Shakuhachi

Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Infobox instrument Template:Fuke Zen A Template:Nihongo is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the Template:Transliteration was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the Template:Nihongo.<ref name = "kotofuke">Kotobank, Fuke shakuhachi. The Asahi Shimbun</ref><ref name = "kotoshaku">Kotobank, Shakuhachi. The Asahi Shimbun</ref> A bamboo flute known as the Template:Nihongo3 or Template:Nihongo3 was derived from the Chinese xiao in the Nara period and died out in the 10th century.<ref name = "kotokodai">Kotobank, Kodai shakuhachi (Gagaku shakuhachi). The Asahi Shimbun</ref> After a long blank period, the Template:Nihongo appeared in the 15th century, and then in the 16th century, the Template:Transliteration was developed in Japan. The Template:Transliteration flourished in the 18th century during the Edo period, and eventually the Template:Transliteration also died out. The Template:Transliteration developed in Japan is longer and thicker than the Template:Transliteration and has one finger hole less. It is longer and thicker than Template:Transliteration and is superior in volume, range, scale and tone quality.<ref name = "kotohito">Kotobank, Hitoyogiri shakuhachi. The Asahi Shimbun</ref> Today, since the shakuhachi generally refers only to Template:Transliteration, the theory that the Template:Transliteration is an instrument unique to Japan is widely accepted.<ref name = "kojima08">Tomiko Kojima. (2008) Japanese traditional performing arts course. Music. p.384. Tankosha. Template:ISBN</ref>

The Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration (blowing meditation).

The instrument is tuned to the minor pentatonic scale.

EtymologyEdit

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

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

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

OverviewEdit

File:JapaneseShakuhachiSection.jpg

A Template:Transliteration showing its Kinko school Template:Nihongo3 and inlay

File:Myoan-fingering chart.jpg

Myōan-ji Template:Transliteration fingering chart and notation

Template:Transliteration are usually made from the root end of Template:Transliteration (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 Template:Transliteration, Template:Transliteration, and Template:Transliteration, folk music, jazz, and other modern pieces.

Much of the Template:Transliteration's subtlety (and player's skill) lies in its rich tone colouring, and the ability for its variation. Different fingerings, embouchures and amounts of Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration player blows as one would blow across the top of an empty bottle (though the Template:Transliteration has a sharp edge to blow against called Template:Transliteration) and therefore has substantial pitch control. The term Template:Nihongo 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.Template:Citation needed

The history of the Template:Transliteration shows a variety of designs of inlaid mouthpieces that vary between certain traditional Japanese schools of Template:Transliteration. 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.Template:Citation needed

The five finger holes are tuned to a minor pentatonic scale with no half-tones, but using techniques called Template:Nihongo and Template:Nihongo, 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 Template:Nihongo or partially covering finger holes. Since most pitches can be achieved via several different fingering or blowing techniques on the Template:Transliteration, 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 Template:Transliteration has a range of two full octaves (the lower is called {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration, the upper, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration) and a partial third octave ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration) though experienced players can produce notes up to E7 (2637.02Template:NbspHz) on a 1.8 shakuhachi.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> The various octaves are produced using subtle variations of breath, finger positions and embouchure.

File:Honkyoku notation example.jpg

Template:Transliteration notation example; first two lines of Template:Nihongo.

In traditional Template:Transliteration repertoire, instead of tonguing for articulation like many Western wind instruments, hitting holes (Template:Nihongo, Template:Nihongo) 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.<ref name=":0" />

A 1.8 Template:Transliteration produces D4 (D above Middle C, 293.66Template:NbspHz) as its fundamental—the lowest note it produces with all five finger holes covered, and a normal blowing angle. In contrast, a 2.4 Template:Transliteration has a fundamental of A3 (A below Middle C, 220Template:NbspHz). As the length increases, the spacing of the finger holes also increases, stretching both fingers and technique. Longer flutes often have offset finger holes, and very long flutes are almost always custom made to suit individual players. Some Template:Transliteration, in particular those of the Nezasaha (Kimpu-ryū) school, are intended to be played on these longer flutes.

