Contemporary Taiko
Taiko (太鼓) means “big drum” in Japanese. The word is used in a general sense to refer to drums made in Japan, and also to the style of drumming that accompanies these drums. Today, the style usually referenced by this term is known as “kumi-daiko”, or group drumming.
Origins and Development
Once an art form restricted to ceremonial situations such as war marches or Buddhist temple rituals, taiko drumming has evolved in the past century to become a popular musical form, with artists such as Kodo, Yamato, and Ondekoza gaining fame not only in Japan, but worldwide. Today, when one refers to taiko, one is usually referring to a style known as “kumi-daiko”, or group drumming. In addition to drums, taiko groups usually use a variety of auxiliary instruments as well, including fue (bamboo flute), chappas (cymbals), koto (traditional stringed instrument), and a plethora of other Japanese and non-Japanese instruments. Since Daihachi Oguchi began the tradition in the 1950s, hundreds of taiko groups have started all over Japan, including the widely renowned groups Ondekoza and Kodo, who took taiko international and allowed audiences all over the world to appreciate it. Today, taiko has gained a strong following in many countries all around the world, especially in the United States, where what can be considered a wholly new style has developed.
Traditional Styles
There are many ways to play a taiko drum, each of which has its unique advantages and characteristics. Some became popular for the sake of showmanship, others developed out of necessity, and yet others are styles traditional to a particular location in Japan.
Upright or Beta Uchi
This is a style in which the drum is played with one head facing the ground and the other facing the player. The stand can be designed in such a way that the drum is either exactly parallel to the ground or angled toward the player in a far more conducive to easy hitting. This is the most well-known and traditional style of playing a taiko, and is usually used when first starting to learn the art. Taiko sets, utilizing multiple drums, are also set up in this fashion.
O-Daiko
In this style, the drum is placed perpendicular to the floor on a raised stand at or above eye-level. The player strikes the drum from the front, with his or her back to the intended audience. This style is usually played on the biggest drum the group owns, in order to intensify the visual effect. A little known fact about this style is that it is in fact not a “traditional” style in that it was invented only in the last century by Eitetsu Hayashi during his time with Ondekoza.
Miyake
Miyake is the short form of the formal name “Miyake-jima Kamitsuki Mikoshi Daiko”. It is a style that was founded on Miyake-jima, an island located about 180km south of Tokyo. A highly strenuous and physically demanding style, it is played during Miyake-jima a festival on the island from sunrise until sunset in order to lead portable shrines around the town. The drum is placed on the ground with each head facing one player, and the player takes a wide-legged stance parallel to the drum. is a highly stylized form of taiko, with lots of arm flourishes and leg motion. The word Miyake is also used to refer to the basic beat that is played in this style.
Yatai or Chichibu
Another style that originated from a festival tradition, is a song that is played to accompany dashi floats Chichibu-Yatai-Bayashi during the festival. Since there is incredibly limited space in these floats, the drum is set on the ground angled towards the player, who wraps his or her legs around it for support and plays at a 45 degree angle from the floor. This style was popularized by the group Kodo in their piece , an arrangement of Yatai-Bayashi.
Hachijo
This is a style that originated on Hachijo-jima , another island in Japan. The drum is elevated to about chest level and played from the side, similar to , but standing up. One player plays the backing beat, known as Miyake ji-uchi, while the other player plays the main melody, or o-uchi Miyake. Like , this style is known for its artistic flourishes and beautiful stick movements.
Naname or Sukeroku
The name for this style comes from O-Edo Sukeroku Daiko, a group in Tokyo that utilized this style extensively. The Sukeroku Daiko stand holds the drum at about hip level, and is angled diagonally towards the player. This style is also extremely popular, and is often used as the alternative to for beginner players.
Types of Drums and Auxiliary Instruments
Nagado
Nagado means “long body” and refers to the familiar rounded and often brightly-colored taiko. These drums typically range in size from 1.0 (a Japanese unit of measurement corresponding to approximately 30.3 centimeters) to that are up to 5.0 shaku O-Daiko. They can be either solid body, created from a single tree trunk carved and shaped to size, or created via stave construction, in shaku which many smaller strips of wood are joined together. The cowhide is then stretched onto either side of the drum using a heavy duty skinning jig, and is then tacked onto the drum using heavy (large black tacks). Due to the enormous amount of labor and raw materials needed for nagado, they are extremely expensive, with the larger sizes comparable to the cost of a new luxury car. The nagado aural quality of a is deep and booming, with lots of overtones and intricate resonance patterns.
Okedo
Oke is a word that refers to stave-construction barrels used in Japan. Okedo are taiko drums created from these barrels. Instead of being tacked permanently onto the body, the skins are wrapped and then stitched around iron rings, which are then held fast onto the barrel body with a rope system. This allows to be more versatile drums, since their pitch can be changed at a whim by tightening or okedo loosening the ropes. are also extremely light and portable in comparison to , and are far more affordable. However, their Okedo nagado sound quality is tinny and lacks the depth of a . use horsehide instead of cowhide for their heads, and are often nagado Katsugi okedo worn with a strap around the player’s neck in order to move around while playing.
Tsukeshime
Tsukeshime-daiko, or shime-daiko for short, roughly translates to “tightening drum”. Shime-daiko of the type used in modern taiko ensembles are usually significantly smaller than other taiko, and have an extremely high pitch. They are traditionally tightened with a rope system similar to okedo-daiko, but a modern invention utilizing iron bolts attached to a steel ring has become widespread now as well. In a taiko group, the shime is often used to provide a backing beat and maintain tempo for the group.
Bachi
Bachi are the wooden drumsticks with which taiko are hit. They come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes, and types of wood, with each one having a different use. Hinoki, or Japanese cypress, bachi are relatively soft and aromatic, and are used for hitting giant O-Daiko, or for styles such as Yatai or Miyake where a strong resonance is desired. Kashi, or Japanese oak, bachi are used for festival style drumming in which the rim of the drum is hit to produce a sharp clicking sound. Bachi need to be very durable for this style, so kashi, being an extremely hard wood, is the only wood durable enough to keep up with the abuse.
Auxiliary Instruments
Aside from taiko drums, there are a plethora of other instruments used by taiko groups to add another sonic layer to taiko performances. Chappa cymbals and atarigane (a bell-like instrument) are both used to keep time during songs. Fue, koto ,shamisen and are all used to make a song more musical, or for solo performances during a taiko concert. Apart from these commonly used instruments, more experimental groups use more exotic instruments such as didjeridoos to provide a unique element to their sound.
References
Bender, Shawn. “Drumming from Screen to Stage: Ondekoza’s daiko and the Reimaging of Japanese Taiko.” The Journal of Asian Studies 69 (2010): 843-867. Cambridge Journals. Web. 6 Apr. 2011 .
Jong-Chul Yoon, Paul. “’She’s Really Become Japanese Now!’: Taiko Drumming and Asian American Identifications.” American Music 19.4 Asian American Music (Winter, 2001): 417-438. University of Illinois Press. JSTOR. Web. 6 Apr. 2011 .
Rolling Thunder. Overview and History. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
