Thursday, December 29, 2011
Best Wishes for the New Year
I've been a bit lax with the posts over the holiday season. Way too many things to get done. I recently finished a couple more shime, so I added to them to the pile and snapped a photo. Thought I would pass it along.
Monday, December 12, 2011
TAIKOPROJECT
As we've already established, I'm a bit obsessed with taiko. I listen to and watch everything I can get my grubby little mitts on. Some of it is good, some of it great, and some of it catches my eye in such a way that I keep going to back to it for inspiration. As I began to collect a list of those inspirational pieces patterns started to emerge, certain groups inspired me more frequently. One of those groups has been TAIKOPROJECT.
I love this piece. I realize, as it states in the introduction, that it was written by the esteemed Kenny Endo and full credit should be given where credit is due, but this is one of my favorite performances of Soundscapes.
(Edit: The original movie was removed from YouTube. I have replaced with a more recent performance of the piece by the drummers of Taiko Project)
I'm fascinated by uchiwa daiko, and would very much so like to give them a try. Maybe a future project.
I love this piece. I realize, as it states in the introduction, that it was written by the esteemed Kenny Endo and full credit should be given where credit is due, but this is one of my favorite performances of Soundscapes.
(Edit: The original movie was removed from YouTube. I have replaced with a more recent performance of the piece by the drummers of Taiko Project)
I'm fascinated by uchiwa daiko, and would very much so like to give them a try. Maybe a future project.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Shime Stands Revisited
Despite the fact that the drum head height of the shime when on the stands I built previously is very close to that of the other drums we use in our group, pretty much every drummer has felt that they're too low. I think that the angle of the drum head may have something to do with it. Maybe they would feel differently if the head of the drum was parallel to the floor. In any case, I decided to make additional stands that place the shime higher. Since I love to experiment, a new design was in order.
This stand places the top head of the shime four inches higher than the previous design. The construction was largely the same. I doweled and glued all the joins. The head of the triangle is held together with hinges so the stand will fold flat for storage and transport. And for a change of pace I painted it black.
This stand places the top head of the shime four inches higher than the previous design. The construction was largely the same. I doweled and glued all the joins. The head of the triangle is held together with hinges so the stand will fold flat for storage and transport. And for a change of pace I painted it black.
I thought the dark stand would contrast nicely with the white of the heads and rope, with the wood tones of the body creating a nice middle ground. I probably think about these things too much. In any case, painting the stand was a far more difficult than I would have ever thought, so I don't know if I'm going to make a habit of it.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
43rd Annual International Taiko Festival
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 43rd annual International Taiko Festival hosted by San Francisco Taiko Dojo at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley with my older daughter, and I just had to take the opportunity to talk about how much fun I had. (please excuse me while I gush . . .)
The show opened with a performance of Hiryu San Dan Gaeshi, performed by San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Center and side stages were full of moving, leaping drummers and performers. There were more taiko players than I had ever seen perform at one time.
In addition to SF Taiko, in attendance were Sacramento Taiko Dan and Zi-Pang from Japan.
Sacramento Taiko Dan, at one point opening with an impressive vocal harmony, displayed their exceptional drumming skills. This is my first time seeing them perform and Tiffany Tamaribuchi has to be one of the most impressive Odaiko drummers I have had the pleasure to see.
Zi-Pang was something new for me. Leader and founder Hiroyuki Hayashida is a premiere katsugi okedaiko player, and he and the other members of Zi-Pang were truly impressive. I found their unconventional addition of cymbals to one of the pieces less to my taste, as it brought the Asian flavor of taiko that I love so much more toward a western drum sound, but I still found seeing them play quite enjoyable. Their energy and passion was truly infectious.
Every player of taiko knows the power of the big drums. The way a single beat can echo through your chest, changing the rhythm of your heart and reaching you on a level you've rarely felt. This performance held true to that experience, and the focused expertise of the drummers was matched only by how much they seemed to enjoy what they were doing.
