If you should happen across these drums at a drum circle, you should consider yourself very lucky (and you should call me on my cell phone right away). Taiko drums originated in Japan over 2000 years ago. The drums were reputedly first used in battle to intimidate the enemy, and by the 1500's, the drums were used to coordinate troop movements on the battlefield, since they were easy to hear across the entire field. The type of taiko ensemble playing that we're familiar with today didn't begin until the 1950's, when jazz drummer Daihachi Oguchi rewrote a classic taiko piece for a group of different-sized (and different-voiced) drums.
Taiko is the Japanese word for drum. The word becomes "daiko" when it is used in combination with another word to describe a drum further. The shime daiko is littlest; it has a natural hide skin that is pulled super tight with ropes. The larger chu daiko and o-daiko are shaped like barrels. Their skins are tacked down and cannot be tuned. O-daiko drums are the largest, and can have heads up to six feet in diameter. (!)
I was fortunate enough to study taiko with Elaine Fong and Junko Kobayashi from Odaiko New England at a workshop in New York state the same year that this video was filmed. Both women are amazingly talented, and they are sweet, gifted teachers. This is far and away my favorite type of drumming to do, because the whole body is involved. It's really a combination of drumming and dancing, with the focus and intensity of martial arts thrown in.
Check out Junko's solo! She even drops a stick and doesn't miss a beat!
If you just can't get enough, here is some extended footage of guys playing the big drums. Their style of drumming is more reminiscent of the drum's role on the battlefield.
Wow! Those were all incredible performances. Thanks for finding and sharing these with us!
ReplyDeleteYea! for the taikos! Love the physicality of the performances. All were great, and those big drums really thunder! Can't wait to see what's next!
ReplyDeleteAre the "metal drums" that are played in the Caribbean region actually considered a drum, or is that definition only for an instrument that has a stretched playing surface?
In 2001 I was in Manchester, England and saw a concert with Japanese Taiko drummers. Being impoverished, my friend Elizabeth and I sat way up at the back of the theater. It was an amazing concert and being so far from the stage made no difference to the wonderful resonant sound. It was one of the highlights of an amazing trip.
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