A Little Taiko Withdrawl

I think this could be a tough week. I'll only get to practice taiko on Tuesday and Saturday. Last week, on the other hand, was pretty intensive from the taiko standpoint. I had group practices on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday (with an extra one on Saturday, then we had the Exstasia campaign performances on Sunday. In addition, Mayumi and I rented studio time on Wednesday and Thursday morning so that we could work on some of our own songs. It was actually the first time in a long time that we were able to sit down and focus on practicing our own songs; songs that we wrote ourselves. We are currently trying to learn three songs. One of them we played last year at a friend's wedding, but the song has been changed quite a bit since then and needs to be re-learned. There is another song that I wrote about a year ago, but we never tried to play it together until last week. It is a fun song and I am looking forward to performing it. And recently I wrote a song for shime taiko, which we began working on together. Although I enjoy playing in the groups at Asano and the guidance we receive from our instructors is invaluable, it does feel really good and exciting to start to seriously focus on some of our own music. We have one, possibly two opportunities to perform our songs in August, so we need to work hard.

Anyhow, I am still a bit down about not having taiko practice very often this week. At least I'll have it tomorrow, and here's something else that will pick up my spirits: Before practice tomorrow I will stop by and pick up our four new Asano Shime Taiko! I'm so excited!

Extasia Campaign #2

At the end of May, Yume Mitai (one of the groups I'm in) participated in a campaign to get the word out and sell tickets for the Exstasia taiko festival coming up in only two weeks! (July 19) Read here about Exstasia Campaign #1.


Yesterday (Sunday) we had Exstasia Campaign #2 for Yume Mitai. This time I played shime taiko instead of Nagado.

For this campaign we traveled down to the southern tip of Ishikawa, to Kaga city, where we gave two performances in the parking lot of a large shopping center. Other teams that performed were Hono Taiko, Hikari, Sasuke and Tedori Koryu Taiko. All of the teams that played yesterday (except for Yume Mitai) will also be performing at Exstasia.

We also did this same campaign last year. Last year, the bus broke down on the way there and in the afternoon, we had to deal with rain. The year before that (I wasn't there at that time) I hear that it poured rain the whole time. This year, everyone made it to the shopping center without any car trouble, the weather, although slightly hot, was sunny all day (I even got a slight sunburn) and we were able to set a record for number of tickets sold during this campaign. Compared with years past, everything went very smoothly.

The only thing that went wrong was that members of Hikari and Hono Taiko performed in bare feet. (Everyone else was wearing tabi shoes) I think everyone knows how hot an asphalt parking lot can get in 90 degree heat. Imagine having to stand on it barefooted for 20 minutes or so. I was watching their feet while they played and I could see how painful it was. They kept shifting their weight to different parts of their feet so they could lift up different parts to give them a break from the heat. In the end, though, they still burned the bottoms of their feet enough to get blisters there. (Hikari members mentioned it in their blog, if you can read Japanese) Not to worry, though, these girls are tough. The first time I saw them about seven or eight years ago, it was outdoors in freezing rain, barefoot and in tank-tops. I guess they have been used to playing in less than ideal weather for a long time now.
Here we are doing our little "Finale" to remind people that Exstasia is on July 19! (Notice the Hikari members - in bare feet - are all trying their best to stand on the white parking lines.)

What Did We Buy at the Asano Taiko Sale?

Unfortunately, we didn't have any luck in the Asano Taiko drawings this weekend. We got about 10 raffle tickets, but we didn't win anything. A couple people I know did win 10,000 yen gift certificates, though.

We might not have had any luck in the drawings, but in another sense, we did have some luck. We had a certain budget for the drums we could purchase and it so happened, that there was an Ohirado Taiko that didn't go over our budget too much. For the Odaiko of our group, we had decided on getting a large Oke daiko. It is the type that is tightened with ropes and is much lighter, compared to an Ohirado Taiko. There were two reasons we had made that decision. One was price and the other convenience. The price was half of what a Keyaki Ohirado would cost, and since there are only two of us at the moment, we thought it would be easier to move it around. But when we saw this Ohirado on sale for just a little bit more than the same size Oke daiko, we couldn't pass it up. Here it is. Our very own Ohirado Taiko.

It's 3.5 Shaku. 1 shaku is about 30 cm, or 1 foot, so that makes this drum 105 cm, or about 3 1/2 feet in diameter. It's just the size I wanted. Of course, it looks cool to have an even bigger one, but anything much bigger than this starts to get impractical. It's too heavy to move around, you need a bigger truck to transport it and sometimes it won't fit through doorways. So this is just right for us.

One reason it was so much less than we had expected is because it is not made of keyaki (Zelkova), the preferred wood for taiko drums. Most Odaiko, or Ohirado Taiko are made out of either Keyaki or Bubinga (from Africa). The one we are buying happens to be made of Bubinga. Actually, it is hard to even find Keyaki trees large enough to make the really big Odaiko. Besides, I honestly like the grain of Bubinga wood a little better than the Keyaki for this type of drum. Just look at the beautiful patterns:

Right now we don't have any place to store it so Asano is holding it for us until we can clean out our closet. (Oh yes, and until we pay for it, also). So I guess we were lucky enough this weekend. I'm sure I'll write more about the various events and workshops in the days to come. (but first I have to finish my taxes.)

I Wonder How Lucky I Am?

Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow morning at 9 AM Asano Taiko will kick off their 400th anniversary celebration. It is three days of taiko workshops, live performances, and a huge sale, 400 years in the making! Well, maybe not 400 years in the making, but it's a pretty big deal, especially because sales at Asano are pretty rare.

It was 400 years ago, back in 1609, that the Kaga clan, invited taiko maker, Saemongoro from Harima (Hyogo Prefecture) to found Asano Taiko in Fukutomi, Ishikawa Village, which is now called Fukudome Town in Hakusan City. Since then, Asano has been producing top quality, hand-crafted taiko drums and other traditional products. (Read a short history of Asano Taiko)

What else was going on in the world in 1609? Well, not a whole lot of significant events. But the children's rhyme, "Three Blind Mice" was published in London. That's worth something.

