A big weekend

It seems like it's been a while since I had a chance to make a posting here, and I guess it has been nearly two weeks. The last two weeks have been rather busy, though. Sunday is the big concert, where Yume Mitai (one of the groups I play with) will get to play with former Kodo members and the Miyake Taiko hozonkai, as well as several other big names in the taiko world. Here is a link to the concert information, but it is only in Japanese (at the bottom of the page). In preparation for this concert, I have been at Asano nearly every day for the last two weeks. Maybe it finally caught up with me yesterday, because I seemed to have gotten sick. Last night I had a rather high fever. Luckily, it was mostly gone by the morning and by the time I left for work, I felt healthy again. This evening I had a rehearsal from 6:30 to 8:30, tomorrow I'll have a workshop with these guys:

Then another rehearsal from 4 pm till 10 pm. Sunday, the day of the concert, we have dress rehearsal in the morning, starting at 9, break for lunch, more rehearsing, and the concert at 3:30. So it should be a busy couple of days. Hopefully I will not be too exhausted after the Miyake taiko workshop. If you watch the video, you probably can tell that it gives your body a workout. I found another blogger who did the same workshop at last summer's Earth Celebration on Sado Island, and she went and did a concert directly following the workshop. So apparently, it is possible to go from the workshop directly to another strenuous activity, however, sometimes, the sore muscles don't really hit you until the next day. Oh well, sore muscles only hurt when you don't use them.

Seeing as how I have a busy two days ahead of me, I am going to go to bed.

busy busy busy

I can tell it's getting close to recital time. Besides looking at the calendar, I can also tell because of our increased practices. This week, there is a practice nearly every night. Normally I practice Monday and Tuesday evenings. This week, my Monday group, has added practices Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and even a three hour practice on Sunday afternoon again. The following week we will have at least Monday, Wednesday and Saturday (dress rehearsal) practices, if not more. When we cannot practice at Asano (or when I practice on my own) we cannot usually play the drums, so we just use our knees as a substitute. We are practicing so much in this way, I'm actually starting to get bruises or something. This is actually my first concert with Yume Mitai (the Monday night group) so I don't know if they always ratchet up the intensity like this before performances or not. I do know, however, that we are sort of being evaluated by the Asano staff at this recital to decide whether or not we will be able to perform at a May concert, which is a bit of a bigger deal. So the pressure is on to produce a good performance. I'll give more details about the May event once our participation is officially confirmed.
In the meantime, I'll just keep banging away at my bruised knees. And here is a picture of me at the Asano Taiko museum next to a 6 shaku drum (nearly 2 meter diameter) and it costs about 30,000,000 yen. That's about USD 290,000 based on current exchange rates.

Just some news

I just got back from Yume Mitai practice. It was our first practice of the year, and Yamada sensei ran things pretty efficiently today. She is trying to get us focused on the recital coming up in March. It is actually a bigger deal than usual because it will be almost like a trial to see if we have what it takes to perform at a major (?) concert event coming up in May. At the beginning of December she told us about the possibility. Apparently there will be a taiko concert during the first week of May, Golden Week holidays in Japan. This is important, because it means people will not have to work and more people are likely to attend the concert. Also, there are some major names on the concert roster, like the Miyake Jima hozonkai leaders, I believe it is a father and two sons who founded the hozonkai. There will also be former members of Kodo playing, and probably Hono Taiko will perform also. I think the concert is partly sponsored by Asano Taiko. Apparently, the people in charge at Asano said if Yume Mitai performs well at the March recital, they will invite us to also play at the May concert. So it is exciting to work hard for the possibility of playing again with world renowned taiko performers.

I learned another fun piece of info at today's practice. When I got to practice today, there was a camera man there also. Apparently, Asano Taiko is making a new promo video for Hono Taiko, and they wanted some footage of Yamada sensei (a member of Hono Taiko) teaching some of the other groups she works with. So, I guess there is a chance that I might be seen for a brief moment in Hono Taiko's promo video. I'll have to be sure to ask for a copy.

