Tai Hei Shakuhachi
Tai Hei Shakuhachi
Tai Hei Shakuhachi are made by
Monty H. Levenson who maintains workshops at his homestead in the coastal foothills of Mendocino
County, California as well as in Japan at the small farming village of Kitagawa
(Tokushima Prefecture) on Shikoku Island. Monty has been making shakuhachi
continuously since 1970. Interiors of all the flutes are cast to a mirror finish with a specially formulated blend of epoxy resins. Unlike traditional methods of fabrication, the precision casting technique allows for exact reproduction of bore profiles in every instrument made. They are durable, very stable and provide a dense resonating surface that will neither shrink nor separate from the bamboo. The epoxy bore exhibits a superior bonding property which minimizes swelling of the bamboo and cracking due to changes in climatic conditions. Fine tuning the bore coupled with precision casting accounts for the superior tonal quality, responsiveness and accuracy of tuning characteristic of Tai Hei Shakuhachi.
These instruments are played and recommended by some of the world's most respected teachers and musicians.