Anyhow, we have been looking forward to this event for quite some time. It couldn't have come at a better time for us. We will start by attending the concert tomorrow evening, which is full of world-renowned taiko performers and tickets were only 1000 yen (about 10 USD). It's an amazing deal! Saturday we will continue with workshops in Katsugi Oke Taiko, Hachijo Taiko and a chappa workshop. There will be several 30 minute mini-live concerts interspersed during the day. Sunday, we'll continue our workshops with Miyake Taiko, taught by the original creators of Miyake, Mr. Tsumura and his sons, more Katsugi Oke and finish off by learning the song, "Kiyari", which is often sung before playing Miyake Taiko. Sunday will also feature short live performances throughout the day. The workshops are also an amazing deal. Almost all of them are only 1000 yen. So I will get three workshops which would normally cost 3000 - 4000 yen each, for only 3000 yen (about 30 USD).

But it's the sale that is the most timely for us. Regular readers of our blog know our plans to start up a taiko group in Michigan sometime in the beginning of next year. Of course, you can't have a taiko group without taiko and if you're going to buy Asano drums, there probably will be no better time to buy them than this weekend for the next 400 years. Several hundred taiko drums will be on sale for 10%, 20%, 30% even 35% off the normal prices. When you're talking about drums that are at least 1 or 2,000 USD for even the cheapest ones, even 10% or 20% off is saving a huge amount of money.

Today I learned another juicy tidbit, though. It's not just going to be a weekend of live performances, workshops and a sale. There will be drawings too. Each day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, anyone who bought something will be entered into a drawing at 3 PM of that day. Apparently, there are some pretty nice prizes. There will be two drawings a day: one for people who spent less than 50,000 yen, and one for people who spent over 50,000 (about 500 USD) There is even the possibility of a prize of a ....are you ready? ... 3.5 shaku Ohiradaiko!!!! That's a 105 cm "flat" Odaiko! Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:

These things are not cheap. We originally were thinking of buying one, but they are extremely heavy. It takes at least 3, preferably 4 people, to move one around. And they are extremely expensive. Just for a 3.5 shaku drum, costs around 35,000 USD!!! Add in the stand and case and it could be another 7 or 8,000! The combination of the weight and the cost convinced us to wait on purchasing one of these. Although a few weeks ago, I had a chance to play on an extremely nice one, and I again toyed with the idea of getting one anyways, but in the end, the cost was just too much.

BUT ...

Now there is a chance that I could win one. We'll definitely be spending more than 50,000 yen this weekend, so we ought to have at least a chance to win it. And that is why I wondered in today's title, "How Lucky I Am?" Obviously, it's not the kind of luck, like having a loving family, having a job, enough to eat, being healthy, etc. I know that I am "lucky" in those respects. I am talking about pure luck, pure chance. It is a raffle and the next guy who spends 50,000 yen at Asano will have just the same chance that I have to win that beautiful drum. I sure hope it's me, though. Oh, I would so much love a drum like that!

Exstasia Campaign #1

Yesterday (Sunday) we had this year's first Exstasia Campaign performances. For those who don't know, Exstasia is a big taiko festival sponsored by Asano Taiko, the city of Hakusan and various other groups and companies in the area. I've written about it the past couple years: 2007, 2008.

Anyhow, around this time of year, the groups that practice at Asano Taiko are sent out to do short performances on the weekends at local shopping centers and malls. We perform for about 30 minutes and then observers have a chance to buy tickets for Exstasia at the end of the performance. Yesterday's groups were Sasuke, jr., Yume Mitai, some members of Shin Matto Bayashi Hozonkai and Hono Taiko. By the end of the day, we had sold 13 tickets (8 adult and 5 child). They told us it was a pretty good result.

I was playing as a member of Yume Mitai yesterday (although I am also in Shin Matto Bayashi). Usually there are about 15 of us, but yesterday, there were only 7. Furthermore, I was asked to switch parts the Saturday night. Considering the last minute switch, having no chance to rehearse the new part before the performance, and our small numbers, we did pretty well. There was only one spot where I screwed up. There is a part in the song where everyone crouches down, extends their right bachi (stick) to the left and slowly turns back to the center. I have been playing the shime part since last fall, so I had not done this crouching part for quite a while. I forgot which way to turn and turned to the right instead of the left. Senda san, who was playing on my right, was quite surprised and we nearly crashed into each other. I quickly adjusted my movement to the correct side, but it must have been amusing for the observers to see the surprised look on both our faces. Needless to say, it only happened once, and the next two performances were free from any major, noticeable mishaps.

Last time I said I might have some video to post, but it didn't work out that anyone could take video for me. All that I got was some pictures. Enjoy...


Time for a break.


Lunch time.



Preparing to start the final performance of the day. Hono Taiko wearing Happi coats designed by Kansai Yamamoto for their recent performance in Bali.

And a couple pictures of Yume Mitai (1/2) performing.




I always see something I don't like, or I want to fix when I see pictures/video of myself. For example, looking at these pictures, I notice how my arm is still not as straight as I would like it to be. First I thought of the excuse, "well, my arms are pretty long, if I extend them all the way, I will get behind the tempo." But then I told myself, "No excuses, if your arms are longer than everyone else, you just have to learn how to move them more quickly so you don't get behind." That's right. Instead of thinking of excuses why you can't do something, you must figure out a way to do something that seems difficult.

I guess I did alright, though, because after the last performance of the day Mrs. Asano-san said to me, "You're getting pretty good at performing, aren't you."

Exstasia Campaign Performances This Sunday

A few weeks ago tickets for 2009 Exstasia went on sale. That means it's time for the Asano taiko groups to get out, "drum up" (sorry) some interest and sell some tickets. What that usually involves is traveling to a large shopping center or mall on the weekend and playing for about 30 minutes finally reminding everyone when and where Exstasia will be and giving them the opportunity to purchase their tickets right then and there.

It was slightly last minute, but it turns out that our first "Exstasia Campaign" performance is this Sunday (May 31) ... and our second and our third performance as well. Yes, three performances in one day. And guess what, they are at three different locations. We will perform first at 11 am, next at 1:30 pm and the final performance at 4 pm. That means loading and unloading 4 times! I need to find a back brace! But this probably sounds a little worse than it actually is. The performance is around 30 min, but there are several groups performing and each group will probably only play one song and then finale.

I'd like to write some more, but I, unfortunately, have to work today. (I really hate working on Saturdays. I feel like it is time stolen from me.) Anyhow, hopefully I'll have some nice pictures... and maybe video? from Sunday's performances.

Where can I buy some taiko drums?

