Shakuhachi

The shakuhachi (Japanese尺八) is a Japanese bamboo end-blown flute, which was introduced from China in the 8th century and developed in the 17th century to a meditation tool zenbuddhistischer monks. Your soft, noise -like sound is now regarded as typical of the traditional classical music of Japan. In addition, the shakuhachi is also used in modern Western classical and popular music.

History

The shakuhachi is derived from the Chinese xiao and arrived in the early 8th century with the Chinese court music gagaku to Japan. There it was first used by the oral tradition honkyoku tradition in the local gagaku ensemble, where she quickly moved but because of their relatively low volume in the background and was finally disappeared in the 11th century.

In the Edo period (1603-1868) the shakuhachi reappeared and became the instrument of the Zen Buddhist Fuke Shuu, a sect of wandering mendicant monks, samurai were formerly, and thereby learned a great change in their use: under the Fuke wandering monks was the shakuhachi no longer as a musical instrument ( gakki ), but became a religious tool ( hoki ) and was the center of meditation exercises. The use of the flute was strictly limited: you got to play it either in concerts, it was still an outsider allowed to hear her play. Besides, it was not allowed to play them along with other instruments. Alone their use as a " spiritual tool " was approved, because just by playing the shakuhachi, it was the members of the sect possible to get to the true enlightenment. The monks of the Fuke ( Komuso ) composed pieces are grouped together under the term honkyoku and still form the most venerated shakuhachi music tradition.

During the Meiji Restoration, the Fuke sect in 1871 because of their connections to the Tokugawa government - through its use as spies - forbidden, and thus playing the shakuhachi for religious purposes. But as the teacher of the instrument did not want to give up their livelihood and could, as his secularization was continued. Already in the Edo period, the shakuhachi koto and shamisen had along with found in sankyoku ensemble input into the courtly musical culture.

The shakuhachi playing style of the 20th century based on three different teaching traditions:

• The Kinko school that teaches mainly traditional compositions,
• The Tozan school that demonstrates a greater influence of Western music, and
• The Myōan schools, which continue the tradition of the Fuke sect.

In addition, the shakuhachi is one of the most famous Asian musical instruments and is used by both Asian and Western composers of their works.

The Komuso Kurosawa Kinko (1710-1771) chose the honkyoku repertoire of 36 pieces that were played for the binding core of the Kinko School and at the temples in and around Edo. These 36 compositions were divided into 18 actual " inner pieces " that were played only in meditation and temple rituals and in 18 " outer pieces " whose performance practice was less strict. The inner pieces are played rhythmically free and extremely slow, they consist of musical sections whose length is limited by the breath of the player and are separated by pauses. Within these segments can be an introductory tone with softer dynamics, an average major phase with changes in volume ( crescendo - decrescendo ) and a final, softer end to differ.

Construction

Manufacturing is the shakuhachi from the root end of the Madake bamboo ( Phyllostachys bambusoides ). Its length is in the standard instrument (mood in d ') 54.5 cm or 1 Shaku (尺) and 8 (八hachi ) Sun (寸), which derives its name. Shakuhachi are made of less than 1.5 (mood in g ') to greater than 2.4 shaku length (mood in a).

The pipe is usually at the end slightly bent upward (there are also straight ends ) and internally conical drilled ( from 2 to 1.5 cm). The generally multi-layered interior painting of the pipe protects the flute for one from moisture, and contributes to the other to their special sound at. The modern flute is often divided in the middle and better transport. In addition, each instrument must have seven nodes whose arrangement is prescribed. The Anblaslippe the mouthpiece (歌 口utaguchi ) is usually provided with a plastic or metal insert characteristic shape (see picture on the right, kinko - utaguchi ) to improve the durability of the shakuhachi. With four finger holes and one thumb hole in the standard instruments of the ambitus is 2 ½ to 3 octaves. The standard version is so tuned in pentatonic minor, but there are also versions with two additional holes for easier accessibility chromatic tones. A remarkable feature of the technique is the characteristic movement of the head: on the one hand it allows in combination with partial covering the finger holes playing overtones, and on the other it plays an important role in the ornamentation in addition to the finger articulation. Tongue articulation hardly takes place.

The notation of shakuhachi music is traditionally not in Western music known manner, but there are several, some of the different schools that were found spellings in which the pitch by certain Japanese syllabary characters ( kana, katakana ), the tone length, octave and articulations if in general, be represented by particular line shapes and lengths of the mark and additional marks. Rules for the interpretation are usually orally and / or passed through the example of the teacher and imitating the student.

While the traditional shakuhachi is made of bamboo and is made by hand, there are now copies also machine made of plastic or wood, which are less expensive and do not jump as fast as the bamboo, but both sonically and visually by far not to the come close traditional instrument. The sound of a shakuhachi made ​​of wood is warmer than the pearly sound of a bamboo flute.

Others

In the Western pop music to find the shakuhachi often " sampled " in the form of, for example at the beginning and at the Bridge of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer hit or Song Nobody's Listening by Linkin Park. Also on Roger Waters ' album Amused to Death in the song Watching TV is heard a shakuhachi.