ARTS: The Treeleaf Music Hall is now open

[James J.]

Hello, apologies for going over three sentences.
Another shakuhachi enthusiast here. I’ve been playing off and on for years and In between other musical interests. I’ve settled on shakuhachi though and decided to stick with it for the long haul. I take lessons from Michael Gould via Skype. It’s a beautiful and confounding instrument. Some days it is the most amazing sound. The next day nothing works and you stare down the bore wondering what happened.

Sorry for going over three sentences.

Gassho,
James
Sat today

[Shinshi]

A while ago I took a course through Corsera on using Ableton. I recorded three things and that was it. I probably should try again.

This was my first attempt.

https://soundcloud.com/amdue/intheam

Next I wanted to kind of create a 60s vibe. I should go back and edit this. It is a bit too long but it was fun to do. I played the guitar parts that are looped

https://soundcloud.com/amdue/moose-and-squirrel

For my last assignment I wanted to try to create something that was sort of cinematic.

https://soundcloud.com/amdue/the-morlocks-and-the-eloi

The morlock vocalizations were recorded, digitized and converted so each word could be triggered. So those vocals are more played than performed. I played the native American flute in the second half.

Mostly I play the guitar. I started in punk and have kind of evolved over the years. I play at least a little every day. Mostly I play telecasters but I have working on my acoustic skills during covid - mostly trying learn Travis picking.

Thanks for letting me share

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

[Ryumon]

Hello, apologies for going over three sentences.
Another shakuhachi enthusiast here. I’ve been playing off and on for years and In between other musical interests. I’ve settled on shakuhachi though and decided to stick with it for the long haul. I take lessons from Michael Gould via Skype. It’s a beautiful and confounding instrument. Some days it is the most amazing sound. The next day nothing works and you stare down the bore wondering what happened.

Indeed, that's one of the frustrating things. You'll get past that, but it's a big hurdle to overcome with this instrument.

Gassho,

Kirk

sat

[Ryumon]

So as I said above, I asked fellow shakuhachi players about the article that Soka linked to. The consensus is that it's bogus. Here are some of the comments I received.

The spectrograph part does not give enough information for the claim he makes. The spectrograph only shows one instance, one note. So you’d have to compare the same pitch on the same instrument to make any kind of claim about differences between the two with a spectrograph.

My reading of the spectrographs is that the biggest difference between the performances is in the quality of the recordings. The broadband noise recording artefacts present throughout the Watazumi excerpt make it difficult to analyse the relative amount of noise elements between the performances. Are there any studies which analyse the spectrographic differences between jiari and jinashi shakuhachi?

He's making a basic mistake of defining musicality in archaic Western terms, as if it is a standard.

He quotes Hisamatsu Fuyo, who was a Kinko player, then using modern Kinko playing as an example of so-called musicality. This is contradictory and only demonstrates that current Kinko playing and theory has evolved.

The article is too long and complex to tackle here, but Hisamatsu Fuyo's statement is, perhaps, a joke. In Zen, nothing could be more despicable than to say that something is despicable. To judge in this way is just another form of attachment. Suffering begins when I reject the tone I actually produce in favor of some imaginary "better" tone that I will (perhaps) produce sometime in the future. Suffering also begins when I am attached to always making a "splendid" tone (whatever that means) instead of simply listening and being present with the sound of the flute and the breath together. This is the difference between music as performance and music as a contemplative practice.

I remember coming across that (and the rebuttal) years ago and reading it rolling my eyes about it quite a bit. It's a shame because this topic is very rich and deeply nuanced, but in my version of the universe, it is practitioners who hold the wisdom on this, and not self-righteous speculative smarty-pantses. You know honey by tasting it, not reading all the history of it.

Drawing these kinds of boundaries is very narrow-minded from my view, and both/and is more often the answer than academics are comfortable with because their need to validate their steaming piles of opinions -- or at least seem intelligent somehow, often with inscrutable jargon -- is often stronger than their so-called objectivity -- in addition to having never tasted honey, which is really the top error.

Gassho,

Kirk

sat

[Bion]

A while ago I took a course through Corsera on using Ableton. I recorded three things and that was it. I probably should try again.

This was my first attempt.

https://soundcloud.com/amdue/intheam

Next I wanted to kind of create a 60s vibe. I should go back and edit this. It is a bit too long but it was fun to do. I played the guitar parts that are looped

https://soundcloud.com/amdue/moose-and-squirrel

For my last assignment I wanted to try to create something that was sort of cinematic.

https://soundcloud.com/amdue/the-morlocks-and-the-eloi

The morlock vocalizations were recorded, digitized and converted so each word could be triggered. So those vocals are more played than performed. I played the native American flute in the second half.

Mostly I play the guitar. I started in punk and have kind of evolved over the years. I play at least a little every day. Mostly I play telecasters but I have working on my acoustic skills during covid - mostly trying learn Travis picking.

Thanks for letting me share

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

That Moose and Squirrel one got me hooked as soon as the guitar came in and I could definitely sample that for a pop banger! [emoji1] You should DEFINITELY do more!
A round of applause for rockstar Shinshi!!

[emoji1374] SatToday

[Soka]

So as I said above, I asked fellow shakuhachi players about the article that Soka linked to. The consensus is that it's bogus. Here are some of the comments I received.
Gassho,
Kirk

Thank you for sharing those comments Kirk. I'd had issues with the spectrographs, but I don't know enough about the instrument (or ethnomusicology in general) to know whether the whole thing was off. It's a fascinating instrument, if I was still in academia I'd be searching for someone to make me half a dozen jinashi and jiari to do some acoustic analysis and listening tests with. (To answer your fellow shakuhachi player's question: as far my limited seach has gone, sadly I've not found any research on the acoustic differences between jiari and jinashi shakuhachi.)