I recently received an inquiry as to how much a "moderately priced" taiko would cost. I've been looking into this a bit myself lately, since we are preparing economically (as well as mentally) for purchasing our own taiko drums in just a couple of weeks. We plan to get the drums at Asano Taiko's 400th Anniversary sale in a couple weeks. It is a rare opportunity to get top of the line Asano drums at prices 10 - 30% off the regular prices. Still, it will probably cost almost as much as a college education and we are really starting to feel the mental weight of this decision. It's kind of like a point of no return. Once we have invested this much money in this project, we had better follow through with it. It sure is feeding the worries and doubts in the back of my head, though. More on that another time.

Anyhow, I thought several people out there could be interested in the answer to the question about the cost of taiko drums, so I will share my response.

***** My Response (with some edits) *****

The best taiko drums money can buy are made by Asano Taiko and for your average sized Nagado Taiko (about 17 in. (42 cm) diameter) you are talking about nearly $5000.
http://www.asano.jp/blog/english/nagadotaiko/

Asano does make a "education" line of drums, which are slightly cheaper http://www.asano.jp/wa-taiko/kyouzai/post_1.html#more
For the same size nagado from that group, it is about $4000.
Those prices only include the drum, no case, no stand, etc. Shipping within Japan would be included in the price, but I doubt international shipping costs are in that price. Getting the drum from Japan to the US would have to be covered on your own.

Most people probably cannot travel to Japan to buy drums. I do believe you can get Asano drums through the Rolling Thunder Taiko Website

Although Asano drums receive my highest recommendation, unfortunately they are not a realistic option for most taikoists in the US (other than perhaps a shime taiko, which is small enough to take home on the plane with you and only costs around $2000.) So in the interest of providing some practical info, here are several "home grown" options available in the US (in no particular order):

Miyoshi Taiko based in Northern CA
http://www.miyoshidaiko.com/nagado.html
Nagado starting at about $1000 for a 12 in diameter


Mochizuki Taiko
Based in Texas
http://www.taikorus.com/
ca. 18 in diameter Nagado - $3500 (Free Shipping)

Taikos.com
Colorado based taiko maker
http://www.taikos.com/
16 in diameter nagado taiko $1,150

Carrie from the All Things Taiko Blog is full of useful information, and in a recent post, she introduced Kato Taiko, another N. American taiko maker, who will also be in attendance at the North American Taiko Conference, this August.

Kato Taiko
http://www.katotaiko.com/
Another CA based taiko maker
I learned about from a recent post on the All Things Taiko Blog
16 in Nagado $900 - $1000

Finally, a lot of people in the US like to make their own taiko using wine barrels, whiskey barrels, even old tires and duct tape can create a practice drum. Carrie, from All Things Taiko, was kind enough to share some info and resources for those who are interested in making their own taiko drums (like I said, full of useful info) Here are her comments left on our blog post, "Taiko Drums Cost How Much!?"

"I checked with the group in Ohio and the one starting up in Kalamazoo, MI and they both order wine barrels from:
The Barrel Shop, Inc.
570 Napa Junction Road
American Canyon, CA 94503
(707) 553-9807 Phone
(707) 556-9772 Fax
I heard that barrels from The Barrel Shop have tripled in price in the last 5 years (about $400), but the quality is superior.

I found this website I thought would be helpful if you're looking to make a few drums or have more questions: http://users.lmi.net/taikousa/FAQs.html

There are additional options for places to order drums and other supplies from listed at the bottom of that page."

******

If you live in the US, are looking for a place to purchase taiko drums and have a few thousand dollars to spend, I hope this info gives you a place to start. I would imagine there are more places out there selling taiko drums. If any of my readers know of any, or if you make and sell taiko yourself, please feel free to leave the info in a comment.

How I Ended Up in the Super Beginner Taiko Class

This week I will have taiko practice/lessons on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Since the end of April, my wife and I (and my daughter) enrolled in two new taiko classes that will continue until the middle of the summer, which added to our already busy taiko schedule.

A month or so ago, I went to talk with Kinoshita san of Hono Taiko. She teaches most of the beginning level courses at Asano. Since I imagine that most of our students when we return to Michigan next year will probably be "beginners" I wanted to talk with her to get an idea of what and how she teaches the beginning courses. Actually, I have never taken a beginning/introductory taiko course, even though I have been practicing it for more than two years. To a certain degree, I was able to pick up the correct techniques, movements and so on just from playing with and watching the people in the other Asano groups we play with. What I didn't notice myself was usually corrected by Yamada sensei. So I thought it would be good for me to get an idea of what goes on in a beginner class, what are the objectives, teaching methods, etc. and that's why I went to talk with Kinoshita san. During our meeting she invited me to come and watch either her "Super Beginner" course on Monday evenings, or her "Basic" course on Tuesday evenings.

I hadn't planned on joining either class. Actually, until recently, I always had Yume Mitai taiko practices on Mondays. But because the beginner class was moved to Mondays, Yume Mitai practices were changed to Thursdays, so my Monday evenings were open. Then I remembered my daughter (6 yrs in June). She had been enrolled in Asano's "Taiko Kids" classes on Sunday mornings. Her class was from 9 - 10, then we would jump in the car and race to church for the 10:30 service. After our recital in March, Karen (my daughter) was promoted from the kids beginner class up to the kids intermediate class. I think she was pretty excited and happy. She even got a new headband (new color) to write her name on. Unfortunately the time was from 10 - 11:30, which means we would have to miss church. Because of our own personal priorities, we were forced to "take a break" from the kids taiko classes.

As I talked with Kinoshita san, and she invited me to observe the class, it dawned on me that I could join the class with Karen. It was a "super beginner" class, meaning it was geared towards people with absolutely now taiko experience. I figured Karen should be able to handle that. And besides, as I mentioned, I had never had a beginning taiko course, so it might do me some good as well. It has been a great experience, by the way, but more on that next time.

So, Karen and I signed up to join Kinoshita san's Super Beginner class. We are having some great daddy-daughter time and both are learning a lot. I'll share more about the class and what we are learning next time. right now it is time for me to go to work...

Asano Taiko Golden Week Day of Taiko

I didn't think yesterday was all that strenuous. We didn't have to show up at Asano until noon, we toned down our outfits to black t-shirts and pants and we only had one quick performance (about 5 min) and then we could enjoy the other events going on in the afternoon. But for some reason, I felt so tired when my alarm went off this morning. I don't know why. I'm awake now, though, and ready to go back to work (not ready, actually, but I have no choice).

