ABSTRACT
The repertoire of traditional music played on the shakuhachi seeks other qualities from the sound of the instrument, such as possibilities for ornamentation and breath effects as well as important differences in timbre. Hearing a piece of traditional music played on the shakuhachi reveals immediately the importance of the noise as part of the sound material. The shakuhachi player is clearly able to produce the types of vibrato also, but in the traditional style of playing he approaches them in a completely different way. Several techniques of playing employed in contemporary music depart resolutely from the usual method by which the air jet maintains the vibratory mode of the tube. Certain effects employed on the transverse flute in contemporary music are paralleled in traditional music for the shakuhachi, while others are more difficult to reconcile with methods of shakuhachi playing.
