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Shakuhachi |
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Shakuhachi |
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Tai Hei Shakuhachi offers a complete service for the repair and restoration of traditional instruments. This includes not only fixing cracks that have developed in the bamboo, but replacement of damaged utaguchi, rebuilding the loose nakasuké joint in two-piece flutes as well as renewing the damaged bore of a shakuhachi to its original condition.
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Tai Hei Shakuhachi also offers a free evaluation and bore enhancements of traditional instruments that may be in good physical condition, but have acoustical problems related to pitch and resonance.
Resonance governs how much air the flute will accept and how hard the sound can be pushed. Any shakuhachi, including the most primitive plastic plumbing pipe models, will perform adequately in this area if the player blows softly. As more air is introduced into the bore and blowing becomes more intense, the higher partials or overtones of the sound are exercised giving the shakuhachi its distinctive ringing tone. If the bore profile of an instrument is not properly designed and rendered to a very precise shape, there are acoustical consequences. Unwanted vibrato, notes jumping into higher octaves, instability and weakness of tone and, in extreme case, the inability to produce a clear sound at all are just a few manifestations of resonance problems. Resonance is clearly the most important issue involved in the performance of a shakuhachi. It is the domain in which most instruments are likely to be deficient, but also one that is most correctable.
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Over the years, Tai Hei Shakuhachi has been commissioned to do restoration and bore enhancement work on many rare and vintage flutes as well as on the personal instruments of professional players in Japan and around the world. These include shakuhachi made by such famous makers as Shigemi Inoue, Sr., Kawase Junsuke, Sr. and a very rare instrument marked with the hanko of Jin Nyodo.
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A rare Jin Nyodo shaikuhachi |
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19th C. Shakuhachi and a hassun made by Inoue Shigeshi,
Sr. |
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Restorations of rare historical instruments |
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Before-&-After view of a Gyokusui, Sr.
1.8' shakuhachi and Yuho 2.3' |
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Aoki Reibo I rokusun engraved with the name
of Yoshida Seifu |
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Nishimura Koku-Kyotaku |
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Zenmora 2.3' |
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Aoki Reibo 3-Stamp 2.0' |
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Rebuilding the nakasuké or middle joint of a shakuhachi. |
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Yokoyama Rampo 2.4' |
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Restoration of Rare Edo Period Shakuhachi |
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Restoration of beautiful 4-piece Kinshu 1.8' |
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Peter Phippen
Ian E. Cullen "Monty, The flute arrived yesterday. You've done a lovely job and it sounds absolutely wonderful . . . great to be in western pitch also. It glides through the registers with ease and produces a beautiful sound. The enjoyment of the new flute experience that you have created gets better daily. The only problem is that I can't put it down! Thank you again for the extra work you carried out, its very much appreciated." David Coates "Hi Monty, I rescued my flute from the clutches of FedEx last Friday, unwrapped the flute, and was immediately impressed with how good it looked. You can't tell that it was once a 7-hole flute since you so expertly filled in the lowest hole and then bound over the other hole. The lacquered urushi-colored binding complemented the refurbished and re-painted bore, and the color of the bamboo (just like you suggested). The new utaguchi was much appreciated. All that you reported about the sound (rich strong tone with a large envelope of sound) after "tweaking it" was absolutely true, and I am amazed that a flute that was originally about 20 cents flat overall , came back tuned to Western standard pitch and with such a well balanced sound. I was amazed at how softly,and loudly, I can play this flute. The more I play it, the better it gets. Truly, I bought this inexpensive 1.6 flute to play the occasional piece with, not too worried if it got knocked around, and hoping it sounded OK playing honkyoku. Instead, I received a beautiful flute with a beautiful sound. Thanks again for taking such good care of it." "After many years of being frustrated at the inferior quality of repair work done on Shakuhachi in the United States, and after having used a number of different craftspeople to do my repair work, I have come to the conclusion that I will only be using Monty Levenson for all future repair work. I would highly recommend all to do the same. His work is consistently high in quality and reasonable (actually low by Japanese standards) in price. And, of course, its always a pleasure to do business with Monty, whose dignity, compassion, and character are the tops." Ronnie