Yesterday (May 6) was a half-day taiko event at Asano Taiko. They named it the G.W. (Golden Week) Day of Taiko and it was billed as a "Pre-Event" for the upcoming 400th anniversary celebration June 5, 6 and 7. The day featured two short taiko performances by different Asano groups. The first one at the start and the second one to close things up. The Asano Kids classes , Jige san's (Hono Taiko) parent-child group, Kojira, JIGEN (my wife and I are in this group) Sasuke, jr, Sasuke and Hono Taiko all played at least one song. In between the performances there was a basic taiko workshop (pictured above), a "Make Your Own Teeny Tiny Taiko Key chain" workshop, which both my kids did. Here's a picture of that:

Then there was the Odaiko Volume Contest in which about 15 children and 15 adults competed to see who could get the loudest sound out of the "Yamato" Odaiko (6 shaku? about 180 cm diameter) housed in Asano's taiko museum.

Both my son and I entered this contest (my son with "Yamato" in the picture above). Each entrant waited his or her chance for one hit to the drum with a "bat" bachi (a sort of large, heavy, bat shaped stick). No warm ups and no do-overs. The sound was measured with a decibel meter so there would be no question about who had produced the loudest sound. The contest was divided between adults and children and there were around 15 to 20 participants each. My son was part of the children's competition. He was by far the youngest (at nearly 3 years old) and fittingly produced the quietest sound in the group. It was around 83 dB, if I recall correctly. Of course, being his dad, I was proud of him for just getting up in front of so many people and giving it a try. He, on the other hand, probably had no idea what the contest was about and was probably just motivated out of getting a lollipop for trying.

Anyhow, my turn came along. I stepped up on the small platform in front of the drum, which was a little unstable and I didn't really need the extra height. It was also small and too close to the drum for me. I checked behind me to make sure that I would not hit Takebe kun, who was holding the decibel meter, extended my arm and swung it forward. "DON" The sound echoed through the museum and slowly faded away. "123.5 decibels," Takebe kun announced. Not a bad hit, but I knew I could have got in a better one, no that I had my bearings. Unfortunately, one person = one try. Here is the video of my attempt.



It is rather hard to get a feel for the loudness on a YouTube video. Besides that, the video was recorded on my digicam, which probably only has a simple recording mic. As simple as this video is, I actually was able to learn something from watching it. In the past, I have written about the benefits of video taping yourself as you play and this is why. I noticed from this video that annoying habit I have of tilting my head to one side when I play. Do you notice that as I hit the drum, my head tilts to the left? I've been "warned" about this several times from Yamada sensei, my wife and most recently by Kinoshita sensei, but apparently I haven't fixed it yet. Seeing it on video and how "silly" it looks may be just enough to remind me not to do it. At any rate, it didn't seem to effect how loud I played the drum because when all the contestants had finished, I had the top score! I was hoping that the prize for winning was the "Yamato" Odaiko, but everyone laughed when I asked if that was the prize. I got something almost as good, though. I got my very own Asano Taiko towel and a keyaki (zelkova) massage tool.

Quick Updates

Has it really been ten days? I apologize. It really has been too long. Recently, I've been hit with several things that take up a lot of my time that I usually use for writing blog posts. One being income tax... yes, it's after April 15, but when you live overseas, you get an extra two months to file.

Unfortunately, today I cannot write much either, but just to let any of you loyal readers know that I am still here, I'll just make it a quick update. Let's see, maybe I'll do this in a list form.

Got $300 plus from the Japanese govn't for their form of a stimulus payment. Technically we're supposed to spend it, not save it, so I guess I'll be making a trip to the Asano Taiko shop to pick up some bachi, chappa, and so on.

I joined Kinoshita Chieko san's (Hono Taiko) Super Beginner class with my daughter two weeks ago. I joined it because my daughter is only 5 (almost 6) and might have trouble on her own, but as it turns out, it is a great learning opportunity for me as well on many different levels.

Mayumi (me wife) also joined a new class with Kinoshita san as the instructor. It is called "Basic" and is also kind of intended for beginners, but there are still a lot of experienced players in the class. As the name suggests, it focuses on learning and polishing up basic skills. Mayumi will likely be working on her Odaiko basic skills.

This Wednesday, the last holiday of Golden Week, JIGEN will get to play at Asano's 400th anniversary pre-event on Wednesday. (Here's my blog post about it, and here's a link to the Asano flyer about it) I'm not sure if we are playing once or twice, but the live performances are at 1:30 and 3:00. We'll be playing the song, Raigun (雷郡) at one or both of them.

I'd like to write more, but now I need to get ready to go to work. After tomorrow I'll have four days off, though, so I suppose I'll be able to find some time to write a proper entry at least once during that time. Until then...

Golden Week Day of Taiko

I meant to add this to yesterday's post, but it turned out longer than I expected, so I saved it for today. This is mostly an FYI for anyone who lives in Japan, especially in the Hokuriku area (Ishikawa, Toyama, Fukui).

In anticipation of the big, three-day celebration coming up in June for Asano's 400th Anniversary, Asano is presenting a day of 400th Anniversary "Pre-Events" on the Wednesday of the Golden Week Holidays. You can find the flyer (in Japanese) here, but for those who do not read Japanese, here is a break down of the events:

1:30 PM - Performance, featuring Asano Kids and others

2:00 PM - Choice of two workshops
1 - Making a teeny-tiny taiko key chain (500 yen)
2 - Taiko drum circle (no cost)

2:30 PM - "Yamato" Volume contest - Who can get the loudest sound out of the "Yamato" Odaiko (about 180 cm diameter), housed in the Asano museum.

The winner gets a prize (I plan to try my hand at this, but don't expect to win)

3:00 PM - Second performance featuring the songs "Daichi no Arashi" 大地の嵐 written my Asano Machiko　and "Sore Take no Bushi"　それ竹の節 by Jige Akemi of Hono Taiko.

Please come on out if you'll be in the area

Asano Beat - Chapter 2 "Fragrance"

Last Saturday I attended the second monthly concert given at the Asano Taiko museum. (The debut of the monthly concerts I wrote about last month here) Last month's concert was titled 月のしずく, something like "drips of moon". This month was called　香 or "Fragrance". The performers were, once again, Hono Taiko, Kazusa Okazaki of Hikari and a guest flute player, Mr. Yagi (sorry, I can't read his first name).

