A-46."Golden Decay" 漂亮的收尾
"shakuhachi tips"
原作者：柿堺香老師 (Kaoru Kakizakai)
英文翻譯: Zachary Braverman
進階篇46.
August, 2005
A-46."Golden Decay" 漂亮的收尾
When you pluck a string on a shamisen, guitar or any other stringed instrument, the sound dies out naturally without any further effort. In contrast, the shakuhachi demands that you control the note until it completely dies away. This is one of the most difficult aspects of the instrument.
I came up with the idea of Golden Decay to describe the ideal way for a shakuhachi note to die out. Like the famous Golden Mean, which describes an ideal ratio, the Golden Decay is the perfect curve from full volume into nothingness: neither too long nor too short, but one that just sounds right.
Unlike a stringed instrument, the way a note decays on the shakuhachi depends entirely upon the skill of the player. Although this entails great difficulty, it also creates a dimension of freedom and expression that stringed instruments lack.
Many people have a specific volume range that they have trouble with.Sometimes this will be on the loud end and sometimes on the soft end, but there is often a specific volume range at which your sound becomes markedly weaker.
You cannot play a Golden Decay with a weak volume range-you must be comfortable at all volumes from very strong to very weak. What kind of note decay sounds right to you? What volume levels do you lose confidence at?Blowing Ro is a good time to investigate these very important questions.
One final thought: a room with good acoustics is one in which it is easy to play notes with a beautiful decay curve.
Practice your Golden Decays until your notes die out so naturally you seem to disappear along with them!
