What do you think of "shakuhachi/xiao" flutes ?

Hi,

This gentleman is an amazing maker and player of Dong Xiao:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q47x5rGiwuc

My father had a root end bamboo Xiao which I remember when I was a kid.

The comparison of tone/bore diameters is very interesting! Thanks for sharing that link!

I own a decorative V-shape Dong Xiao.

The Xiao Shakuhachi, is the original Xiao. In the Tang dynasty, the Shakuhachi-style mouthpiece was used, the U-shape that's common today and throughout China is a recent invention. So there is absolutely no difference to the Tang Xiao and Shakuhachi, except extra holes. The angle of the mouthpiece is exactly the same, the only thing different is the name.

So if you are looking to play more music (all notes except 3 flats per octave) then you should go for the Xiao. If you only want to play Japanese music, then get the shakuhachi.

And yes, Winson is the best xiao tang style maker in the world, and also the most expensive, though you can ask him for a cheaper version thats made out of wood or highly-compressed bamboo.

I think in China, Tang Shakuhachi is still call as Chiba. While V or U is still call Dong Xiao.




I check his price. No chinese maker has command that price. Even china mainland top end maker don't really touch his lower price point. Competitive to international pricing in top end. Compare to Japanese, Japanese still win by a huge margin.