They're called Taiko
picture from www.disturbing.org.ukThey need incredible rich, strong, dense, old pieces of wood to make these drums.... They'll last forever.
Trees in Japan that come with trunks of beautiful wood several metres wide aren't exactly a dime a dozen. In fact wood of this quality takes at least three hundred years to grow.
It makes these drums priceless.
There are only a few Taiko craftsmen in the world, they come from families that have been making the drums for centuries... A Taiko drum maker today uses wood from a tree planted by his great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather in 1709. He tends to trees planted by all his forefathers since that day and this year will plant a couple more in order for them to be used by his descendants in 2309.
The music is amazing. The tradition is ancient. The performances are equal parts brut force, delicacy, coreography and athleticism.
A good friend of mine is part of amazing Taiko ensemble in Sydney called Taikoz... Check it.
Also if ya want, check out Kodo (the worlds leading Taiko ensemble) play in this video.
When i was a pimple-faced kid in year 9 i had a rather heavy crush on a girl... she was heaps dfrnt to the other girls in my school because she wore more black and liked heavy metal... (sigh). Because of her, my two favorite bands were Alice In Chains and Sepultura.
The point of the story is that we used to listen to a song called Kamaitachi. By Sepultura (who if ya didn't know, are a metal band from brazil). Kamaitachi was an instrumental track which featured KODO (the worlds leading Taiko Ensemble). They recorded it at Kodo Village, Sado Island, Japan.
Brazilian Metal, Ancient Japanese Master Drumming and Shakuhachi. The drums pound, the music is heavy and the combination is haunting and pretty powerful. Unlike a lot of the metal I listened to in those days, I still dig this song.
(Bonus creepy Sepultura claymation film clip of classic song Ratamahata)