More than anything for me, as a taiko player, this show was inspirational. Zellerbach Hall is a fantastic venue, managing to feel small and intimate despite it's size. I felt close to the performers, participating in their excitement and their skill. Being as close to them as I was, they seemed less like rock stars or the magic creations of motion pictures and more like real people doing something they had dedicated a great deal of time and effort to perfect. It made my taiko goals seem possible, attainable, not because the performers were reduced but because they elevated me, they brought me into their sphere of influence and wrapped me in the pounding rhythm and raw enthusiasm of world class taiko.
 |
| photo courtesy of San Francisco Taiko Dojo |
The show opened with a performance of Hiryu San Dan Gaeshi, performed by San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Center and side stages were full of moving, leaping drummers and performers. There were more taiko players than I had ever seen perform at one time.
In addition to SF Taiko, in attendance were Sacramento Taiko Dan and Zi-Pang from Japan.
Sacramento Taiko Dan, at one point opening with an impressive vocal harmony, displayed their exceptional drumming skills. This is my first time seeing them perform and Tiffany Tamaribuchi has to be one of the most impressive Odaiko drummers I have had the pleasure to see.
Zi-Pang was something new for me. Leader and founder Hiroyuki Hayashida is a premiere katsugi okedaiko player, and he and the other members of Zi-Pang were truly impressive. I found their unconventional addition of cymbals to one of the pieces less to my taste, as it brought the Asian flavor of taiko that I love so much more toward a western drum sound, but I still found seeing them play quite enjoyable. Their energy and passion was truly infectious.
 |
| photo courtesy of San Francisco Taiko Dojo and Hiroyuki Hayashida |
Every player of taiko knows the power of the big drums. The way a single beat can echo through your chest, changing the rhythm of your heart and reaching you on a level you've rarely felt. This performance held true to that experience, and the focused expertise of the drummers was matched only by how much they seemed to enjoy what they were doing.
 |
| photo courtesy of San Francisco Taiko Dojo |
More than anything for me, as a taiko player, this show was inspirational. Zellerbach Hall is a fantastic venue, managing to feel small and intimate despite it's size. I felt close to the performers, participating in their excitement and their skill. Being as close to them as I was, they seemed less like rock stars or the magic creations of motion pictures and more like real people doing something they had dedicated a great deal of time and effort to perfect. It made my taiko goals seem possible, attainable, not because the performers were reduced but because they elevated me, they brought me into their sphere of influence and wrapped me in the pounding rhythm and raw enthusiasm of world class taiko.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Finishing the Bachi Bag
Once I had an idea of what size the outer circumference and height of the bag should be I cut a rectangular piece of fabric to fit those dimensions and finished three of the edges, then folded over about an inch and a half and sewed it again to strengthen all the fastening surfaces.
Next, I cut out a circular bottom and affixed a two inch tall side to the bottom panel. When that was finished, I attached it along one side to the body of the bag. I also sewed a casing along the top of the body piece so I could put in a draw string
Now I wanted to see how the bachi pouches were actually going to work, but I knew I might have to attach things to the outer side of the bag body and I was having a difficult time visualizing how that would all go together. To get a better idea of what needed to be done I pinned it all together to see how it would all fit. (you can see the draw string casing along the top)
Once I had it all pinned together I could flip it over and see how the bachi pouches on one side would line up with the strap rings on the other and adjust it all so they wouldn't interfere with each other. I went ahead and sewed on the rings. (you can see a small part of the pins holding the bachi pouches to the other side of the fabric)
It's not always clear what order the steps of constructing something should be done in. Taking time to visualize the steps helps, but you can still (and I often do) get it wrong. I just take my best guess and proceed hoping I don't have to redo things too many times on any given project. I also write the steps down, making corrections to what I've written when I have to reorder steps, so in the future when making a similar thing I can learn from my prior experience.
Next I sewed inch and a half velcro along the sides of the bottom panel and the bottom and opposing sides of the front opening of the body. When the velcro was pressed together it made a fabric cylinder. I should note that in the sketch the bag is held together with straps and buckles. That may have made more of a fashion statement, but I decided that velcro would not only fasten more securely, but it would ultimately be easier to use.
Finally I went ahead and sewed in the bachi pouches, put in a few extra pockets with flaps and velcro closures and the body was complete.