Each piece for this concert was intended to express a fragrance of nature. The evening began in similar fashion to last month, with the lights going down and images of nature being projected onto the large Odaiko (pictured at the start of this post) accompanied by soft, ambient music. I even thought that I smelled some type aromatic fragrance in the air as the concert was starting. The first, by Hono Taiko, song was slow and soft. It used taiko drums along with a few keys (?) of a Gamelan xylophone. This piece was expressing the fragrance of the moon. A bamboo flute (shinobue, not shakuhachi) performance followed which represented the fragrance of the forest. Next, the sound of thunder came over the sound system and what followed was a piece played on Odaiko along with two shime taiko, symbolizing thunder and rain (this was my favorite piece of the evening) representing, of course, the fragrance of rain. Next we heard the a unique bamboo flute and taiko piece representing the fragrance of the wind. The flute used in this piece was designed and made by Mr. Yagi (the performer). It was about a 5 foot piece of bamboo, which he played horizontally and it had a deep, rich sound. He was accompanied by Jige san and Kinoshita san of Hono Taiko.

We then had an interlude with some comments from Jige san, who is always interesting to listen to. She joked around with Mr. Yagi about how he could use his unique bamboo flute to hang his laundry. She kept talking and talking and talking until finally, Yamada san and Okazaki san, who had been on stand-by for the next piece for several minutes, made it very obvious (in a humorous way) that it was time to stop talking and move on to the next piece. (All part of the show, I think, but amusing, nonetheless).

The last two pieces were not associated with any type of fragrance. First we heard Raigun (雷郡) played by Yamada san (Hono Taiko) and Okazaki san (Hikari). This is the same song Yamada sensei taught JIGEN, a group I am in, for the Asano recital last October (2008), but we played it with 9 people and they only had two for this performance. They had lined up about eight drums across the stage. There were shime taiko on either end, and then different sized Oke taiko meeting in the middle. They used all the drums to cover the three different parts between the two of them. It was interesting to see how they did it.

The last piece was performed by Hono Taiko and was called "Tomoe" 巴. Tomoe the symbol that we would probably call "yin-yang" and in taiko, you often see three of these yin-yang shapes, which is called a mitsudomoe. Anyways, it was a pretty exciting and energetic song.

The finale was the same as last month, with Kinoshita san playing shamisen, Jige san singing while playing a hand-played taiko, Yamada san and Okazaki san on taiko and Yagi san's flute playing.

Once again, it was a wonderfully produced program, very enjoyable to watch, only about a hundred people came to watch, making it very personal. This time my parents, who are visiting, were able to attend the concert with us. They have seen world re known groups like Yamato and Kodo several times, but I think they particularly enjoyed being so close to the drums and being able to see the energy and passion of the players in such close proximity. My dad even said, "That was the best taiko I have ever seen!". My daughter also came with us, and enjoyed the first half, but fell asleep for the second half.



On the way out, my parents were able to take photo with Hono Taiko and Yagi san, the flute player.



It was another great concert and I can't wait until next month's. It is April 26th.

Asano Taiko Spring Recital - Part 2 (and taiko in Michigan survey)

Let me start by thanking all the people that have responded to our "Taiko in Michigan" survey. The responses so far have been very helpful and very encouraging. If you haven't taken our survey and wouldn't mind giving your opinion on some of our ideas, we would be thrilled if you would follow the link above, or the one right here: Click here to take survey The questions are short and easy. The whole process shouldn't take you more than 1 or 2 minutes. Thanks again for your troubles.

Now, just a few more thoughts about our performance/recital a couple weeks ago. I was actually quite worried about a couple of the pieces because I knew they weren't ready. One, we knew pretty well, but it was just missing that certain something. The other, we had just barely memorized in time and if the littlest thing had gone wrong, it could have been a complete disaster. Luckily, we got through it without any major disasters and the audience seemed to be pleased. I could recognize this from their applause, and I also was told by several people afterwards that they enjoyed our performance.

This reminded me of something that Jige san of Hono Taiko told us last May after Yume Mitai (one of Asano's amateur groups) had performed as a guest at a major concert, featuring famous taiko players from all over Japan. After we had finished the concert and finished putting all the taiko away, she told us: "Good job, everyone. For many of you, this was a step along the road to becoming a professional. Part of being a professional is taking money from your guests and sending them home happy."

Of course, this most recent concert was a recital and there was no admission charge, but you still want to send the guests home happy, so they don't feel like they wasted a complete afternoon. And it seems that we were able to do that. Even though we were not satisfied with our own performance, the audience was. I guess performers need to have a type of double standard. On a personal level, if you are really striving to be the best, you'll probably never be really satisfied with your performance. There is always something to improve, or something you could have done better. On the other hand, if you wait until you feel that your performance is "perfect", many of us would probably never make it out on the stage for a performance.

I guess what I'm saying is that if your audience goes home happy (whether you charged them money or not), then you can feel that your performance was a success. At the same time, you are likely aware of areas you want to improve at will continually strive to make better.

After all, performing is a form of practice as well. There are certain aspects of performing that you cannot replicate while you're practicing. A couple months ago we went to talk with Mr. Asano about our plans for taiko in Michigan. One of his pieces of advice sticks out in my mind. He said, "We have to get you guys performing more. One performance is worth 100 practices."

I guess that's it for my thoughts on the Asano 2009 Spring Recital. Thanks for reading and please don't forget to take our survey. One last time, the link: Click here to take survey

Asano Taiko Spring Recital 2009

Last Sunday we successfully completed the March 2009 Asano Taiko Spring Recital, 今響きが風になる. Saturday began at 8:30 with loading up drums from the Asano practice space, the rental warehouse and Asano EX and then transporting them all over to the concert venue, the Matto Bunka Kaikan. (The same place we saw Exstasia two years ago.) Then we moved on to rehearsing.

For this recital I was part of the back stage crew. While most recital participants were only busy during their own rehearsal time, the stage hands were tied up all day helping the groups figure out which taiko to use, getting organized back stage so that the drums could be easily and quickly moved on and off and marking the location of the drums for each group.

Each group performing in the show had about a 20 minute time slot to figure out where they would place their drums on the stage, play through their piece once and make any final adjustments. Once the group decides where to place their drums, we marked the spot with little pieces of colored tape. For this recital there were so many groups playing, we ran out of colors and had to get creative with the way we used the tape.

On either side of the stage, the drums were all organized into different sizes and then "taiko corrals" were taped on the floor to make sure they got back into the right spot.


I had three rehearsals to participate in during the afternoon. Other than that, I was backstage trying to help keep everything running smoothly. After the last group finished their rehearsal, the stage hands had one last meeting to make sure that everything was ready for the next day.

