Shakuhachi pitch and intonation: Application to computer music composition

The music for the Japanese bamboo flute, shakuhachi, contains microtonality as well as continuous change of pitch in the course of long notes. Shakuhachi pitch and intonation may be studied by means of pitch detection analysis of the waveform. Or, alternatively, the pitch of a note may be described as the result of the following parameters: fingering, vocal tract shape, distance of the lips from the mouthpiece, and direction of breath. The melodic technique of the shakuhachi may be applied to computer music composition in the continuous frequency domain, without restriction to a scale consisting of discrete frequencies