I made a sort of lid, or top flap and sewed it to the body on the same side I had sewn the bottom panel, only on the top of the body this time. I'm still not quite happy with the attachment of the top flap, but I can fix it later when a better design comes to me. It will work in the mean time. Once I affixed a shoulder strap to the rings, the bag was done.
The bag can be used in the manner of any shoulder satchel, loading things in from the top and pulling them out the same way, or the velcro along it's primary seams can be opened and it can be laid flat, giving easy access to all the bachi at once.
That's Gerald, a stuffed giraffe helping me with construction. Pretend he's my happi and tabi and other taiko gear filling the interior of the bag.
It's always difficult to judge how much detail is too much or not enough. If anyone keeping up with me has an opinion, please leave a comment indicating what level of detail you'd be interested in seeing. More, less, or I'm getting it about right, etc. Thanks!
Next, I cut out a circular bottom and affixed a two inch tall side to the bottom panel. When that was finished, I attached it along one side to the body of the bag. I also sewed a casing along the top of the body piece so I could put in a draw string
Now I wanted to see how the bachi pouches were actually going to work, but I knew I might have to attach things to the outer side of the bag body and I was having a difficult time visualizing how that would all go together. To get a better idea of what needed to be done I pinned it all together to see how it would all fit. (you can see the draw string casing along the top)
Once I had it all pinned together I could flip it over and see how the bachi pouches on one side would line up with the strap rings on the other and adjust it all so they wouldn't interfere with each other. I went ahead and sewed on the rings. (you can see a small part of the pins holding the bachi pouches to the other side of the fabric)
It's not always clear what order the steps of constructing something should be done in. Taking time to visualize the steps helps, but you can still (and I often do) get it wrong. I just take my best guess and proceed hoping I don't have to redo things too many times on any given project. I also write the steps down, making corrections to what I've written when I have to reorder steps, so in the future when making a similar thing I can learn from my prior experience.
Next I sewed inch and a half velcro along the sides of the bottom panel and the bottom and opposing sides of the front opening of the body. When the velcro was pressed together it made a fabric cylinder. I should note that in the sketch the bag is held together with straps and buckles. That may have made more of a fashion statement, but I decided that velcro would not only fasten more securely, but it would ultimately be easier to use.
Finally I went ahead and sewed in the bachi pouches, put in a few extra pockets with flaps and velcro closures and the body was complete.
I made a sort of lid, or top flap and sewed it to the body on the same side I had sewn the bottom panel, only on the top of the body this time. I'm still not quite happy with the attachment of the top flap, but I can fix it later when a better design comes to me. It will work in the mean time. Once I affixed a shoulder strap to the rings, the bag was done.
The bag can be used in the manner of any shoulder satchel, loading things in from the top and pulling them out the same way, or the velcro along it's primary seams can be opened and it can be laid flat, giving easy access to all the bachi at once.
That's Gerald, a stuffed giraffe helping me with construction. Pretend he's my happi and tabi and other taiko gear filling the interior of the bag.
It's always difficult to judge how much detail is too much or not enough. If anyone keeping up with me has an opinion, please leave a comment indicating what level of detail you'd be interested in seeing. More, less, or I'm getting it about right, etc. Thanks!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Momentarily Side Tracked
Materials for the drums I'm currently building are on their way. I needed something to fill my idle hands, so . . .
I bring my own bachi with me to practice every week, like I'm pretty sure most taiko drummers do. That used to be a total of two; one for my right hand and one for my left. As the years went by I would occasionally break (chip, crack, splinter or sometimes dramatically explode) a bachi while I was playing. So, I started bringing an extra set. Seemed like the prudent thing to do. More time went by and I started to have different sized bachi for different sorts of things. Longer ones for some pieces, larger ones for playing the Odaiko, more recently smaller ones for playing shime. Then I discovered that different types of wood affected the sound of what I was playing . . . well, ultimately the point is that I bring a lot of bachi back and forth with me to class. More than I can easily carry. It's a testament to how obsessed I am with the giant drums, I guess. In any case, I needed an easier way to carry them and my happi and tape for blisters and all the other things that I often want with me. I was thinking about it one afternoon (quite some time ago, actually) and I jotted a little sketch onto a random piece of paper of what I thought a good bachi bag might look like.
