Matthew Erba
MUS-101-003
Prof. Giannattasio
Oct 17 2017
Japanese Taiko Drumming
The musical culture event I chose to base my research around for this project is the Japanese art of taiko drumming, along with the musical ensembles that create it. I have always had a natural interest in percussion instruments and upon searching up taiko drumming, I very quickly fell in love with the art form. Like the Japanese culture, their instruments are graceful, traditional yet modern, cultural, and of course, beautiful. Taiko is a term used to describe an ancient Japanese drum, which has been in their culture for centuries. It is used to name a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments, the term referring to most any kind of drum. Taiko
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The style was invented by a single person, although taiko itself has a long history dating back centuries. The kumi-daiko style that we all know today was created by a man named Daihachi Oguchi, the founder of Osuwa Daiko, a large percussion group that originated in Japan. He was actually known mostly for his original style and take on jazz drumming. He was determined to fuse traditional Japanese drums into a modern ensemble format, thus creating “kumi-daiko”. Most modern taiko performances always involve a large group of performers, often with a wide variety of drum types and sizes. Other instruments such as the flute, chappa, and tetsu-zutsu also frequently accompany the drums. This mesh of instruments has a way of creating an amazing range of rhythm and melody throughout the performance. By taking taiko of various sizes, Daihachi created a variety of sounds between the different drums. This gave these basic drums more life and a certain sense of harmony when arranged together. The smallest drum, called the shime-daiko gave a high pitched sound, creating a backing rhythm. The odaiko, which was most commonly the largest drum in the ensemble created a deep, simple rhythm. The rest of the ensemble was filled with a variety of smaller to medium sized drums called nagado-daikos, which carried the beat through the music. Topping these off were an arrange of metallic sounds created by the …show more content…
The most popular including kabuki and noh theatres and as part of social activities and local communities. Some examples include local celebration events, customs and stories, and especially festivals. Almost every region in Japan has a festival or ‘matsuri’ that is unique to its area. During these annual festivals it is common to have a lot of singing and dancing, as well as playing taiko. These events are always vibrant and full of color and involve the whole community. The larger festivals attract people from all over the world and is certainly a once in a lifetime experience. While most taiko performances in traditional Japanese culture are usually confined to theatres, small shrines and temples, and festivals, it is branching out more and more every year. The modern, popular style of taiko that we see today include very large ensembles taking up concert hall stages and much
“The term "gamelan" refers to various indigenous music ensembles of Java and Bali, the core instruments of which are usually drums, variously tuned bronze gongs, different sets of bronze metallophones, cymbals, and flutes. The bas-reliefs of some of the ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples in Central and East Java, dating from the eighth to fourteenth centuries CE,” (Ramstedt).
“Oceanic musical instruments include the broad categories familiar in the West, such as percussion, wind and string instruments, as well as forms that are distinctive to the religion. These vary from familiar types such as drums, flutes and the Hawaiian ukulele to unusual forms such as slit gongs and bullroarers” (Kjellegren 2010). The type of music Polynesian’s create and listen to is made from different instruments that we are familiar with. For example, an instrument they use is the drums. “In addition to drums with heads, Pacific people create a variety of other drum like percussion instruments, such as the water drums of the Sepik region of New Guinea and the ground drums of Hawai’i, to provide rhythmical accompaniment in a diversity of contexts” (Kjellgren 2010).
Almost all cultures world wide have highly developed traditions of music and dance. According to Mari Womack, author of Being Human: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, music and dance carry much importance within a culture. "As do other artistic forms, music and dance reflect cultural and social organization. Cultural values can be conveyed in the words of a song, and the performance of a song or a dance is dependent on the social context" (Womack 226). Music and instruments are of great significance in many places world wide. For example, the BaMbuti foragers from Africa's Ituri rain forest have an instrument which they call the molimo which looks like an extremely long pipe. The men of the BaMbuti culture are the owners of the molimo and behave as if it is alive. Women and young boys are forbidden any contact with the molimo, because of its importance in male initiation rites (Womack 226). In the United States, we also have extensive rituals involving music and dance. For example, in wedding receptions, many rules prevail about who dances with who when. The father-daughter dance, the bride and groom's dance, the mother-son dance, and the dollar dance are just a few of these rituals. Marching Band is another form of the music and dance combination. Marching may not sound like dancing, but, in reality, the marchers move in their individual paths which create forms that are constantly blending into each other and creating new forms. According to Jordan, my informant, "To me, it really is kind of art, just seeing all these forms move and mesh, with music to go with them and flags and stuff. It is a type of art, I guess." Along with just basic marching, the band adds choreography which produces wonde...
