Several peculiar structural devices of Japanese musical instruments and some aspects of timbre taste in Japanese music common with western ones

抄録

In structure of Japanese musical instruments, there are several devices which reflect special features of traditional Japanese music. On the other hand, common aspects of taste in timbre between Japanese and western instruments can be observed. This is regarded as an expression of the similar sense of beauty in sounds with each other's music. As examples of those peculiar devices, this paper describes (1) those for delicate and smooth pitch change observed in tall bridges and the frets of string instruments as well as in the large mouth holes and dented surface of wind instruments, (2) the peculiar bore shape of a Nohkan formed by insertion of a slender pipe called the “throat, ” and (3) a device called the “Sawari” which generates inharmonic components and prolongs the decay time of harmonic components and can be observed in a Biwa and a Shamisen. The common taste in the timbre described here are (1) similarity in frequency characteristic of bodies of a violin and a Biwa, both of which are evaluated as superior and (2) desirable features of spectrum pattern observed in Baroque recorder music and classical shakuhachi music.