If it's not that clear what's what, I apologize, but it was enough to keep the idea firmly in my head so when I finally got sufficiently tired of playing pick up sticks with my bachi every time I tried to carry them all from my vehicle into class I had a good place to start.
I had some unbleached fairly heavy canvas from a previous project. First thing I did was estimate the finished size I was shooting for. I measured out a backpack I have, I measured around the brim of my hat (it looked like a good size) and when I had a rough idea of how big around I wanted the cylinder of the bag I took a handful of my bachi and laid them out on the fabric to get an idea of how many pairs would fit in a bag of that size. I wanted some 'empty slots' for future types and sizes of bachi that I haven't discovered yet but am sure to not be able to live without once I do, so I left space for more.
The white you see there isn't the table top or a work surface, that's the piece of fabric I'm making the bag out of.
I bring my own bachi with me to practice every week, like I'm pretty sure most taiko drummers do. That used to be a total of two; one for my right hand and one for my left. As the years went by I would occasionally break (chip, crack, splinter or sometimes dramatically explode) a bachi while I was playing. So, I started bringing an extra set. Seemed like the prudent thing to do. More time went by and I started to have different sized bachi for different sorts of things. Longer ones for some pieces, larger ones for playing the Odaiko, more recently smaller ones for playing shime. Then I discovered that different types of wood affected the sound of what I was playing . . . well, ultimately the point is that I bring a lot of bachi back and forth with me to class. More than I can easily carry. It's a testament to how obsessed I am with the giant drums, I guess. In any case, I needed an easier way to carry them and my happi and tape for blisters and all the other things that I often want with me. I was thinking about it one afternoon (quite some time ago, actually) and I jotted a little sketch onto a random piece of paper of what I thought a good bachi bag might look like.
If it's not that clear what's what, I apologize, but it was enough to keep the idea firmly in my head so when I finally got sufficiently tired of playing pick up sticks with my bachi every time I tried to carry them all from my vehicle into class I had a good place to start.
I had some unbleached fairly heavy canvas from a previous project. First thing I did was estimate the finished size I was shooting for. I measured out a backpack I have, I measured around the brim of my hat (it looked like a good size) and when I had a rough idea of how big around I wanted the cylinder of the bag I took a handful of my bachi and laid them out on the fabric to get an idea of how many pairs would fit in a bag of that size. I wanted some 'empty slots' for future types and sizes of bachi that I haven't discovered yet but am sure to not be able to live without once I do, so I left space for more.
The white you see there isn't the table top or a work surface, that's the piece of fabric I'm making the bag out of.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Bracing the Body
When the glue had dried on the body for the katsugi okedo I applied a little pressure to the sides to get a feel for its strength and though it felt stout it still flexed more than I was comfortable with. I decided that I should put some bracing on the inside. I thought about how exactly to go about it for quite some time. Ultimately I didn't arrive at what I thought to be the perfect solution, but decided to go with simple and easy and see how the drum held up. I cut wedges of oak and shaped each to fit a specific join on the body of the drum, wrote a number on the brace that corresponded to the joint it went on, then once all the wedges were complete glued them in place in two alternating rows around the center of the drum as measured from top to bottom.
After all the wedges were in place and the glue was dry I once again did my 'squish test' to see how rigid the body felt and there was significantly less flex. I don't know if it's going to be enough bracing or not, but I'm trying to keep the drums light so I'm hesitant to add more. I'll run with it and see how it goes.
After all the wedges were in place and the glue was dry I once again did my 'squish test' to see how rigid the body felt and there was significantly less flex. I don't know if it's going to be enough bracing or not, but I'm trying to keep the drums light so I'm hesitant to add more. I'll run with it and see how it goes.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Gluing Katsugi
Gluing the katsugi oke daiko took a bit more effort than the shime did. The longer and wider staves were more difficult to get into position in the first place and once in position they had small but numerous gaps between them.