And finally, yesterday, we got back late in the evening, from attending Yamato's concert in Nara. It was about a 3 - 4 hour drive from here. I hope to write in more detail about the concert later, but for now I'll just say that I was moved from the first note of the concert to the last. As soon as they hit the first notes on the drum, a chill went through my body. In the past I've often said that Yamato was one of the best taiko groups in the world. I've seen Yamato perform live 5 times now, and I have also seen other world class taiko groups (such as Kodo) perform several times. After last night, I feel that Yamato is not one of the best, but the best taiko group in the world. If they come to your town, please make every effort to see them. Starting next week they kick off a 3 week or so stint in Paris.

Well, I keep trying to make "short" entries, but they always turn out much longer than I intended.

Just an Update

It seems like it's been quite a while since I was last able to update this. Maybe it hasn't been all that long, however. Anyhow, I apologize to any of my regular readers (if there are any out there) if you have been anxiously awaiting an update. Let me apologize a second time, because I will soon begin listing excuses of why I haven't written and why it will be difficult for me to write for a couple months. My goal is to make at least a weekly entry, which I have actually exceeded in the first few months. Now, however, we have entered one of the busy seasons in Japan and everyone seems to have a lot going on. For the last two weeks, I have been at work from around 7 am to 7 or 8 pm every day. I also joined a new taiko group (Yume Mitai) starting last night, so that adds another thing to my schedule. I will have a "business" trip to Tokyo next week for 4 days, and then when I return, it will be time for final exams at the school. Furthermore, our school puts on a huge Christmas pageant every year, which we have now begun the preparations for, and that also means some late nights at work. To sum it all up, I will probably be rather busy until January, and then things will settle down probably until April or May.

As I mentioned, I have joined a new group, Yume Mitai. I went to the first practice last night. In this group, instead of the O-daiko (large drum) I will play Nagado Taiko, which is probably what most people think of when they think of taiko. It is a barrel shaped taiko. It sits on the floor and probably comes up to around my thighs or knee height. I haven't had much experience playing this type of drum, actually. We do play it in Kaga taiko, but the stance, style and feeling are much different. I, therefore have a lot to learn about playing it. I think I will catch on quickly, but I noticed many problems last night. The music is not difficult, though, and by the end of the 90 minute practice, I think I had about half of the song memorized.

As far as Raion Taiko (that's me and my wife) are concerned, we haven't had many opportunities to practice on our own lately. We can only practice on Sunday afternoons, but for the past month or so, we have had events going on, or one of us was sick, or the children were sick and we couldn't practice. We have been working, though. We are working on writing our first original song. Up till now, we have only attempted to learn traditional taiko pieces, or songs that we could find on the internet, or from taiko books. My wife kept telling me that we have to write our own music and wanted me to try to write something. I tried once a while back, but I couldn't think of more than a few measures of music, and when I put it together, it was rather disappointing. I decided to just wait and as I learned and practiced more and more, I figured writing songs would start to come more easily. Last week inspiration arrived, and we have a strong start to our own original song. It's actually kind of exciting to see it all come together as I think of knew parts. Our goal is to have it done within a couple weeks, and then I will try to ask Yamada-san of Hono Taiko to look at it and give us suggestions.

That's all I have time for today. Hopefully it will not be too long before I can make an update again.