Nyogetsu Seldin "Dear Monty, Just got back to Japan yesterday. Thank you so much for your hospitality and time, and really number one in my mind, for what you did with my flutes. My hassun is just so much better! As I prepare to play a concert scheduled for this weekend where I will play three honkyoku, I marvel at how much more I am getting out of this flute. It really has become a mother of an instrument! Monty, you can put your stamp on it any time. You brought it back from the dead. Again, thanks to your work." Bruce Huebner "What can I say Monty. You have resurrected two of my shakuhachi that I'd almost given up on. I'm getting a deep-full, resonate 'RO' from the 1.8. Thanks for re-building the mouth piece for me too. This flute has become one of my favorites. The 2.3 no longer jumps an octave when playing Ro. It also plays much stronger. The tuning is better too. Thank you so much for your excellent work and thanks for being there for me." Ray Brooks Dan Gutwein "Well, my flute arrived safely yesterday. I must tell you, the flute looks so much better! It was always a beautiful instrument, but it now seems to have new life. I think the sound is also better than ever. Monty, I cannot even see where the new crack or the old repair were! What a fantastic job you did. And the inlay rattan bands are stunning and elegant. The bore looks fantastic. When I played a little last night, the dogs came up very excited and wanted to investigate the flute anew. This is how I know the sound is good - when the animals respond with pure joy! I am so grateful for the exceptional and timely work you did on my shakuhachi." Carolyn McKechnie
"Just got my instrument. It is MAGnificent. I feel like an old friend has come home. The tone, harmonics and overtones are incredible Monty. I just love it. You have performed alchemy. The esthetics are tremendous as well. You did an excellent job of the binding and don't think I missed that added touch of the rattan at the top. I love the whole thing. Thank you infinitely. Back to the Dojo." Bob P. "My newly repaired flute is a testament to your years of experience. You managed to free it`s voice whilst keeping, indeed enhancing the original tone quality. It is a joy to play. Thank you very much." David Sawyer "I returned from Europe last Friday evening and of course the first thing I did was unpack the Shakuhachi you worked on. Can’t put it down now—it really is beautiful. The sound is much more even and full. I can really crank it up into trumpeting otsu notes and singing kan notes and play soft and delicate tones as well. The dai kan register is also much better than it was before particularly dai kan re, which use to be quite difficult to play.The ascetic enhancements are also great and look very natural. I think if you didn't know they were recently done, you would believe they are original. Very neat job on adding the three roots. The flute plays and feels like a new and much improved instrument. Thanks so much for the great work and also how quickly you completed it." S. Dh. "I sent Monty an old shak that had a few problems my main concern being the amount of effort necessary to play the 2nd octave C and 3rd octave D on a 1.8. He emailed me an evaluation the same day he received it stating what other problems existed as well. After the work was done and I received the shak I was extremely happy with the results. Every aspect of the shak from intonation, to playability, balance between the notes, etc. was improved greatly without affecting the tone color, which was a major concern of mine. All this in only three weeks time. Monty is truly a miracle worker making this old shak a pleasure to play." Anonymous "Monty, are you absolutely sure these were the same shakuhachi that I sent you for repairs? They are both, in their own ways, stunning—your repairs and workmanship are, as always, perfect. Thank you very very much for restoring both instruments. The 1.7 is amazing. This one will take a lifetime to grow into. The transformation that you achieved is unbelievable. I am really intrigued by the physics and the alchemy that ground your work and your innovations—how precise and studied perturbations of the bore can result in such improvements in the quality of sound is a testament to your years of study and refinement of the science of acoustics. Your early model flute is now a constant companion to and from work now, and reminds me daily of how craftsmanship, honor, and good karma all work together." Michael Okagi
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"Dear Monty, Thank you for the devotion and dedication you showed while working on my