First I took the large rubber bands I had used for the shime and wrapped them around staves to hold them together while I assembled all sixteen into the proper positions. Not only does this hold the drum body together while you glue it, etc, it also allows you to look at the body as it will approximately look when it's finished before it's permanent. This, before any glue is applied, is a great time to check for staves of different color that are next to each other that look bad or any other reasons you may want to change the order or flip any of your staves.
Once they were held by the rubber bands I separated them along each join one at a time, running the glue in a bead down along the stave on one side of the gap. Once the glue had spread the whole length of the stave I would press the two together and move to the next.
When I was done I had a whole lot of glue all over everything and sixteen staves in a rough circle held together with rubber bands. I wrapped it in paper (so the straps wouldn't stick to the body) and put cargo straps around the body and tightened them down. As I tightened the straps the drum pulled itself into a proper circle and the small gaps between the staves disappeared. (and more glue squished out all over everything). Then I went through each join one at a time and made sure the top and bottom were aligned. When I was happy with the alignment I tightened the straps one last time and left it to dry.
First I took the large rubber bands I had used for the shime and wrapped them around staves to hold them together while I assembled all sixteen into the proper positions. Not only does this hold the drum body together while you glue it, etc, it also allows you to look at the body as it will approximately look when it's finished before it's permanent. This, before any glue is applied, is a great time to check for staves of different color that are next to each other that look bad or any other reasons you may want to change the order or flip any of your staves.
Once they were held by the rubber bands I separated them along each join one at a time, running the glue in a bead down along the stave on one side of the gap. Once the glue had spread the whole length of the stave I would press the two together and move to the next.
When I was done I had a whole lot of glue all over everything and sixteen staves in a rough circle held together with rubber bands. I wrapped it in paper (so the straps wouldn't stick to the body) and put cargo straps around the body and tightened them down. As I tightened the straps the drum pulled itself into a proper circle and the small gaps between the staves disappeared. (and more glue squished out all over everything). Then I went through each join one at a time and made sure the top and bottom were aligned. When I was happy with the alignment I tightened the straps one last time and left it to dry.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The Next Generation
And now for the next round. Now that I've gone through the process a few times, hopefully this new batch will go easier. In addition to some more 'standard' shime (the ones in the middle) I will be constructing some katsugi oke daiko (in the rear) and some smaller sized shime that my daughter has dubbed kawaii shime daiko. (front and on top of standard shime)
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Moving On . . .
How that the drums are starting to pile up (yay!) I guess I'd better figure out what comes next.
Though the drums are awesome, it's difficult to play them properly while they're sitting in your lap, so I guess it's time for stands. My intent is to play these shime as part of a 'taiko set' with an odeko daiko on one side and a nagado diako on the other, or some similar arrangement, so I want the head of the shime to be on a level with the other drums. I measured a couple of our nagado from floor to top head and designed the shime stands to put the top head at the same height.
As usual, I started with a computer model.
As you can see it's a fairly simple design, so the main purpose the model served was to give me real world dimensions for all of my pieces without my having to do any of the math myself. As the design was fairly simple, construction wasn't difficult and they came together fairly quickly.
I was concerned about strength (we constantly beat on pretty much everything with sticks in taiko) so I doweled all of the joints to re-enforce them.
I didn't stain the stands. I try very hard to use water based finishes whenever possible, and I haven't found a water based stain I like, but I did give them three or four coats of polyurethane to seal the wood and to give them a more finished appearance.
I couldn't decide what I thought would be best to use for padding along the supports under the drum head so I used felt on one, polypropelene on the other. I'll see how they hold up and how well they protect the drum, etc, and decide which to go with on future stands.
Though the drums are awesome, it's difficult to play them properly while they're sitting in your lap, so I guess it's time for stands. My intent is to play these shime as part of a 'taiko set' with an odeko daiko on one side and a nagado diako on the other, or some similar arrangement, so I want the head of the shime to be on a level with the other drums. I measured a couple of our nagado from floor to top head and designed the shime stands to put the top head at the same height.
As usual, I started with a computer model.
As you can see it's a fairly simple design, so the main purpose the model served was to give me real world dimensions for all of my pieces without my having to do any of the math myself. As the design was fairly simple, construction wasn't difficult and they came together fairly quickly.
