"His flutes are pretty good, but his playing is for the birds!"

Tai Hei Shakuhachi are made by Monty H. Levenson who maintains workshops at his home in the hills 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 and has produced over 6,000 instruments to date.

In 1984, Monty developed the precision cast bore technology which enabled him to create affordable, high-quality shakuhachi made of bamboo. Tai Hei Shakuhachi are now being used by traditional teachers in Japan for their students and professional musicians worldwide as their personal instruments.

Since it’s inception twenty years ago, the precision cast bore technology has been widely emulated by makers throughout the world. In 1992, Monty trained the master craftsman Masuda Shuho in this process and helped to retool his workshop in Kawasaki, Japan. This partnership was cut short by Masuda’s untimely passing in 2000.

While self-taught as a maker, Monty Levenson has collaborated extensively with many prominent players and craftsmen. He works closely with John Kaizan Neptune whose pioneering research into the acoustical physics of the shakuhachi has been incorporated into the precision cast bore and jinashi flutes he makes. Monty has also learned all aspects of harvesting and curing madaké bamboo from Nakamura Ginetsu who has been making shakuhachi in Osaka for over 40 years and is an authority on the subject. He has also teamed up with Roderic Cameron, one of the world’s premiere makers of European Baroque flutes, to develop technologies related to the replication of historical and modern instruments. These endeavors have resulted in a unique laser tracking lathe as well as a computer interface for measuring interior bore profiles with the utmost accuracy.

2002 witnessed a number of breakthroughs at Tai Hei Shakuhachi including the manufacture of jinashikan — long, natural bore instruments — and the Shakulute or shakuhachi headjoint for the silver flute.

In 2004, Tai Hei Shakuhachi Publishing was officially launched with the aim of preserving and expanding access to information outside of Japan on shakuhachi craft work and the honkyoku tradition. Several books, CDs and videos are currently available.