ABSTRACT
In a sense, an aggregate of new techniques were developed on the shakuhachi centuries ago, which are today being used experimentally, for example, on the modern flute. It is the sound of the shakuhachi and the music of the shakuhachi itself to which our hearts and minds are drawn, perhaps letting us realise or recall something we had unconsciously passed by or forgotten. The original paper was many pages long and included theories and the history of the shakuhachi, which have regrettably had to be reduced. The original type of tsu-re in Koku appears a little afterwards. The same sort of contrast in timbre can be found. A long melodic line played in one breath is transmitted from one performer to another and transformed as well. Koku begins with a significant melodic line which consists of the three-time repetition of a certain melodic pattern, tsu-re in the upper register.