Encouragement

It's getting pretty cold here finally. I'm starting to wear sweaters around the house, and for more than a week now, I've been wearing a coat when I go outdoors. The leaves, however, are only just starting to turn colors. If I recall, the peak season for fall color in this area of Japan is closer to the beginning of November. I would imagine that in Michigan, and the mid-west (where many of my readers probably are) it is about the peak season for fall colors. Actually, if you compare latitude, I believe Michigan is around the same spot as Hokkaido, so it makes sense that the colors would turn a little later down here in Kanazawa, which is probably more like Kentucky, as far as latitude is concerned. (And I hope I have not mixed up latitude with longitude, if I have, what I am refering to are the lines circling the globe from East to West)

Before this turns into a weather blog, I suppose I'll get back to the topic of taiko. Things are moving right along, as far as our training goes. We are practicing with different groups/classes about three times a week, and our daughter is attending twice a week. She is 4 years old, and we are wondering if twice a week isn't too much for her, or if she should maybe be a bit older. She is very reluctant to join in the practice for the first half. After a great deal of arguing and so on, she finally joins in, and although before the practice she is insisting that she does not like playing taiko, after the practice, she says how much fun she had playing. Anyhow, when this class finishes (in March) we are thinking about giving her a break, or finding a group where the parents and children practice together. She seems to do better in that type of setting. Furthermore, she is not the only child reluctant to join in at the start of practice. There are a few other classmates (close to her age) that also make a fuss about practicing, which is what makes me wonder if she would do better in a year or so. The other option I just mentioned is a parent-child group so that we could practice with her. This seems to be the way that the Kojira group, taught by Jige san of Hono Taiko, which I mentioned in the last post, is set up.

Over the past two weeks, my wife and I recieved several very encouraging comments from some of our instructors/mentors. In the Kaga taiko class this week we were each asked to improvise a solo. We each had two chances to play. In the end, we learned that the instructor was trying to gauge each of our ability in order to decide what each of us would be expected to do at the recital coming up on December 9. So it was sort of like a test. Most of the class, actually, has been practicing about a year longer than we have, so they did quite well. I think there were only three of us who just began learning in August. Since we started, we have learned probably about 20 different rhythms for this style of drumming. The improvisation, of course, is simply stringing these rhythms together in different combinations. Actually, I shouldn't say simply, because there is some style and guidelines about how they should be connected, so it is not necessarily simple. Anyhow, when it was my turn (both times) all I could remember was about 3 rhythms, so my improvisation was very short and very repetitive. Needless to say, I didn't feel all that great about my "performance". My wife, however, was by far the best of the beginners. Of course, I may be a bit biased, but the instructor validated my feeling by his statement after she finished her turn. He looked ever so slightly impressed and said, "Well, you've certainly been studying (practicing) haven't you." Of course, she played down the comments, when I mentioned it to her, but in my opinion, he wouldn't say something like that unless she had exceeded his expectations.

Although I didn't perform so well this week, I did receive a compliment from the same instructor last week. We were practicing a set phrase of about 8 measures or so over and over. The instructor was moving around the class, giving advice to each individual about areas to improve and so on. When he came to me, he stood and watched for minute, kind of smiled, and sincerely said, "you're doing really well!" Not to say that I'm suddenly an expert Kaga taiko player, (as was shown at this weeks practice), but I guess, last week, I was just "feeling the spirit".

The other compliment came after our hozonkai practice on Tuesday. I mentioned in the last post about the group named Yume Mitai, which advertised that they were looking for new members, and that we are interested in joining. Three of the members of the Hozonkai are also members of Yume Mitai, so I mentioned my interest to them after our Tuesday practice. One of them said, "Actually, Kinoshita san suggested to us that you could join Yume Mitai". Just to remind you, Kinoshita san is one of the members of Hono Taiko. Needless to say, I was filled with pride to hear that she had actually suggested that I join the group, without any suggestion from anyone else. Again, I don't take this to mean that I am suddenly a virtuousic taiko performer, but the fact that in professonal, internationally known taiko player saw enough potential in my playing (after only seeing me play twice) that she would suggest that was a great encouragement to me. After all, if I wasn't any good, she wouldn't have said it, and I probably wouldn't have been able to play with the Hozonkai in the first place.

Just in case we are getting too much encouragement, we are attempting to arrange a visit to some other well-established professional taiko friends in Nara next week. These friends will almost certainly give us a healthy dose of reality. Which is always good to balance things out, and keep focus and perspective.