Gassho,
Phill /Sōka
(sat)

[Seikan]

Just want to say that I've long found the Shakuhachi to be an amazing instrument. I tried playing many years ago, and still have a fairly inexpensive one (not root end, with a natural bore). I got to the point where I could get a fairly consistent tone out if it, but I've fallen out of practice over the years. I'd love to pick it up again at some point, so I will be following any related threads here with great interest.

In the meantime though, I have just entered my second full year of formal piano lessons, so I should probably stick to that for the time being.

Gassho,
Seikan

-stlah-


Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

[Bion]

Just want to say that I've long found the Shakuhachi to be an amazing instrument. I tried playing many years ago, and still have a fairly inexpensive one (not root end, with a natural bore). I got to the point where I could get a fairly consistent tone out if it, but I've fallen out of practice over the years. I'd love to pick it up again at some point, so I will be following any related threads here with great interest.

In the meantime though, I have just entered my second full year of formal piano lessons, so I should probably stick to that for the time being.

Gassho,
Seikan

-stlah-


Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

We do expect a recording of you playing the piano (preferably USING THE PEDAL .. unless you’re trying to kill me). [emoji1]

[emoji1374] SatToday

[Seikan]

We do expect a recording of you playing the piano (preferably USING THE PEDAL .. unless you’re trying to kill me). [emoji1]

[emoji1374] SatToday

Pedal? What pedal?

I use the damper pedal whenever it is called for. No more, no less. I will put you in touch with my piano teacher should you wish to register a formal complaint.

Gassho,
Rob

-stlah-


Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

[Tairin]

Music is a huge part of my life. I’ve been involved since my mid teens playing in local bands and playing for myself. Always original music (I never had much interest in playing covers). I am primarily a guitarist although I have dabbled with other instruments.

I don’t really like trying to describe my music because inevitably categorizations are limiting but the music is primarily instrumental and ambient. I am mostly self taught. I am a member of SOCAN with somewhere around 120 registered works.

Here is video of a live performance a few years ago with my friend Mark. I am standing just off camera to the left (you’ll catch a few glimpses of me). We are playing to a huge audience of about 25 people.

We haven’t been able to do much since COVID so back in the Spring I decided to do some solo recordings of my own material and post it. It is just my guitar, a looper and a microphone stuck in front of an amp. Here’s a sample of that

https://awarrenpratten.bandcamp.com/track/for-g.

Yes Bandcamp is a commercial site but I make my music freely available for personal use and enjoyment.

Anyways like I said music is a huge part of my life. I don’t specifically try to make “Zen music” but I see my music and spirituality being tightly intertwined. Looking forward to seeing where the Treeleaf Music Hall goes (great name by the way )


Tairin
Sat today and lah

(My apologies for all the sentences. It is impossible to limit myself to 3 sentences here)

[Amelia]

I really do miss playing with a band. I have played flute for twenty-something years and now I usually just play along with recordings of classical.

Gassho
Sat, lah

[GrasshopperMan17]

https://youtu.be/nvIGCMhjkvw i really like this guy's music. He's one of us, a Zen Buddhist monk who was a music maker before taking up the robe. He uses his gift to help make Buddhism more appealing to the youth of Japan and worldwide. This is him making a "remix" of the Heart Sutra. Apologies if this is in the wrong place.

Gassho, John
ST/LAH

[Bion]

https://youtu.be/nvIGCMhjkvw i really like this guy's music. He's one of us, a Zen Buddhist monk who was a music maker before taking up the robe. He uses his gift to help make Buddhism more appealing to the youth of Japan and worldwide. This is him making a "remix" of the Heart Sutra. Apologies if this is in the wrong place.

Gassho, John
ST/LAH

Definitely the right place! [emoji3526]

[emoji1374] SatToday

[Bion]

I really do miss playing with a band. I have played flute for twenty-something years and now I usually just play along with recordings of classical.

Gassho
Sat, lah

Ahhh lovely to read you’re a musician!! I love the sound of the flute!

[emoji1374] SatToday

[Bion]

Music is a huge part of my life. I’ve been involved since my mid teens playing in local bands and playing for myself. Always original music (I never had much interest in playing covers). I am primarily a guitarist although I have dabbled with other instruments.

I don’t really like trying to describe my music because inevitably categorizations are limiting but the music is primarily instrumental and ambient. I am mostly self taught. I am a member of SOCAN with somewhere around 120 registered works.

Here is video of a live performance a few years ago with my friend Mark. I am standing just off camera to the left (you’ll catch a few glimpses of me). We are playing to a huge audience of about 25 people.

We haven’t been able to do much since COVID so back in the Spring I decided to do some solo recordings of my own material and post it. It is just my guitar, a looper and a microphone stuck in front of an amp. Here’s a sample of that

https://awarrenpratten.bandcamp.com/track/for-g.

Yes Bandcamp is a commercial site but I make my music freely available for personal use and enjoyment.

Anyways like I said music is a huge part of my life. I don’t specifically try to make “Zen music” but I see my music and spirituality being tightly intertwined. Looking forward to seeing where the Treeleaf Music Hall goes (great name by the way )


Tairin
Sat today and lah

(My apologies for all the sentences. It is impossible to limit myself to 3 sentences here)

For G is a BEAUTIFUL piece. I have a weakness for electric guitar!!!! Absolutely love this!!


[emoji1374] SatToday