What are the Wadaiko, the Japanese taiko drum?

In ancient times, taiko drums were used before battles, today, taiko drums play an important role in the music played at Japanese shrine festivals. In recent years, “wadaiko” has also spread abroad and there are now about 1,500 wadaiko teams in the United States alone.

The lure of wadaiko

Many other types of drums can only produce one tone, the wadaiko can produce different tones depending on where it is struck, allowing for a wide variety of expressions. However, if you want to take a taiko lesson, the sound of the drums is so loud that some people can’t stand it. If you wear a hearing aid, it is recommended that you remove it during a wadaiko performance.

how they are made

Japanese drums are made from Japanese zelkova wood, which is a hard, slow-growing, tight-grained wood grown in a “bad environment” deep in the mountains. If the wood is not strong enough, it will break easily. The location of the mountain is a trade secret.

After the wood is cut, a lathe is used to make a hollow drum body, which is then left to dry for five to ten years to increase its strength. It’s a simple process, but it requires a lot of money for storage. Most inexpensive drums anywhere in the world are made from assembled pieces of wood.

After that, the surface of the body is brushed. The surface appears round, but the interior is actually polyhedral. This is to improve the sound produced by the body. The drum skin is 90% cowhide and 10% horsehide. The skins are attached with metal rivets. The rivets are hammered in at intervals of about two centimeters by a craftsman using intuition.

The origin of the drum

In ancient Japan, tsuzumi was the term used for all drums. The modern “term” taiko is said to come from the Chinese word for drum, “dagu”. So what was tsuzumi referring to? An archaeological excavation at the Mount Tenjin burial mound in Gunma Prefecture unearthed terracotta figures playing drums, believed to date to the late Kofun period (circa 3rd century).

Looking at the shape of these drums and how they were made, the body is like a beer barrel with a skin stretched at both ends and tied with rope, and the drum is hung diagonally over the shoulder. In addition, from the Asuka period (588-710 AD) to the Nara period (710-794 AD), envoys and monks brought “togaku”, the music of the Chinese Tang Dynasty (7th century – early 9th century), but also including music from India, Vietnam and the main areas along the Silk Road. At that time, “gagaku”, the oldest traditional performing art in Japan, was being formed. Meanwhile, Chinese music, music theory, and a variety of different instruments were also introduced.

It is questioned whether the hourglass drum with a narrow center and iron studs was also introduced during this time. However, during the Heian period (794-1192), there was much pride and focus in Japanese design, and the hourglass drum was appropriated as a “Japanese drum”.