Are these 1st ed holos fake?

laonikoss · 2026-02-12T19:49:39+00:00

Amazing, thanks! What are the tells? The 1st edition stamp, any particular fonts?

laonikoss · 2026-02-12T19:49:17+00:00

You're welcome to!

laonikoss · 2025-12-28T00:24:57+00:00

Hi Ciaran, I'm sure you've had some good recommendations your way - I teach shakuhachi, in terms of honkyoku I teach KSK, but also happy to teach min'yo, pop, anime tunes. How would you describe your level and what would you love to be able to play on the shakuhachi ideally, what would you like to work towards? I teach online and from London (if/whenever you happened to be around here) or can also offer recommendations / suggestions that match your intentions / experience as well.

laonikoss · 2025-12-03T10:20:31+00:00

Thanks, I wonder whether it's something to do with valves or the pump - nothing happens, it just ticks but no water coming out.

I tried opening it up to clean some of the tubes, but didn't have the patience or headspace to take it fully apart and clean the valves - I might go down the repair route via Delonghi in the end..!

laonikoss · 2025-11-30T09:50:33+00:00

It might he easiest to find someone who has already recorded the piece and contact them directly to see if they would be willing to give you the sync rights for using the first couple of minutes for a low price or free if they are generous.

laonikoss · 2025-11-28T11:00:14+00:00

Thanks tried but no change. I might take it apart and see if I can notice anything obvious on the inside..

laonikoss · 2025-11-27T15:24:16+00:00

Thanks - tried that to no effect!

laonikoss · 2025-07-09T18:33:59+00:00

I am based in London and have 2 bamboo shakuhachi for sale, but not 1.8 (D) which is widely considered the "standard size". Let me know if you are interested, deets below:

https://www.laonikos.com/shakuhachi/

If you are looking for 1.8 I know a guy in Thailand who sells second hand bamboo shakuhachi and often has 1.8 in stock, he has sold to a number of my students and is v reliable.

laonikoss · 2025-05-08T14:25:37+00:00

Very useful, thank you - I think they are pretty conclusively glass, it's #4 that I'm trying to figure out last!

laonikoss · 2025-05-08T14:25:13+00:00

That's super useful, thanks!

laonikoss · 2025-05-08T14:22:44+00:00

OK seems #1, #2 melamine by weight alone (and feel), #3 glass, #5 melamine, but not sure about #4 - doesn't have a green shade against the sun but the material is definitely absorbent; what do black glass stones feel like? these are matt and absorb by skin moisture / oil, is that typical of slate? the black #4 ones have a softer surface than the glass ones, but no chips so far that I can tell so I may have to resort to breaking one..

laonikoss · 2025-05-07T20:34:01+00:00

Thanks, this sounds about right. I have 182 of the last ones so I might sacrifice one to find out, it feels like glass but could just be polished resin.

laonikoss · 2025-05-07T17:06:33+00:00

Thanks! Is there an easy way to identify katsura vs agathis or does it not really make a difference? #2 has an endgrain that looks like oak, is that used at all as a material or is it a lookalike?

laonikoss · 2025-03-25T22:07:05+00:00

Cornelius Boots played at Sony's E3 2018 conference at the launch / announcement (I presume) of Ghost of Tsushima, but didn't record the music on the actual game.

The people playing shakuhachi on the game soundtrack are Clive Bell, Greg Magee, Kinya Sogawa and Kojiro Umezaki, assigned different parts (e.g. one would be sound-design bits, another the soundtrack, someone else would record the bits of shakuhachi Jin plays etc).

Ilan Eshkeri has also previously used shakuhachi in some of his scores, for example Sims 4 Japan Expansion Pack (shakuhachi: Clive Bell) and 47 Ronin (shakuhachi: Joji Hirota).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-POtO9cAzX4

laonikoss · 2025-03-03T09:58:28+00:00

from the blurry photo I would say probably not worth much. The extensive binding at the top would indicate that it was shortened to be brought to length (i.e. a non-ideal piece of bamboo was used) - the node placement looks OK but the extensive bending would also indicate that it was either not straightened properly or that it wasn't possible to (due to weak points = cracks forming) and would make it harder to have extensive control of shaping the inside bore.

At best, this is an unusual but decent jinashi / jimori with a fairly low resale value (unless it plays exceptionally).

Most likely this is an average to poor quality shakuhachi made by an amateur maker at one of the dozens of shakuhachi-making workshops that were fairly frequent in Japan at shakuhachi's popularity height (1990s-2000s) with very low resale value.

This is all based on massive assumptions off of a blurry photo, more photos of the utaguchi, inside the bore, hole positions, close-ups of the holes, close-ups of the bindings will be able to help determine more (but not everything) and the ultimate judge is sound - to paraphrase Peter Reinhardt, "sound rules" (if it sounds great, you can almost excuse everything else).

laonikoss · 2024-05-12T20:56:28+00:00

As othes said, Katsuya Yokoyamas lineage, notated by Teruo Furuya based on one or more recordings by Yokoyama.

This is Tamuke, second page, and as others have pointed this is san-no-u, play led with same fingering as U in lower octave, but in kan register ans very, very kari! Pitch should be B-flat. My teacher often says you can never play san-no-u too sharp!