The day of the concert, we still had to arrive around 8:30. There were about 3 groups that hadn't rehearsed the day before, so they were schedule to run through their numbers Sunday morning. Finally, the last thing we did before lunch break was to run through all of the transitions between the groups, just moving the drums on and off stage. This helps everyone, stage hands as well as performs, to remember what their responsibilities are during the transitions. It really helps the main event to run smoothly. Then it was time for lunch and to get the hall ready for the guests.

The doors opened at 1:30 and at precisely 2:00 the curtain rose on Hono Taiko and Hikari performing 天地響応 (Tenchi Kyou-ou), formerly known as 聖鼓 (Shoko). This was followed by the "Asano Taiko Kids" groups. First the beginning group (which my daughter played with) followed by the intermediate and advanced groups. My daughter was thrilled at the end of the day after the concert when they announced which students had "graduated" to the next level. From April, she will be allowed to move up to the intermediate class.


My first performance was with JIGEN and wasn't until about halfway through the program. So for the first half, I was busy helping out backstage. But eventually, our turn was approaching and it was time to get changed into our outfits. We came out and gave a good effort, but it was lacking in many areas. As I have mentioned in previous posts, JIGEN was given a rather challenging piece to learn for this recital and we probably could have used at least another month of practice time. Then again, maybe we should have practiced more on our own as well. At any rate, we made it through the song without falling apart.

(My mum took this picture and had the camera set wrong, but I kind of like the way it turned out.)

After JIGEN, I only had enough time to change for the next group, Shin Matto Bayashi Hozonkai. I play Odaiko for this group and was particularly looking forward to performance this time around because we had added Shamisen, which make the song a lot more interesting. After this performance, Jige san, of Hono Taiko, who was Emceeing the event, called me back out on the stage for an interview. After some pleasantries, she announced to the audience our plans to return to Michigan next year and play taiko there. I was a bit surprised by it. There were several people in the audience who didn't know about these plans (co-workers and students) whom I hadn't plan to tell for some time yet. Oh well, it's no big deal. Furthermore, it is encouraging because it is like a indirect "stamp of approval" from Asano Taiko and Hono Taiko on our plans. I mean, if they were embarrassed of us, or didn't want us to proceed, they wouldn't be announcing it at one of their sponsored events, now would they.



After the interview, it was back to the dressing room for one more costume change for my last group, Matto Yume Mitai. For this group I was playing shime taiko again. Although it was my first time to play the shime part for this song, it was our fourth or fifth time to perform it, so we are all pretty comfortable with the music. It was easy for me to submerse myself in the music and just enjoy playing without having to think about what phrase comes next or what to do next. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.



The only thing left was the finale, where we packed the stage with as many taiko as possible and as many people as possible and played Mushi Okuri, a traditional taiko piece from the Kaga area.

When the concert ended, the clean up began almost immediately. Pull up the tape from the floor, put the taiko back in their cases, disassemble the stands that can be disassembled, begin loading the drums back into the trucks and vans. There is a huge amount of work that needs to be completed, but with all the people we have helping, the concert venue is cleaned up and all the drums are back in their proper places at Asano taiko within about two hours! It always amazes me how smoothly and quickly this whole process is carried out.

I have more to say, but this is getting long and I seem to be running out of time, so I will save it for another time.

How to be More Than a Decorative Shime Taiko Player

Tomorrow is the big day. It's 7 AM now and in about an hour, I'll be heading out to Asano Taiko to load up drums and move them to the concert venue: The Matto Bunka Kaikan Hall. Then, starting after lunch, each performing group has about 20 minutes to figure out how they are going to move the drums on and off the stage, where there going to stand, run through their piece and make any last minute adjustments needed.

On Monday, at practice for Yume Mitai, we ran through the piece once at the end of practice for Yamada sensei. She had general comments for each part, but her harshest comments were for the shime taiko (my part). She said we need to try harder, we are not leading the group, the group is leading us (there are four of us) and the way we played, the only purpose we served being there was decoration.

The way she said it was not quite as harsh as that, but that was the gist of what she said. I understood that the way we played was not good enough, but I wasn't exactly sure "where" we had to try harder. We all know our parts now, we had pretty good energy and expression. What was it, specifically, that we needed to fix?

Tuesday, I was able to get to Matto Bayashi practice about 30 minutes early and Yamada sensei also happened to be there, so I took the opportunity to ask for some clarification about what was wrong and how to fix it. It was one of those incidents where someone tells you something that, maybe you know it unconsciously, but until someone puts it into words, you don't really understand it, or grasp it. Do you know what I mean? When someone tells you, you feel like, "Well, yeah. Duh, of course!"

So here it is; the "revalation" about the purpose of shime taiko given to me by Hono Taiko's Yamada Mizue sensei!

Shime taiko are like the conductor in an orchestra, or like a metronome. Everyone should be following them, and they do what they can to hold everyone together. More often than not, shime taiko are playing ji-uchi, or a continuous, repetitive beat, like "te ke te ke te ke te ke te ke..." or "don doko don doko don doko don doko..." or "do ko do ko do ko do ko do ko...". The "melody", being played by the nagado drums, or sometimes Odaiko, should be able to easily fit in with that base, ji-uchi beat.

Now, imagine you have an orchestra with two conductors. The chances that their tempos and interpretations of the music would be slightly, or significantly different. How hard would it be for an orchestra to stay together while following two, different conductors? Or how about if you took two metronomes and tried to start them at the same time? Even if you have them set at the same tempo, it is extremely difficult to get them clicking at exactly the same time. Probably you'll get two different beats. Now imagine trying to play your part along with those two, unmatched metronomes. I don't imagine it would be very easy.

This is essentially what Yamada sensei was referring to as our problem. It wasn't that our energy or expression wasn't enough. It wasn't that we didn't know our parts (except for one little section). The problem was that the four of us were not playing together. In order for us to lead the rest of the group, the shime taiko part must be exactly in unison. If we are not together, the only thing they can do is just play their part on their own and we have to follow them. Even though there are four of us, in order to correctly fulfill our role, as leaders, conductors, we must become one conductor, one metronome. Does this make sense to you?

