edge from taking on excess moisture and rotting out. Thirdly, though Template:Transliteration is not used, the inside is painted with Template:Transliteration, a natural lacquer made from the sap of the urushi tree, used in Japan from antiquity. Like the mouthpiece inlay, this protects the bore from taking on excess moisture and contributes to the flute's longevity.
Lacking Template:Transliteration and a mouthpiece inlay, Template:Transliteration gradually take on moisture as they are played, making the tone less stable. Though Template:Transliteration were not tuned to a precise scale either, they could generally be played together. As their hole positions were either calculated or copied from another Template:Transliteration, a particular Template:Transliteration piece could be played roughly the same way on any Template:Transliteration. Template:Transliteration take even more freedom; some of Watazumi Doso's instruments were literally a piece of bamboo cut down with some holes seemingly randomly bored into it.
Distinguishing Template:Transliteration from Template:Transliteration in general can be difficult, as there are many types of Template:Transliteration. In addition to Template:Transliteration, there are also modern Template:Transliteration, such as those made by John Kaizan Neptune,Template:Who which are tuned to be played with modern (Western) musical instruments. Again, since the abolition of the Fuke sect in 1871, modern Template:Transliteration have been made in two halves in order to tune them more precisely, but Template:Transliteration used for Zen practice have been primarily Template:Transliteration since the beginning. The term Template:Transliteration encompasses all of these, including Template:Transliteration, and should not be understood as referring only to the modern, more musical iteration of the instrument.
Famous Template:Transliteration playersEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Close up of Hotchiku, by Kinya Sogawa
- Article detailing differences between hotchiku and shakuhachi, by Tom Deaver
- One of several messages in a thread on shakumail, describing the history of the term and concept of hotchiku, contrasted with shakuhachi
Template:Flutes Template:Traditional Japanese musical instruments Template:Authority control