Due to the skill required, the time involved, and the range of quality in materials to craft bamboo Template:Transliteration, one can expect to pay from US$1,000 to US$8,000 for a new or used flute. Because each piece of bamboo is unique, Template:Transliteration cannot be mass-produced, and craftsmen must spend much time finding the correct shape and length of bamboo, curing it for more or less of a decade in a controlled environment and then start shaping the bore for almost a year using Template:Nihongo paste—many layers of a mixture including Template:Nihongo and Template:Transliteration and finished with Template:Transliteration lacquer—for each individual flute to achieve correct pitch and tonality over all notes. Specimens of extremely high quality, with valuable inlays, or of historical significance can fetch US$20,000 or more. Plastic or PVC Template:Transliteration have some advantages over their traditional bamboo counterparts: they are lightweight, extremely durable, nearly impervious to heat and cold, and typically cost less than US$100. Template:Transliteration made of wood are also available, typically costing less than bamboo but more than synthetic materials. Nearly all players, however, prefer bamboo, citing tonal qualities, aesthetics, and tradition.

HistoryEdit

File:A begging criminal-J. M. W. Silver.jpg

Sketch of a Template:Transliteration (right) playing the Template:Transliteration

The Template:Transliteration is derived from the Chinese bamboo-flute. The bamboo-flute first came to Japan from China during the 7th<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or 8th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name = "kotokodai"/> This style of bamboo flute, also called Template:Nihongo3 or Template:Nihongo3, was used for playing Template:Transliteration, but died out in the 10th century. Eight Template:Transliteration remain in the Shōsō-in Treasure Repository. There are no records of musical scores related to the Template:Transliteration, so details such as its playing method and scale are unknown. The average length was Template:Cvt, the diameter of the finger holes was Template:Cvt, and there were 6 finger holes – 5 at the front, 1 at the back.<ref name = "kotokodai"/><ref name = "kotoshaku"/>

In the 15th century, the Template:Nihongo appeared. It is characterized by a single bamboo joint in the middle of the tube. Although it flourished in the 17th century, it gradually fell into disuse due to the development and popularity of the superior Template:Transliteration, and was no longer used by the 19th century. The average length was Template:Cvt, the outer diameter was Template:Cvt, and there were 5 finger holes – 4 at the front, 1 at the back.<ref name = "kotoshaku"/><ref name = "kotohito"/>

The flute now known as the Template:Transliteration was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the Template:Nihongo. This style of Template:Transliteration is longer and thicker than the older Template:Transliteration, and its volume, range, scale, and tone are superior to those of the older Template:Transliteration. It is made from the base of the bamboo, and the average length is Template:Cvt, which corresponds to 1 Template:Transliteration 8 Template:Transliteration; the outside diameter is Template:Cvt, and there are 5 finger holes – 4 at the front, 1 at the back.<ref name = "kotohito"/><ref name = "kotofuke"/><ref name = "kotoshaku"/>

During the medieval period, Template:Transliteration were most notable for their role in the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhist monks, known as Template:Transliteration ("priests of nothingness" or "emptiness monks"), who used the shakuhachi as a spiritual tool. Their songs (called Template:Transliteration) were paced according to the players' breathing and were considered meditation (Template:Transliteration) as much as music.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

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

In response to these developments, several particularly difficult Template:Transliteration pieces, e.g. Template:Nihongo, 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.

File:Himeji Oshiro Matsuri August09 126.jpg

Performer playing Template:Transliteration at the 60th Himeji oshiro festival, 2009

With the Meiji Restoration, beginning in 1868, the shogunate was abolished and so was the Fuke sect,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> in order to help identify and eliminate the Template:Transliteration's holdouts. The very playing of the Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration again, it was only as an accompanying instrument to the Template:Transliteration, Template:Transliteration, etc. It was not until later that Template:Transliteration were allowed to be played publicly again as solo pieces.

