Perry provided the following insights reprinted with permission in response to my embouchure questions via email:
"As for the different embouchures for the various schools, I will certainly need to write a book on this. This is no easy discussion; that's why I do not get into it on my blog entry. The main thing is that each school has a desirable sound - timbre - and those who are steeped in that school will find not only flutes that fit that sound, but will learn how to blow those instruments for that particular ballpark sound. What makes it difficult to write about is that there are endless variables in the individuality of instruments and teachers. (This is, of course, what makes it interesting to begin with!)
So everything I say is general. If I try to get specific, I can easily find an example to disprove what I am saying!
In Dokyoku, in the way it was shown to me through Kinya, there is an obvious musical arc to a piece of Honkyoku when performed. This means the player is aware of a specific journey that somehow moves from a beginning to an end, from loud to soft etc.... The player has to play dynamically and to do that he must use a wide variety of embouchures. The embouchure changes from inside blowing (uchi buki) to outside blowing (soto buki). Soft to loud. The lips have to constantly and minutely adjust to the changing velocity and the player has to understand the dynamic range. No other school uses Komi buki - big breath for an explosive, jolting sound. They also play into silence. The range is huge and is up to the player's ability.
In Kinko (Chikumeisha) from Ralph, the embouchure is somewhat static in comparison as the tone color and music stays more in a "mood" as opposed to an obvious dynamic journey with an arc. The tone color of Goro Yamaguchi constantly rides the overtones. And even when playing a melody, the notes move within the rich overtones. This requires the player's lips to be somewhat fixed. For me, this is the most difficult and closest to meditation (zen is not easy).
In Jin Nyodo's Kinko, this is not the case. Jin Nyodo's Kinko seems to be a little of Dokyoku and a little of Myoan. Not as dynamic as Dokyoku and without the sublime or elegant overtone that is a trait of the Chikumeisha Kinko. So the player's embouchure moves somewhat in between. Jin Nyoko's Kinko players do not have the same overtone core sound of Chikumeisha players.
In the Myoan pieces I learned from Nancy ( I chose to learn the basics to get a solid grasp from the very beginning - Kyorei, Choshi, Hi Fu Mi Cho and Hachigaeshi), I sense that the pure tone is more important. The pure tone meaning the fundamental note without the obvious Yamaguchi overtones or the constantly shifting Dokyoku embouchure. A wider, more relaxed embouchure produces a clearer fundamental. Once the lips bear down (as they do for Chikumeisha) they produce a higher velocity airstream, which produces the overtones. According toNancy Nancy
Again, this is just my impression of the differences in embouchures required for these schools. There are so many ways to play the flute. What blurs these distinctions are the gifted individual players of each school. Any great player will most likely say they use all the ranges of embouchure shapes regardless of the style of music they play.
True artists, or, seekers of truth will grow on their own unique path whether they like it or not. That's how all healthy art lives, traditional or not. Just my two cents!"
So everything I say is general. If I try to get specific, I can easily find an example to disprove what I am saying!
In Dokyoku, in the way it was shown to me through Kinya, there is an obvious musical arc to a piece of Honkyoku when performed. This means the player is aware of a specific journey that somehow moves from a beginning to an end, from loud to soft etc.... The player has to play dynamically and to do that he must use a wide variety of embouchures. The embouchure changes from inside blowing (uchi buki) to outside blowing (soto buki). Soft to loud. The lips have to constantly and minutely adjust to the changing velocity and the player has to understand the dynamic range. No other school uses Komi buki - big breath for an explosive, jolting sound. They also play into silence. The range is huge and is up to the player's ability.
In Kinko (Chikumeisha) from Ralph, the embouchure is somewhat static in comparison as the tone color and music stays more in a "mood" as opposed to an obvious dynamic journey with an arc. The tone color of Goro Yamaguchi constantly rides the overtones. And even when playing a melody, the notes move within the rich overtones. This requires the player's lips to be somewhat fixed. For me, this is the most difficult and closest to meditation (zen is not easy).
In Jin Nyodo's Kinko, this is not the case. Jin Nyodo's Kinko seems to be a little of Dokyoku and a little of Myoan. Not as dynamic as Dokyoku and without the sublime or elegant overtone that is a trait of the Chikumeisha Kinko. So the player's embouchure moves somewhat in between. Jin Nyoko's Kinko players do not have the same overtone core sound of Chikumeisha players.
In the Myoan pieces I learned from Nancy ( I chose to learn the basics to get a solid grasp from the very beginning - Kyorei, Choshi, Hi Fu Mi Cho and Hachigaeshi), I sense that the pure tone is more important. The pure tone meaning the fundamental note without the obvious Yamaguchi overtones or the constantly shifting Dokyoku embouchure. A wider, more relaxed embouchure produces a clearer fundamental. Once the lips bear down (as they do for Chikumeisha) they produce a higher velocity airstream, which produces the overtones. According to
Again, this is just my impression of the differences in embouchures required for these schools. There are so many ways to play the flute. What blurs these distinctions are the gifted individual players of each school. Any great player will most likely say they use all the ranges of embouchure shapes regardless of the style of music they play.
True artists, or, seekers of truth will grow on their own unique path whether they like it or not. That's how all healthy art lives, traditional or not. Just my two cents!"