Another Concert

Yesterday we had another performance with our hozonkai (Matto Bayashi). This time it was more like a recital sponsored by Asano Taiko. The concert was in a nearby hall in a town called Mikawa. The program included the regular groups that practice at Asano: Hono Taiko, Hikari, Sasuke, Matto Yume Mitai, and our Matto Bayashi Hozonkai. In addition, there were performances from some of the beginning level classes at Asano and a children's group led by Jige san of Hono Taiko.

The Children's group is called Kojira, which is a play on words in Japanese. "Ko" means child in Japanese, and Gojira, is the Japanese pronunciaton of Godzilla. I guess it's almost like saying "Kidzilla", I think it's a creative name for a kid's taiko group. The other neat thing about this group is that the parent's played with the children. The kids were up in front, and their parents played taiko at the back of the stage. I think the youngest member was about 3 years old, and the oldest probably was not much older than 6 or 7.

Trying to motivate my own daughter to participate in her taiko lessons is sometimes a chore. After all, her class is early Sunday morning, and she would usually rather sleep a little longer. I think she would probably be more willing to participate if one of us could practice with her. I was encouraged, though, to hear other parents talking about the difficulty motivating their own children to come to taiko practice, so it is not only my daughter. In any case, once she gets going, and finishes practice, she always says she enjoyed it. In contrast, my son, who is 1 year 3 months, can hardly wait to play taiko. If we leave a pair of sticks lying around the house, he will go straight for them and pick them up with a big smile on his face. He loves going to the concerts, too. He would probably get right up on stage and try to play, if we didn't hold him back.

Yesterday was finally a concert with Hono Taiko, where we were allowed to take video. Wouldn't you know it, our battery ran out before they performed. We were able, though to get some groups, including our hozonkai, so if you have been wanting to see me actually play the drums, instead of watching other groups, you will finally have your chance. I even was interviewed by Kinoshita san of Hono Taiko, following our performance. I thought that we would be playing the song along with the members of Hono Taiko like we did last week, but this time, only Yamada san played with us. If you watch the video, she will be the lady with short hair playing the flute.

Unfortunately, I still was only able to play the very end of the song. There are two Odaiko parts/solos, of which the second is the only one I have memorized so far. I am still working on the first Odaiko solo. I have memorized more than half of it at this point, and I hope to have the whole thing memorized by the next practice. Our next performance isn't until March, so I should definitely have it committed to memory by then.

Here is the video of our performance. By the way, this is only half of the whole song. The whole song is more than 20 minutes long. From what we've been told, because it's so long, it's rarely performed in its complete form.

The interview at the end is probably hard to hear, and if you don't understand Japanese, even more difficult to follow. So here is a brief, rough translation:

Kinoshita san: For one of the members of this group, it is only the second time to perform on stage, and I'd like to ask him a few questions. Brian, could you come over here for a moment?
How long have you been practicing with this group?
Me: I joined around the middle of August.
Kinoshita san: So in only 2 months, you are already able to play at this level. Isn't that great, evryone? And where were you from?
Me: I am from the United States.
Kinoshita san: Isn't playing the taiko difficult?
Me: Yes, it's difficult, but it's a lot of fun.
Kinoshita san: Well, thank you for your efforts, and please continue to work hard and play taiko with the Matto Bayashi Hozonkai. Thank you very much.
Me: Thank you very much.

Also, by March, I hope that we will have joined another group. One the other groups that played yesterday (Matto Yume Mitai) announced after their performance, that they were looking for new members. If we can arrange our schedule, I hope that we can join them as well in a month or two. Then, at the March event, we can perform with two groups. My daughter's class will also have her recital at that time, so it will be a whole family taiko event.

Anyhow, I was able to record part of Yume Mitai's performance as well, so you can see an example of what they sound like. The recording starts in the middle of the opening Odaiko solo, so I missed the first minute or so, but the rest of the song is good also.


