Neighborhood Taiko Concert

We performed a mini-concert in the backyard of my parents' house last weekend. Please come by our new blog to check out the pictures.

Raion Taiko Neighborhood Taiko Mini-Concert

Extasia 2009 - Taiko of Japan, Taiko of Tomorrow

Today is the big day: Exstasia 2009. I will leave for the concert hall in about an hour, there will be a dress rehearsal in the morning, eat lunch, and then the concert starts at 2:00 PM. When concert-goers enter the lobby when we open up the doors at 1:00, they will be greeted by the large, foam-board Odaiko cut-out you see in the picture above. It has been signed by all of the performers... well, most of them, and the rest will probably sign it this morning. Concert-goers will also be invited to leave a message on the board.

This year's Exstasia will be held indoors, unlike last year's which was held outdoors. It's a good thing, though, because the chance of rain is 80 or 90% all day. Although it is not raining yet. In fact, I was thinking of riding my bike to the concert venue until I checked the weather forecast.

Having the concert inside not only reduces the worries about bad weather, but it also means a lot less work in preparing the venue. Last year we had to spend several days putting up a temporary fence surrounding the whole amphitheater so that people couldn't watch the program without paying and there were many other jobs that had to be done. We were working every day for a week before the concert. This year, most of us only were asked to come the day before the concert (yesterday). I had to work in the morning, so I couldn't make it there until lunchtime. When I arrived, they told me that they'd finished work until 7:00 pm and I could go home until then if I wanted.

I stuck around for a little bit to watch some of the rehearsal because I won't get to see much of the performance today. I got to see about six of the 14 groups performing. Hopefully I'll get to see a few more today. Out of the groups I saw yesterday, the group that left the most lasting impression was Shiobara Ryo and Gokasen (塩原 良 ＆ 御花泉). Gokasen is the name of the team, which is produced by Shiobara san. They feature four women playing Katsugi Taiko. If you can read the Kanji for the name, you'll know that it means "Flower Fountain". After watching their rehearsal yesterday, I think it is an appropriate name. Their playing (the women katsugi players) was very feminine, but in a powerful sort of way. There movement was graceful and smooth, especially their arms. Their name is "Flower Fountain" but think more of a fountain of flowers made of fireworks and perhaps you'll get a bit of an idea of what they are like.

Well, it's time that I get ready to go. I'm sure I'll have more to share after the concert.

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

A Small Concert

For those of you looking forward to the report on the Yamato concert we attended last weekend, I apologize for the delay. I caught the flu these past few days and have been in bed recovering. I also want to take the time to give a proper review, so please, just wait a bit longer.

Yesterday, however, Mayumi and I (in spite of a slightly lingering fever) were able to make a brief taiko performance at our church. The church decided to put on a "New Year Concert" featuring members of the congregation performing everything from ventriloquism to...well, taiko. We played a shortened, simplified version of Raijin (来人) using only shime taiko. It was well received and several people told us afterwards that it was their favorite performance of the evening.

Of course, being the people who created the piece, and having your own image of how it is supposed to sound, we know it wasn't performed perfectly and are aware of many mistakes and areas that need to be improved upon. That being said, I did notice an improvement in our playing. We seemed to be more crisp and together, which I account to all the extra shime practice we have been doing since last fall. We even received applause at two points in the middle of the piece, which caught me off guard the first time it happened. I was confused for a moment until I realized they were clapping because they were impressed. Wow. It's a nice feeling. We won't let it go to our heads, though. We are well aware that we still have a long way to go and we'll keep practicing.

Since we were performing, I don't have any pictures to post, but I am sure there are people who took some. Maybe someone even took video. If I get my hands on any of them, I promise to post them later.