I was concerned about strength (we constantly beat on pretty much everything with sticks in taiko) so I doweled all of the joints to re-enforce them.
I didn't stain the stands. I try very hard to use water based finishes whenever possible, and I haven't found a water based stain I like, but I did give them three or four coats of polyurethane to seal the wood and to give them a more finished appearance.
I couldn't decide what I thought would be best to use for padding along the supports under the drum head so I used felt on one, polypropelene on the other. I'll see how they hold up and how well they protect the drum, etc, and decide which to go with on future stands.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
ASKA!
I listen to a lot of Taiko (der). I recently ran across this performance from the group ASKA. I added a link to their FaceBook page in the links section. I love their precision and their energy. And fantastic use of a shime!
Some Notes On Shime Building
As with all things, the more you do something the more you learn how to do it well. Shime are no exception. Here are some notes on how the process evolved between drums. I'm sure I will continue to attempt to refine the process as I make more shime in the future.
How you stretch the hides greatly affects not only the tone of the completed shime but also the ease and quality of the stitching and the look of the finished head. There are a lot of factors working against you . . . the hide stretches more in one direction than another, it's difficult to keep the ring centered in the hide . . . the list goes on.
With the first drum I used the "every fifth hole" method Brian described in his excellent Odeko making website (Thanks again Brian!). I felt that, though it stretched well on the ring, the folds in the hide gave me a number of problems when it came time to stitch the hide to the ring. After some thought I gave this new method a try; prior to the actual stretching process I did a "pleating stitch" (fancy name I just made up). I measured out and punched the holes for the stretching line, but instead of Brian's method I ran the line through them in a circular pattern, alternating "top down", "bottom up" though each hole. Now when I pulled the line tight I got evenly spaced "pleats" in the underside of the head that looked something like this.
I pulled this line tight and tied it off to keep the pleats in place. At this point I used a modified version of Brian's stretching method to tighten the hide on the ring, running a line between every fifth pleat. (or as close as I could manage) I want to refine this process some more, putting in the correct number of pleats so that all the rope holes land between the pleats, etc, but this still gave me a more uniform surface on the back of the head and made stitching easier, and more importantly allowed more even and stronger stitches.
And speaking of stitching . . . the first drum I used a regular old "over-under" sort of stitch. It worked just fine, but wasn't necessarily the prettiest or strongest option I could have chosen. So this time I used a stitch that was more of a "two forward, one back" sort of deal. (I'm sure these stitches have names, but I don't know them)
Here are the results:
The more even terrain on the back of the head allowed me to use finer, closer together stitches and I think the two forward one back stitch yielded a more attractive result. That and I got a bit better at this type of sewing after many hours of practice, an unknown number of band-aids, and no few blood sacrifices to the taiko gods.
How you stretch the hides greatly affects not only the tone of the completed shime but also the ease and quality of the stitching and the look of the finished head. There are a lot of factors working against you . . . the hide stretches more in one direction than another, it's difficult to keep the ring centered in the hide . . . the list goes on.
With the first drum I used the "every fifth hole" method Brian described in his excellent Odeko making website (Thanks again Brian!). I felt that, though it stretched well on the ring, the folds in the hide gave me a number of problems when it came time to stitch the hide to the ring. After some thought I gave this new method a try; prior to the actual stretching process I did a "pleating stitch" (fancy name I just made up). I measured out and punched the holes for the stretching line, but instead of Brian's method I ran the line through them in a circular pattern, alternating "top down", "bottom up" though each hole. Now when I pulled the line tight I got evenly spaced "pleats" in the underside of the head that looked something like this.
I pulled this line tight and tied it off to keep the pleats in place. At this point I used a modified version of Brian's stretching method to tighten the hide on the ring, running a line between every fifth pleat. (or as close as I could manage) I want to refine this process some more, putting in the correct number of pleats so that all the rope holes land between the pleats, etc, but this still gave me a more uniform surface on the back of the head and made stitching easier, and more importantly allowed more even and stronger stitches.
