Sorry for the quality. I need a new camera. Very disappointing to see how bad this converts when on YT. It looks great on my TV.
Rate & Comment - ending has some different stuff.
simply means "drum" in Japanese (etymologically "great" or "wide drum"). Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums (和太鼓, 'wa-daiko', "Japanese drum", in Japanese) and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming (sometimes called more specifically, "kumi-daiko" (組太鼓).
Taiko, in general, are stick percussion instruments. With the exception of the kotsuzumi and ootsuzumi, all taiko are struck with bachi. They have heads on both sides of the drum body, and a sealed resonating cavity. Taiko are also characterized by a high amount of tension on the drums heads, with a correspondingly high pitch relative to body size. This high tension likely developed in response to Japan's wet and humid summers when most festivals take place. Many taiko are not tunable, and a drum with high head tension would counteract the slacking effects of humidity.
Taiko are categorized into two types of construction. Byou-uchi daiko (鋲撃ち太鼓) taiko have heads nailed to the body. Tsukushime-daiko (付締め太鼓) have heads sewn onto iron rings, which are then laced to each other around the drum body.
Byou-uchi daiko are typically hollowed out of a single piece of wood. The preferred wood is keyaki (欅) due to its density and beautiful grain, but a number of other woods are used, grouped under the generic term meari (目有). Byou-uchi daiko cannot be tuned, and their sizes are limited by the diameter of the tree they are made from.
The typical byou-uchi daiko is the nagado-daiko (長胴太鼓, long-body taiko). The nagado-daiko is an elongated drum, roughly shaped like a wine barrel, that can be shifted in many different ways that affect the sound of the instrument. The drum can also be played by more than one performer at the same time. This style of drum also signifies the family of drums that are made from a single piece of wood. Nakado-daiko are available in a variety of sizes, from 1.0 shaku (12" in head diameter), to 3.0 shaku in 1 sun increments. The chu-daiko is a medium sized nakado-daiko. Nagado-daiko over 3.0 shaku are also available, but they are referred to as ōdaiko (大太鼓 great drum). Smaller byou-uchi daiko such as the sumo-daiko and hayashi-daiko also exist.
One of the most defining drums of any Taiko ensemble would be the ōdaiko. The ōdaiko is the largest drum in all of Taiko if not the entire world. Some of the drums are so large that they cannot even be moved so they've taken up residence inside of a temple or shrine. Made from a single piece of wood, some ōdaiko can come from trees that are hundreds of years old.
Tsukeshime-daiko (付締め太鼓) are available in a wide variety of styles, and are tunable. This style of taiko is typically tensioned before each performance. The tensioning system is usually rope, but bolt systems and turnbuckles have been used as well. Tsukeshime-daiko can either have stitched heads placed on bodies carved from single piece of wood, such as the shime-daiko and tsuzumi, or stitched heads placed on a stave-construction body such as the okedo-daiko.
The shime-daiko is roughly snare-drum sized, and is generally available in five sizes - Namizuke, or number 1 size, is the lightest and is used in classical theater such as noh and kabuki. Nichougakke, or number 2, are usually used by amateur players for its light and yet sturdy frame. sanchou - gochou; number 3 to number 5 are used by semi-professional to world class performance groups.
An ornately painted tsuri-daiko, used in gagaku music
An ornately painted tsuri-daiko, used in gagaku music
Other Japanese taiko include the uchiwa-daiko (団扇太鼓、fan taiko), hira-daiko (平太鼓, flat taiko), o-daiko (大太鼓, big taiko), and a host of percussion instruments used in Japan's traditional noh, gagaku, and kabuki ensembles.
The Aomori region is famous for the Nebuta festival where huge okedo are played by many people while carted through the streets. The Okedo has its own upright stand which was invented by Asano Taiko Drum Company.
Again, like the nagado-daiko, the okedo has a rim sound, called "ka." When playing the rim of an okedo, however, it is important to only hit the outermost metal ring and not the actual rim of the drum body. The thin, light wood of the okedo is particularly susceptible to denting and will quickly deteriorate if hit.
(Ripped from wikipedia.)
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The singing sucks really!
kileen05 2 years ago
That's a shame. Cuz that's what TAIKO is all about really.
Ya, knucklehead!
Gimmeabreakman 2 years ago 10
Not just in Japan -- there are several US-based taiko groups, too, and I'm sure there are more around the world. I'm learning taiko with a group in Houston, and it's just as fun as it looks. =)
Prepoceros 3 years ago
Cool! Post a video... ONLY IN JAPAN is just the name of this series I do...
Gimmeabreakman 3 years ago
Very cool - I love Taiko, but I never saw that move before with them body-slamming to fight over a drum.
kenrg 3 years ago
Yeah, me too. I think the HS kids may have made that up. Looks like fun though!
Gimmeabreakman 3 years ago