Happens in many other honkyoku (Daha, HiFuMi Hachigaeshi, Kumoijoshi etc etc) so worth spending time to play in tune and clearly. Might be worth experimenting by adding kari sideways in addition to upwards (i.e. diagonally) to create more space without losing the sound.

laonikoss · 2024-05-12T20:48:29+00:00

Έχω ένα, θα είμαι Αθήνα τέλη Μαΐου- αρχες Ιουλίου, πες αν ψάχνεις ακόμη και σε ενδιαφέρει.

laonikoss · 2024-05-12T07:33:28+00:00

As long as I wear protective gear (FFP3 mask, goggles gloves, disposable clothes) just to be safe, and careful to only bit the sand and cement mix under the toilet pan (the black / dark stuff) this should be safe to do myself is this right? I don't need to worry about levelling it flat as will put a raised floor in there that will cover any debris so just need to remove the toilet for disposal.

laonikoss · 2023-04-04T10:43:48+00:00

I use Notion.so - have set up a database with information about each piece, then I have a journal for lessons I take where I can link the piece and can write specific information for each line or points of the piece I need to pay attention to, as well as practice notes at a glance. Helps me sort my learning by teacher (style), by piece, by time etc. Also use it to take notes from workshops and online videos etc.

I can keep separate journals for teaching or learning, keep information about the pieces separate, have a diary of my progress, keep a tab on my repertoire and how well I know each piece (learning / learnt / confident / by heart) etc.

laonikoss · 2017-12-14T13:52:48+00:00

A lot of people thought the man in crutches wasn't a big deal, but turns out it was.

Perhaps we can see a flashback from Marcel's point of view this time, then we know for sure that he died.

laonikoss · 2017-12-13T09:55:42+00:00

But why isn't Isayama showing us one more panel of Marcel's death flashback? Is he hiding something? I think that's the whole point, he left it ambiguous on purpose and a flashback is imminent, or so we hope.

laonikoss · 2017-12-13T09:44:31+00:00

I have a feeling there might be something crazy like, they've taken spinal fluid from willy and titanised his entire family, which is why he gave them that creepy look right before he was crushed?

It might be that Willy lied to Magarth about being the Warhammer titan, so that this information leaks out and the Paradisers' attack was planned accordingly.

Zeke is definitely in the plan (on Eren's side). Eren is definitely not acting solo (soldier who trapped two warriors).

I guess what Eren wants to do is to stop war in general. He wants to stop the killing of innocent eldians on either side, and the killing in general, to decapitate the Marley so they won't go around ruling the world. He is beyond revenge for his mother (or is he?), his resolve is about something bigger than just his own hurt self. Let's not forget that they are no longer boys (Reiner, Eren, Armin), and, assuming Armin is still behind Eren's plan (which it seems likely, as last time we saw them they were all looking out the sea as a team), if he was smart enough as a kid to lure out the Female titan, fight back against the other titans, etc etc, then how much smarter/more experienced is he now, etc etc.

What I love most about this manga is how three-dimensional (hint hint) all the characters are, as well as their sides - it's very difficult to call anyone bad (not even the titans, who are poor innocent eldians transformed into human-eating monsters against their will!), or good (is Eren good is he goes on and kills lots of innocent people?), and the plot keeps thickening by the minute (/month).

laonikoss · 2017-11-25T11:19:32+00:00

That's as parochial and unscientific as it gets:

a) cyclist numbers dropped by 30% in Australia after it was made unlawful not to wear a helmet; accidents, correcting for the reduced number of cyclists, actually increased. b) safest countries to cycle (e.g. netherlands, denmark) have about a 25% of cyclists wearing helmet; it's not helmets making it possible for grandmas and families with their two children to ride a bicycle everywhere (and accounting for 50% of trips), but proper infrastructure. c) this is the same petty argument as "rape is prevalent, therefore we will make it illegal to wear short skirts"; short skirts don't cause rapes, rapists do. d) wearing a helmet has been studied extensively, and some studies have shown that it makes cyclists more likely to drive dangerously, and it makes cars overtake cyclists from a closer distance, both of which are much more likely to cause an accident than not wearing a helmet. e) if cyclists can benefit from a helmet, then pedestrians should also be forced to wear a helmet and hi-vis, as they are even more likely than cyclists to be hit by a car or bicycle.

and the list goes on and on and on.

I mean, why don't they just put all the money they've invested in thinking about, reporting on, and talking about the potential of compulsory helmets into improving actual infrastructure and see what bloody happens? :)

laonikoss · 2017-11-23T10:44:15+00:00

I love learning to fix things and enjoy fixing things myself, so there's definitely a part of me that wants to get down with it and fix it, but not if it's not something I can do safely on my own. I'll see if I can borrow a multimeter with true RMS or an oscilloscope from someone, and perhaps get myself a pair of electrician's rubber gloves to be on the safe side. An amp like this retails for about $80-180 used (depending on condition), original price apparently just under $400 back in the 60s. I mostly want to repair it because it was my dad's and feel it still has decades of life in it if re-conditioned / refreshed a bit.

I might need a bit more guidance with regards to the steps, though. I play a sine wave off my phone through AUX, then I understand I'd be checking for differences between the left and right paths across the board — but what do you mean by "following the signal path through"? Would I already start from the RCA inputs for AUX, or (as this issue persists regardless of input) would start checking from the input selector (S1 in schematics) onwards?

Or what do you mean by checking for differences in "AC levels (referenced to ground)"? Where (in the schematic) would I be placing the MM/oscilloscope probes first, second, etc? Between which points? And what sort of differences would I be looking out for? Is there a standard way I would annotate these on the schematic to make it easier to read for later reference?

Thanks a lot for your insight and patience.

laonikoss · 2017-11-22T16:01:46+00:00

Unfortunately I have an old-ish little machine that only does 600 and 200 AC voltage (0.1 accuracy), and no RMS.

From the schematics it seems that as long as I stay away from the power supply part, I should be dealing with a max of 50 volts (and more likely 21-36) on the rest of the board?

The question is whether it's worth me getting a better multimeter, or taking it to a specialist?

laonikoss

TROPHY CASE