Heavy Drums

Janice and I had the pleasure of attending a taiko drum concert today on behalf of the generosities of our friend Oisin. The concert took place at Alios, a brand new auditorium that opened maybe a couple of years ago.

Since I’ve been living in Japan, I’ve been noticing more that there are certainties that are universal to human beings from all different cultures. There are obvious cultural similarities in the fact that most people adopt some sort of clothing or attire to decorate themselves, or in the houses that they live in. Then there are aspects such as language, ritual, dance, and spirituality that naturally develop independently within and among different cultures. What I find interesting is that it seems that it is a very human thing to construct a wooden barrel-type form, cover this with dead animal carcass, and then to hit this apparatus with a stick in order to make a sound. In English, we call this a drum.

Japan is no exception in this regard. The word “taiko” refers to pretty much all Japanese percussive instruments – the style of which is very unique to the country.

The typical Japanese taiko player steps onto the stage adorning kimono-style attire – often with the sleaves rolled up to reveal massive chiseled arms that flail about in very controlled, but dramatic fashion. They wear headbands and arm bands that soak up the sweat that glistens from the massive lights shined down upon the stage. And their drums look like they’ve been purchased from a medieval craftsman. The drums themselves are propped up on wooden stands and some seem to have ropes that control the tightness of the instrument. Some of them are also decorated with patterns in the wood, or emblems imbedded in the surface.

It is quite amazing to see a full ensemble comprised of only drums. Some groups had only 3 members while others had almost 20. They had all sorts of drums ranging from the very small high pitched ones, to the very large ones that probably require its own truck just to transport it around. When the musicians bang on these drums with sticks that are the width of broomsticks, and with the force of chopping wood with an ax, the resounding boom that fills the auditorium sounds like a truck has been driven into the building.

Taiko drumming to me, is the heavy metal of drum music. Everything is embellished and grand – and there seems to be a lot of militaristic influence in the attire, the motions, and the music itself. The kimonos that each player wears looks like they could have come from a martial arts academy; the way that they use their drumsticks involves the entire body and is very coordinated, lively, and sometimes almost verges on violent. Janice even pointed out to me the way that their toes move as they play – although I’m not really sure why she was looking at their toes. This full-body attack of the drum contrasts traditional western style drumming that I’ve seen at home where most of the drumming motion originates from the wrist and forearm; the hands rarely verge far from the drum itself. Also, the music that the taiko players play is often heavy and driving and often brings to mind images of samurai battling to the death. In fact, they often bring out small cymbal instruments that almost simulate the sound of steel katanas ringing off of each other in a duel. I also picture these samurai as giants among men, moving mountains and oceans.

We saw a total of 6 taiko drum groups today; 5 were amateur groups and the last was a trio of professionals – all touring Japan to raise money for charity. From the look of the slide show that they showed, the charity looked like it was for disaster relief. All of them were great.