The first group that performed yesterday was called Sasuke. I do not know the meaning, or origin of their name, but they play quite nicely. They also performed last week and at Extasia in July as well. I mentioned already that their group is made up of junior high and high school students. Here is a video of the piece they performed yesterday.



So that's about it from Sunday's concert. I started writing this on Monday, but the video editing took sometime and I am only posting it now. So when I say "yesterday", I mean Sunday, 7.October.

A Milestone?

I've been waiting several weeks to post this blog. I waited, because I was not sure if it would actually happen or not, but it did. On Sunday, I was able to perform on the Odaiko on the same stage, at the same time as Hono Taiko. For those of you who do not know, Hono Taiko is an internationally known (they just returned from a tour in Spain) group of three women taiko players from Matto. I wrote about them back in July or August and noted them as the first real live taiko performance I experienced. When I saw them 9 years ago, I never would have dreamed that I'd be sharing a stage and performing along side them.

Just to make it clear, it is not necessarily through any great ability of mine, that I was able to have this opportunity. It wasn't as if they invited me to perform with them, but rather, I was allowed to perform with them. It also was not just the three Hono Taiko members plus me. It was the three Hono Taiko members, plus about 20 other people as well. It was a big finale to an outdoor concert. At any rate, it was quite exhilarating to play along side performers of their caliber. I do not think I will ever forget it, and it has only furthered my resolve to continue with taiko studies.

I was sincerely hoping to have a fair amount of video from this concert to post, including a video of my own performance. We were all set to tape, and right before the concert began, they asked people not to take videos or other recordings of the performance. We weren't even able to get pictures. Oh well. There is a chance, though, that we may eventually be able to get our hands on something.

The concert was an outdoor concert in the parking lot of a large shopping center located in Togi, Ishikawa, Japan. Togi is located on Ishikawa's Noto Peninsula. Some may remember about 6 months ago, there was an earthquake in Noto. It was unfortunately soon forgotten because of the larger earthquake in Niigata a few months later, but there are still many people in need and recovering from the Noto earthquake as well.

It has been several years since I have been up in the Noto Peninsula and it was nice to return there. It is very beautiful. The shore is often rocky, and sometimes reminds me of the coast along the Pacific Northwest. One of my favorite parts of Noto are the pine trees near the shore line. They are always slanted about 60 degrees, facing inland, as a result of the constant wind off the ocean.

It seems that the festival where we played was in its second year. It was about 4 hours altogether, but the first 3/4 was filled up by local performing groups, including other taiko groups, high school bands, and dance troupes. The main attraction was, of course, Hono Taiko, along with 3 other taiko groups sponsored by Asano Taiko. These groups are not known internationally, but are still quite good, and are well known in the area. They are Hikari, Sasuke, Matto Yume-mitai and the Shin-Mattobayashi Hozonkai (of which we are members, and why I was able to have the opportunity to play).

Our group was playing in the middle of the program. I think I have mentioned before that the piece, Shin-Mattobayashi, is quite long. I am playing the Odaiko (large drum) part, which does not play for the whole song. There are two sections, though, where it is featured. I have learned the shorter section, but am still memorizing the longer one. Since I have only learned the shorter part, I was not able to play when our group performed. Fortunately, the encore planned to be only the shorter part of that song, which I have learned, so they allowed me to perform with them for the encore. As I already mentioned, it was quite an experience and I will never forget it, and hopefully, it won't be my last opportunity to perform with these people.

There was one more thing I learned from this experience, but it has more to do with fashion, than taiko, perhaps. All four groups met at Asano Taiko in the morning to carpool up to Togi. I wore a dark green shirt, and jeans. When we arrived, I felt a bit out of place. Every single person there was wearing all black. When I thought about it a little more, the taiko groups I've seen here always wear black, when they are together as a group, and not performing. I guess I'll wear black too, next time we have a performance to go out to.