The Template:Transliteration has traditionally been played almost exclusively by men in Japan, although this situation is rapidly changing. Many teachers of traditional Template:Transliteration music indicate that a majority of their students are women. The 2004 Big Apple Template:Transliteration Festival in New York City hosted the first-ever concert of international women Template:Transliteration masters. This festival was organized and produced by Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin, who was the first full-time Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration Dojo outside Japan, since 1975.Template:Citation needed Template:Promotion inline

File:Shawnee Schroeder Playing a Japanese Shakuhachi Flute.jpg

American Template:Transliteration enthusiast

The Template:Transliteration has grown in international popularity in recent decades.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first non-Japanese person to become a Template:Transliteration master was American-Australian Riley Lee. Lee was responsible for the World Template:Transliteration Festival being held in Sydney, Australia over 5–8 July 2008, based at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ITM">The Empty Bell – Blowing Zen, Into The Music, ABC Radio National, accessed 24 October 2008</ref> Riley Lee played the Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

AcousticsEdit

The Template:Transliteration creates a harmonic spectrum that contains the fundamental frequency together with even and odd harmonics and some blowing noise.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Five tone holes enable musicians to play the notes D-F-G-A-C-D. Cross (or fork) fingerings, half-covering tone holes, and Template:Transliteration blowing cause pitch sharpening, referred to as intonation anomaly.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Especially the second and third harmonic exhibit the well-known Template:Transliteration timbre. Even though the geometry of the Template:Transliteration is relatively simple, the sound radiation of the Template:Transliteration is rather complicated.<ref>Template:Cite conference</ref> 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 playersEdit

Template:Category see also Template:AnchorThe International Shakuhachi Society maintains a directory of notable professional, amateur, and teaching Template:Transliteration players.<ref name="issplayers">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

RecordingsEdit

{{#invoke:Listen|main}} The primary genres of Template:Transliteration music are:

Template:Transliteration (traditional, solo)
Template:Transliteration (ensemble, with Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration)
Template:Transliteration (new music composed for Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration, commonly post-Meiji period compositions influenced by Western music)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Recordings in each of these categories are available; however, more albums are catalogued in categories outside the traditional realm. As of 2018, Template:Transliteration players continue releasing records in a variety of traditional and modern styles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The first Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> One of the pieces featured on Yamaguchi's record was Template:Transliteration, also called Template:Transliteration (Crane's Nesting).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> NASA later chose to include this track as part of the Golden Record aboard the Voyager spacecraft.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the film industryEdit

Template:Transliteration 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, 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 Template:Transliteration and orchestra, including his well-known Celeste, Autumn and November Steps.

Western contemporary musicEdit

Template:More citations needed section

The Australian Template:Transliteration master and composer Jim Franklyn has composed a number of works for solo Template:Transliteration, also including electronics.
British composer John Palmer included a wide range of extended techniques in Template:Transliteration (1999, for Template:Transliteration and ensemble)
In Carlo Forlivesi's composition for Template:Transliteration and guitar "Template:Transliteration" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), 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 Template:Transliteration 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."<ref>ALM Records ALCD-76</ref>
American composer and performer Elizabeth Brown plays Template:Transliteration 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.<ref name="Sullivan14">Sullivan, Jack. "Elizabeth Brown, Mirage," American Record Guide, January/February 2014, p. 83.</ref><ref name="Carl13">Carl, Robert. Elizabeth Brown – Mirage, liner notes, Brooklyn, NY: New World Records, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2020.</ref><ref name="EBShak">Elizabeth Brown website. Pieces with Shakuhachi or Traditional Japanese Instruments. Retrieved November 9, 2020.</ref>
New York-born musician James Nyoraku Schlefer plays, teaches, and composes for Template:Transliteration.
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. Template:Transliteration Club. They play avant-garde jazz versions of tradition American folk and blues songs with Ritchie's Template:Transliteration playing as the focal point. In 2004 they released their debut album on Weed Records.
Welsh composer Karl Jenkins features prominent Template:Transliteration solos in his 2005 Requiem, specifically in the movements where the texts are death haikus.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

American multi-instrumentalist and composer Zac Zinger is a Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

"Nobody's Listening", a 2003 rap rock song from the album Meteora by Linkin Park, features the Template:Transliteration flute.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
British jazz musician Shabaka Hutchings performed shakuhachi on the André 3000 album New Blue Sun

Synthesized/sampled Template:TransliterationEdit

The sound of the Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>The "E-mu Emulator II shakuhachi" is number nine in "20 Sounds That Must Die" by David Battino, Keyboard Magazine, October 1995</ref> The General MIDI standard assigns the shakuhachi to program number 78.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.