And speaking of stitching . . . the first drum I used a regular old "over-under" sort of stitch. It worked just fine, but wasn't necessarily the prettiest or strongest option I could have chosen. So this time I used a stitch that was more of a "two forward, one back" sort of deal. (I'm sure these stitches have names, but I don't know them)
Here are the results:
The more even terrain on the back of the head allowed me to use finer, closer together stitches and I think the two forward one back stitch yielded a more attractive result. That and I got a bit better at this type of sewing after many hours of practice, an unknown number of band-aids, and no few blood sacrifices to the taiko gods.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Assembling the Drum
Well, the bad news is I got so involved in the actual process of putting the heads on the drum that I didn't take the time to take photos while I was doing it. If anyone reading this blog needs to know more gory details, please don't hesitate to contact me and I'll fill in the blanks. (I'm making more drums, after all) The good news is, the drum is finished!
Though I have been braiding leather and tying fancy knots nearly all my life, almost all of my knowledge on lacing drums came from the internet with a very special thanks to Brian's excellent site on making Odeko. I'm drawing up some clear, hopefully easy to follow diagrams on the method I used that I will post here when they're completed. I stretched this first set of heads on the 'first' body, the ten inch tall one. Each head produces a slightly different tone and I'm very happy with how they both sound.
Though I have been braiding leather and tying fancy knots nearly all my life, almost all of my knowledge on lacing drums came from the internet with a very special thanks to Brian's excellent site on making Odeko. I'm drawing up some clear, hopefully easy to follow diagrams on the method I used that I will post here when they're completed. I stretched this first set of heads on the 'first' body, the ten inch tall one. Each head produces a slightly different tone and I'm very happy with how they both sound.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Finishing the Heads
Now for the hard part; the stitching. I used synthetic sinew with a blunt needle, punching each hole with an awl before feeding the needle through. Of course, the outer stitch comes first, as this is the stitch that holds the head on the ring. Then the inner stitching, a circle that should be just outside the diameter of the drum body. In this case I did all of the stitching with the stretching line in place. (both the inner and outer stitches) However, I no longer think that is the best approach. More on that in a future post.
It took about four hours to do all the stitching for both heads, though I did the heads one at a time not wanting to leave the second head soaking all the time I was working on the first one. Once all the stitching was completed the stretching line was cut off the back of the head and the holes were punched for the rope.
It took about four hours to do all the stitching for both heads, though I did the heads one at a time not wanting to leave the second head soaking all the time I was working on the first one. Once all the stitching was completed the stretching line was cut off the back of the head and the holes were punched for the rope.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Starting the Heads
Now comes the exciting part! The heads are what make it a drum, after all. I had a local metal working shop make my rings for me. They were great and I'm sure I'll work with them again. I purchased enough rings for five drums, but I'm only working on the first three right now.
These heads are made out of goat skin. I wrapped the rings in plumbers thread tape to keep it from rusting and/or staining the hide of the head. It was white (as you can see in the first photo) so it won't form a dark ring around the outside of the head. Not a problem for lacquered heads, but I'm going to leave these 'naked'.
I used nylon string to gradually pull the edges of the hide circle around the ring, then tied it off. Throughout this process I poured water onto the skin and massaged it in to keep it from drying out.
When the head was stretched the way I wanted it I flipped it over and drew a dotted line with chalk on the drum head to give me a stitching guide. I had marked out my rope holes on a paper template prior to starting and I laid it over the head to mark out where the holes would go (not shown) so I could stitch around them.
These heads are made out of goat skin. I wrapped the rings in plumbers thread tape to keep it from rusting and/or staining the hide of the head. It was white (as you can see in the first photo) so it won't form a dark ring around the outside of the head. Not a problem for lacquered heads, but I'm going to leave these 'naked'.
I used nylon string to gradually pull the edges of the hide circle around the ring, then tied it off. Throughout this process I poured water onto the skin and massaged it in to keep it from drying out.
When the head was stretched the way I wanted it I flipped it over and drew a dotted line with chalk on the drum head to give me a stitching guide. I had marked out my rope holes on a paper template prior to starting and I laid it over the head to mark out where the holes would go (not shown) so I could stitch around them.
