Taiko

Taiko or Daiko ( Japanese:太 鼓, dt: thick drum ) called in Japan, a group of large, beaten with mallets tube drums and playing style of the corresponding drum ensembles.

History

The oldest drums in the construction of the Taiko come from China or Korea. In the Kofun period (300 BC to 300 AD) the inhabitants of the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago were not yet in today's national borders separately and as part of the then far-reaching cultural exchange came the Taiko on the Japanese Archipelago. You probably served first in the shamanic rituals of the forerunners of the Shinto religion to summon various Kami, particularly the storm and life of God Susanoo, who also dominated the weather.

Even in China drums were in the temples instead of bells or gongs used, and the import of Buddhism ( in the 4th to 6th century) also followed its instruments to Japan. Here they found the entrance to the use of simple farmers and fishermen who used them as an accompaniment for the heavy field work, as a signal on the beach or as an alarm signal in raids. Again, a colorful use in all types of festivities has been handed down in part to this day.

The samurai recognized the effectiveness of the Taiko and let the big drums before the attack play: This should on the one hand grind the opponent mentally, on the other hand put their own fighters into a frenzy, which talked shamanic corresponds to an ecstatic frenzy, so the God on your side of the let battle field appear. In Noh theater Shimedaiko be used since the 14th century; from there it is transferred to the other forms of theater.

Nowadays, there are in addition to the religious use for the stage as art evolved forms of taiko drumming, which is particularly well outside of Japan are enjoying increasing popularity and there has led to numerous imitators. Among the most famous taiko groups include Ondekoza, Gocoo, Tao, Yamato and Kodo.

Shape and construction

When taiko in Japan are all barrel-shaped and cylindrical ( hira ,平) tube drums referred, in particular thinks it so that the barrel-shaped, made ​​of a tree trunk miyadaiko ( Nagado ,长 胴, deep barrel drum ). Taiko further distinguished and among others as sumodaiko (about 25 cm in diameter), shimedaiko Depending on the size and shape ( with ropes or bolts ( Bolt) strained small high drums ), okedo ( portable, tense with cable drums, often working in the fields used, diameter 25 - 60 cm), miyadaiko or Odaiko (大 太 鼓referred from 91 cm). The body of a traditionally crafted Taiko is made ​​of one piece ( ie a single tree trunk section) worked out. However, there are also composite embodiments, the corpora to be glued of a plurality of segments. Then the drum blanks are turned by a lathe outside, and thus achieved the round shape of the body. Originally only the wood of the Kejaki tree ( Zelkova ) was used for the construction of the drums, but now sometimes also other woods Elm Family be used. The largest Nagado - daiko is at the Festival Forest Art Museum in Takayama, has a diameter of 267 cm on the abdomen, 207 cm at the fur and weighs almost 4 tons. The drum was completed in 1996 after three years of construction.

The eardrums of horse or cattle hides are connected in two different ways with the drum body:

• Nailing: a re-tuning of the drum by means of post- tensioning of the tympanic membrane is therefore not possible - the only option is a new mounting of the tympanic membrane.
• Binding: while the skins are stretched on a ring, and this by means of ropes on the body.