Following the harsh comments after Monday's practice, the four of us had decided to get together Thursday night to get in a little extra practice. I asked Yamada sensei if she had any suggestions as to what would be the most beneficial to us. She suggested that before we begin practicing our parts in the song, that we spend some time just practicing ji-uchi rhythms over and over, focusing on playing in unison. A pattern like I mentioned in this shime taiko practice post. Only after we feel that we have all gotten on the same wave length, should we begin to practice our parts for the piece. And, of course, while practicing the piece, continue to focus on listening to one another and playing in unison.

I've noticed that I've dedicated several post over the past few months to shime taiko playing. Since I took on shime taiko parts for two groups I am in, I have certainly learned a great deal about playing taiko. I am beginning to understand more and more why, both Yamada sensei, and Mr. Asano, himself, told me that if I really want to excel at taiko playing, the best thing to do is to master shime taiko playing, and much of the rest will fall into place.

Well, one more day, and we will see how/if all this practice has paid off. Now I better get ready to go.

Asano Taiko Spring Recital March 8, 2009

I went to get my haircut yesterday. It's nice and short now. My friends and co-workers now know what my short haircut means. As soon as I come to work the next day, they ask me, "So when is your taiko concert?"

This time it is this Sunday afternoon (March 8) I will play in three groups, Mayumi (my wife) will play in two and my daughter will play in one. It will be a busy day. We'll really have to give it our best, though. This time there will be a lot of people coming to see it, including some of my students, co-workers and my parents have even traveled all the way from Michigan to see the performance. (Well, that wasn't the only reason they came.)

So this past week has been filled with taiko practices driven by the thought: "This is our last chance to practice altogether before the big event." Our most challenging group, Jigen, does not feel very well prepared. I am certain that all of us have made improvements since our October debut, but the song we took on to learn for this recital is significantly more challenging, in that for half of it, all 9 of us are playing shime taiko. And if you are a regular reader of this blog, or a taiko player, you will already know that getting 9 shime taiko to play in exact unison is not an easy task.

The other group my wife and I play in together is Shin-Matto Bayashi. This time around it certainly will be "shin" (new) because for the first time in a long time, we will be playing with Shamisen players, which will add a nice melodic element to the piece. The piece also calls for a flute part and is we actually only perform half of it. When played in full, it is maybe more than 20 minutes long and for these recitals, there are so many groups that need to play, each one is limited to 10 minutes. The time restraints, as well as a decline in members in recent years, has led to a stripped down version of Shin-Matto Bayashi. Therefore, it has been quite a while since anyone has seen it performed with the Shamisen players. Maybe next time we can add back the flute parts.

The group I play in by myself, Yume Mitai is playing the same song we have played the past three concerts, but this time around, many people have switched parts. I moved to Shime Taiko, along with two other nagado players and one of the Odaiko players. Two of the original shime taiko players moved to the nagado part, the other one moved to Odaiko. One other nagado player also moved to Odaiko. With so many people moving around to different parts, it is also likely that, although this is the fourth time we have performed this piece, it will probably sound a bit different.

I was going to write about the advice I got from Yamada sensei about playing shime daiko in a group, but I think I will save that for next time, as this has already gotten longer than I had intended.

Asano Beat with Hono Taiko and Hikari

Last night (Feb 28) Asano Taiko held what is to be the first of monthly concerts in its Museum (pictured above). The performers were Hono Taiko and Hikari. Hono Taiko I have mentioned many times in this blog (in fact, if you search google for "hono taiko" this blog comes up on the first page of results several times). Hikari, I have not mentioned quite as often (I did a couple weeks ago, though, when one of their members was here for dinner). Hikari is also made up of three women (like Hono Taiko). The Hikari members are all in their early 20s and have been learning taiko at Asano since they were little girls.

The center of the museum had been cleared out and replaced with about 100 chairs for the audience. At the back of the museum, there is a platform, where there is usually an Odaiko placed with bachi so that guests can try it out. This platform had been transformed into a stage for the performance. It looked like this:


The lights went down and ambient (?) music began to play as images of the moon, cherry blossoms, forests were projected onto the face of the Odaiko. Enter the performers. The six women floated down the aisle toward the stage carrying small lanterns. The images projected on the Odaiko ended with a huge picture of the moon. Which was appropriate because the first song was 月光 (Gekko) or "Moonlight". This is one of my very favorite pieces written by Hono Taiko's Mizue Yamada. I am hoping that she will teach it to us before we leave so that we can perform it back in Michigan. Last night it was played with five parts: One person was playing two shime taiko. Two more were playing a large Okedaiko (maybe about 80 cm) along with a shime taiko. The other two people were playing two long pieces of bamboo. If you enlarge the picture of the stage, you can probably see them towards the front of the stage.

Gekko was followed by a short piece featuring a bamboo flute (shinobue) duet called Inishie. Yamada san of Hono Taiko and Okazaki san of Hikari played the flutes while they were accompanied by the other two members of Hikari. Hono Taiko's Kinoshita Chieko san followed the flute duet with an Odaiko solo on the giant drum at the back of the stage. After the Odaiko solo, Yamada san and Jige san, the other members of Hono Taiko, joined Kinoshita san on the stage for an old, Hono Taiko standby number, Nihon Kai(日本海) or "The Sea of Japan" which I suppose is meant to remind one of the nearby Sea of Japan. I have heard Nihon Kai before, but this was the first time I had heard it in its full length. It is pretty long and appeared to be fairly strenuous. I enjoyed it.

After Nihon Kai, there was a break in the music and Jige san took a few minutes to thank everyone for coming out, introduce the performers and explain a little bit about the songs. It is always interesting when Jige san talks because she tends to kind of talk in an almost stream-of-consciousness way, where she'll just say almost anything that pops into her head, start conversations with people she knows in the audience and appears to almost forget that she is in the middle of a performance. But I think that is one of the reasons that everyone really likes Jige san; she is such a free spirit. (In fact, she is one of the reasons I became captivated by taiko drumming.)

Jige san's interlude was followed by a number with just the members of Hikari playing shime taiko called Ranma (乱馬), which means "wild horse". Having spent the last 6 months focused on shime taiko playing, I enjoy and appreciate the shime taiko pieces all the more.

Hono Taiko returned after Ranma with a new (?) piece called "Out of the Blue" (no Japanese title). This was a much different piece than what I am used to seeing from them. It had a slower feeling about it and was dependent on a lot of interaction between the three performers. It was very musical and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

For the Finale, Kinoshita san brought out her shamisen and Jige san got out her voice and led the audience in a rousing version of a folk song. At the end, all six performers took a final bow on the stage to accept the applause. Then Yamada san, who was in the middle held up her hand, and put the finger of her other hand to her mouth, signaling the applause to stop, at which point the ambient music from the beginning began playing again. Each performer then picked up their candle lanterns they had brought onto the stage at the beginning and made their exit.

