About This Shakuhachi
This shakuhachi is made out of code instead of bamboo, but I believe that it achieves professional-quality performance. The ergonomics are a little different, but my experience is that you will get used to it rapidly, and it even has some advantages—especialy for those for whom the weight of a traditional instrument is an issue. But even if that’s not a concern, it’s pretty amazing to have a shakuhachi that you can put in your pocket or toss into a bag without worrying about it.
I’m offering this model at no cost, subject only to the licensing terms detailed below. For optimal results, print with the smallest possible layer height. Also, please use materials that are safe for extended contact with skin and lips.
The concept of designing a shakuhachi with a folded bore emerged from practical necessity—my printer couldn’t print a full-size traditional instrument, and I hadn’t discovered a satisfactory design for an airtight mechanism for a joint. The folded design allows the entire instrument to be printed as a single unit, so that’s one problem sorted. I was pretty sure that it could work, since many other aerophones feature folded bores, including trumpets, saxophones, and the rackett.
The instrument is the output of a large amount of OpenSCAD code which procedurally describes the shape of the instrument at an arbitrary level of detail. The design of the bore originated in measurements generously shared by David Brown, a maker of exceptional wooden and bamboo shakuhachi who kindly guided me through creating a wooden shakuhachi in his workshop. Developing this instrument consumed most of my waking hours throughout 2020 and has continued to occupy me, albeit less intensively, during the subsequent processes of testing, refinement, tuning, and printing.
You’ll notice the instrument features square finger holes, which is a design choice intended to facilitate cleaner prints. These represent the most experimental aspect of this design from my perspective, so I’m especially curious to hear feedback about that.
The 1.8 is the standard size for a shakuhachi and so I’m releasing it first, but I have additional sizes ranging from 1.3 to 2.4 at similar stages of development and will likely release them if sufficient interest exists.
This file is provided free of charge in the hope that you will print and play it, and share your experience with others who might be interested.
Feel free to send me mail, though if you're asking a general question from which others might benefit, please consider posting publicly somewhere and sending me a note to your post so I can respond to you there.
Kind regards,
Jeremy
License Terms
By downloading this file, you agree to the following terms:
You are authorized to download this file; 3D print it; and use, keep, or gift the resulting instruments. However, you may not sell or rent these instruments, nor provide them as an explicit or implicit component of any other arrangement. Creating derivative works (modifying the model in any way) is prohibited. Uploading this file to other platforms or websites, or redisributing it, is not permitted.
The creator provides this file without any guarantee of support or additional assistance. You use the resulting instrument entirely at your own risk. The creator assumes no responsibility for any consequences that may arise from the use of this file or the resulting instruments, except that if you have a great time and enjoy making music with them, he will accept some small responsibility for that.
Gallery
Links
For a little more on the process of creating this instrument, see this thread on the Unryu Wind Mastodon account.
I mostly live on the web at jeremy.org and have been known to post here as well.