Finishing the Bodies
After much planing and sanding I put about fifteen coats of clear, water-based polyurethane on each of the three shime bodies. As with electroplating the finish is only as good as the surface you apply it to, so the first body didn't come out quite as good as the other two because the surface wasn't as smooth. Though none of them look bad, the second and third ones came out much better. Here's the first (taller) and second (shorter).
Friday, September 30, 2011
Drummer Sighting
With the overwhelming frequency of accidents, rude behavior of other motorists, and my foolish tendency to listen to the world news, it's not very often that I encounter something on my commute to work that makes me smile. Today was definitely an exception. I was unable to snap a photo close enough to see the text clearly on an image this size, but I thought it was still worth sharing.
(for those of you who are concerned, we were all completely stationary at a red light when the bumper sticker was spotted and photographed)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Constructing the Bodies
I decided to make the bodies out of
redwood. There were a number of reasons for this. Firstly, it was
available, and in some quality cuts. And redwood is fairly
inexpensive. I had read that shime were often made of “lighter
wood” than the white oak nagado-daiko were usually made of, so I
figured it would work well enough. Also, I thought it would be
attractive once finished. I like natural wood grain better than
lacquer, and I thought if I chose the right stock the redwood could be
nice looking. And lastly, it's light. That's not an issue for shime,
but these shime are also sort of a trial run for making larger
okedo-daiko. I like the idea of being able to wear a drum while I'm
playing it, but it would be better if it weren't too heavy.
My friend Nick was kind enough to lend
a hand and his table saw so I could do the angle cuts on the staves
more accurately. We ripped my redwood boards into strips which I then
cut down by hand to approximately the correct length. I decided to
make each of these bodies a different height so I could test the
differences in the finished drum. One is eight inches, one nine and
the last is ten.
I glued up the staves and bound them
with a bunch of oversized rubber bands I purchased at my local office
supply store. Once dry, I used a block plane to shave down the
corners and round the entire drum body. Once it had been 'rough
rounded' I took 60 grit sand paper to it, then 100, then 220 to
smooth out the surface.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Making Shime
Though you can drum on just about anything (and anyone who plays Taiko probably does) conventional wisdom recommends a drum. Taiko drums are expensive, often prohibitively so. If I purchased my drums I would still be drumming on the arms of my chair. But making them is an entirely different matter. I love making things. All sorts of things. And Taiko drums are no exception. I recently started on a set of tsukeshime-daiko, or what is usally referred to affectionately as shime.
As I make my living creating digital images, it was only logical that the first step for me would be to create a computer model of what I was going to build. The heads aren't included in the image. It shows only the wooden body, made of 16 two inch wide staves, and the fourteen inch steel rings the heads will be stretched on.
If all of the staves are cut correctly they will yield a body with a diameter of just over ten inches, leaving two inches of drum head space on either side for stitching and binding.
As I make my living creating digital images, it was only logical that the first step for me would be to create a computer model of what I was going to build. The heads aren't included in the image. It shows only the wooden body, made of 16 two inch wide staves, and the fourteen inch steel rings the heads will be stretched on.
If all of the staves are cut correctly they will yield a body with a diameter of just over ten inches, leaving two inches of drum head space on either side for stitching and binding.
Here we are
This blog started in response to conversations that sprung up during practice. Matsuri is in our repertoire, as it is for many (most?) Taiko groups, and we were discussing the many variations we'd heard. It seemed like each Taiko group had it's own version. (and why not?). One of our newest drummers wondered out loud if various versions were similar enough that, say, we could play along with one of our neighboring Taiko groups. I commented that in my experience I wouldn't have been able to follow most of the other versions I had heard.
How does this result in a blog you ask? Well, on a whim I decided to begin a search for other versions of Matsuri to put together a collection for comparison. As I began my search I thought it would be great if I could put them all in some central location where the other members of our Taiko group could access them as well. Which snowballed into, well, this. Now it's not just a collection of Matsuri versions, but a collection of all things Taiko. At least that's the hope for the future. With the closing of Rolling Thunder the resources of the Taiko community have been significantly reduced. Though there are still some excellent resources out there, I thought I would try to contribute my small portion too.
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