The concert was an hour, a good length if you have small children with you. It was very professional... well, of course it was, but this is somewhat remarkable because they didn't hire any professionals for lighting or sound, and so on. They only used people that they had on staff already. They called it a "completely home-made performance". The small venue and small number of guests (officially 126) made it an intimate and enjoyable affair. The March concert will be on March 21st, featuring Hono Taiko, some members of Hikari and Kumen Kirishima Taiko's former Odaiko soloist, Mayumi Hashimoto. If you happen to be in Kanazawa, I recommend putting it on your schedule.

Is Your Face Alright?

In Japan, where the school year begins in April, March is graduation season. The school where I work is having its graduation ceremony on Monday. On Friday the choir was practicing singing Bach's "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" to sing at the event. The music teacher was not happy with the students' expression while singing the song. At one point he told them: 顔を見るだけで聴きたくないんだ。 For those who don't read Japanese, what he said is: "Just looking at your faces I don't want to listen to your singing."

This made me think of my post the other day about developing that special something in your group. What I mean is that your facial expression is just as important as playing the right notes and dynamics and is another thing that can give your performance that little boost, setting it apart from the mediocre. If your face looks bored, your audience will probably be bored. On the other hand, if your face reflects the feelings of the music, whether it's happy, sad, intense, then you will captivate your audience and they will feel the music with you and have a much more enjoyable experience.

So if you have started video taping your practices, like I mentioned in this post, then another good thing to pay attention to would be the expression on your face.

Taiko Drums Cost How Much!?

Recently I've been putting more time into the business aspects of starting up this taiko center in Michigan. I'm reading a very insightful book, "The E-myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber for the second time and taking notes. For anyone who is considering starting, or in the midst of running a small business, I would highly recommend it. I've also been spending some time going through the primer courses offered through the Small Business Association website. (Also very helpful for people without much business background)

Anyhow, I was reminded of the importance of putting together a good business plan, so I brushed the dust off my partially completed plan, which I have hardly touched for about a year and started working on it again. I thought I would start with calculating some of the start up costs.

Now, I know, (and I knew) that taiko are expensive, but I don't think I had ever sat down and calculated the total cost in detail, that is, the cost of not only the drums, but of stands, cases and so on. By the way, cases can cost a lot more than you might think. So I compiled a conservative list of what drums we would like to get started and began to add up the cost. In the end, what we want will run around... $80,000! (Any charitable donors out there?) The aspect that does not take into account is shipping the drums from Japan to the US, which, from what I hear, can cost nearly as much as the drums. That is my next on my list of things to research, I guess.

Well, $80,000 is actually a conservative estimate for the drums. It is actually possible that we will end up paying significantly less than that. But even if it is cut in half, that's still $40,000, isn't it. I guess I'll just have to keep putting coins in my piggy bank.

2 Suggestions to Help Your Taiko Group Develop That "Je ne sais quoi"

Saturday I practiced mainly shime taiko from 1 to 5:30 PM. That's a lot of strain on one's wrist and it is slightly painful now. I need to take it easy. I don't want to damage it permanently.

Anyhow, At Saturday's practice for one of the groups I am in, Jigen, two pieces of advice given to us by Yamada sensei stuck in my mind. One wasn't actually advice, but it still stuck with me. Both had to do with stage presence.

Now, you can see a lot of taiko in Japan. Some of it is good, and some of it is really good. What is it that makes the difference between a good group and a really good group?　　The groups that are really impressive, there is something different about them, something, ... you can't always put your finger on it exactly... something...that je ne sais quoi.

I might be able take a very simple phrase and play it perfectly: rhythm, dynamics, etc, just as it is written on the page, and it would probably sound fine. But give the exact same music to a member of a group like Yamato, for example, and have them play it and it will probably sound like a completely different song and be much more impressive. I hope you know what I'm talking about.

So how do you get to that point where you have that certain something than makes you a cut above the rest? Practice, of course, but there are other little things that can make a big difference. Here is one:

1. Act like you're cool (even if you think you're not).
We were watching a video of another Asano group, Sasuke, play the same song we are working on. Sasuke is made up of high school students and they took home top honors in a national youth taiko contest last summer in Tokyo. As we were watching them, admiring their movement in unison and so on, Yamada sensei said, "They think they're so cool". She was kind of teasing them, but I thought that unless you think you are cool, you probably won't look cool on stage. This isn't about being cool or not being cool, it's about thinking you're cool (not cocky cool, though). If you can tell yourself that you are cool for the 30 min or hour, or whatever that you are on stage, I think it makes a big difference. After all, you are cool. Drummers are cool and taiko drummers are not only cool, they're still somewhat unique (yes, even in Japan, it is unique to a certain degree). I don't know if I'm very good at explaining this "acting cool" thing, but I hope that you can follow my point.

And now for the other suggestion:
2. Play taiko with your whole body.
In Western drumming, I would say that one is probably trained to use mostly hands and wrists when playing the drums. If I asked what the difference between Western and Taiko drumming is, probably many people would say that for taiko, you need to use your whole arms. I say, you need to use every last part of your body, from the hair on your head, to your toe nails.

I think developing this partly just takes time and practice until you are comfortable enough with the correct stances, rhythms, and so on. You also have to be aware, though, that putting your whole body into your playing is just as important as playing the right notes. Yamada sensei had us work on this for one particular phrase in the song. When we eventually "got it" she said it looked 10 times better and asked us to do the same thing for the rest of the song.

She helped us to understand what she meant by using a sports analogy. She said using only your arms and/or upper body to play taiko is like a soccer player who only uses his leg and foot to kick the ball, or a baseball player who leaves his feet planted to throw a pitch. Picture those images in your head. Doesn't it look silly? If you think of a soccer player kicking a goal, or a pitcher throwing a pitch, their whole body is involved in the process. It should be the same with taiko. Although, your hands and arms are the main parts that are moving, your whole body should be involved in playing taiko.

I don't know if either of these suggestions are helpful to anyone out there. And I admit, they may not apply to all the styles of taiko that is being played out there. I also admit, that I probably haven't done a great job of explaining them clearly. It is kind of difficult to explain them without being able to show them. Then again, you never know what some people will find helpful, so I hope this will prove to be helpful to some of you.