Concert Report #2 - World Percussion Steel Drum Orchestra On the evening of October 24, 2014 at the Daniel Recital Hall, I attended the World Percussion Steel Drum Orchestra Concert at eight o' clock. The atmosphere surrounding the recital hall was relaxed, comfortable, and had a light feeling to it. When the actual concert began the atmosphere changed immediately to very upbeat and jubilant. In the World Percussion Steel Drum Orchestra, the piece that I liked the most is Fall From Grace composed by Darren Dyke while the piece that I liked the least was Agbekor which is Traditional Music from Ghana.
The Invader style of drum was created by Ellie Mannette, and was the first chromatic pan, and also the first sunken drum. The Spider Web style of drum was created by Tony Williams. The notes of the steelpan range from bass, all the way to tenor voice, and a complete steel band typically covers about 5 octaves. The steelpan is played using rubber mallets which are used to strike the notes in the pan. Depending on the song, the movements of the hands, and the force applied to each note is crucial, and takes quite a bit of practice.
Taiko is Japanese for “big, fat drum” and it generally means a Japanese drum ensemble. This is considered a form of visual art, music, and performance that have brought great entertainment as well as promoted Japanese cultural values to audience worldwide. I was fortunate to be able to attend one of the Taiko drums performance by the Sacramento Taiko Dan group. This experience enabled me to use my critical thinking skills and left me with nothing but positive impression. It certainly had proven my initial stereotype of campus event as being boring very wrong.
Dating back to the slave trade the drum has been used all over the world as a means of communication and self expression. Its broad variety of users includes the early African tribes and the Native Alaskan tribes, both using them for ceremonial purposes. The Africans brought drums with them to the Americas and helped to develop their popularity among American musicians. In the mid 1900’s drum sets were brought about. These revolutionary collaborations of percussive pieces started off with a pair of hi-hats, a bass and snare drum, and a couple of tom toms. Later as the music progressed, so did the drum kits, completely eliminating the need for an entire drum section. With the coming of the rock and roll movement the drum kits were changing, they needed to accommodate the new music styles. They became sonically diverse and even electronic drums were brought about; making them infinitely adjustable both ergonomically and musically. With every major drum manufacturer competing to have the best product on the market drums will always be evolving and the ” limit for drum set creation will simply be the imagination of the musicians.” (http://www.josaka.com/Features/2005/History-of-Drums.htm)
The tabla is the most famous percussion instrument in Northern India. The tabla consists of two drums that appear to be of varying sizes: one small and one big. Tablas are almost completely played just by the use of the fingers. Each drum has one head that is tapped or hit to make a sound. The heads are usually made from goat leather skin.This skin can tend to wear over time; however, it can be replaced by new skin over the wood or metal part. It can practically become a brand new instrument this way. The job should be done by an expert though. Each drum also has some sort of black dot in the center. This black dot is actually a paste; typically, made out of iron, gum, soot and/or rice. This paste allows for a variety of special sounds. Both drums each have individu...
The steel drum instrument holds the spirit of Trinidad and Tobago’s musical tradition. Even though the steel drums are not widely known, the instrument is rapidly growing in popularity throughout the world. This unique instrument has an interesting history; as well as a huge impact on Caribbean music today. Trinidad and Tobago made the steel drum their national instrument because it embodies the essence of ancient African roots with national heritage. The steel drums allow the natives of the island nation to connect with national tradition and to spread national pride.
The Russian Dance which features a toccata-like character is dominated by the percussion instruments and the "percussive intonations of the piano"
Aikido is a martial art that uses joints to as an advantage for self defense. Aikido was founded by Morihei Ueshiba. Aikido was based on past martial arts. There were other influences on Aikido besides martial arts. The reason i decided to take this class is so I can learn to defend myself with a very interesting martial art.
As studies have shown: “The ancient practice of placing or suspending votive objects in the interior of drums has been suggested as a possible origin for these curious instruments, whose history can be traced to the Shang
Kabuki started out as a style of dance in the early sixteenth century, also known as the Edo period. Kabuki is an exclusive type of theater in which only males can act on stage. For over 400 years, women have only been allowed in the audience and not on stage. But ironically, a woman named Izumo Okuni along with her female troupe originally created the theatre. Okuni, who may have come from the shrine of Izumo, set up a temporary stage in Kyoto around 1603 where she and her troupe acted out slightly suggestive dances and skits (www.artelino.com).
Mainly the West Africans used percussive instruments. These drums came in all sizes ranging from ten to twelve inches to ten to twelve feet. Their drums were made out of hollowed out logs and gourds with a tight skin over the hollow. They also used idiophones to make music. They used a variety of bells, castanets, gongs, and sometimes they made small xylophones or small pianos. Aerophones weren't as prevalent as the percussions or idiophones. Some explorers made small flutes, horns and trumpets from elephant tusks.
The djembe has become one of the most popular African drums. The making of the djembe is very unique. The village djembe player will offer ten kola nuts to the blacksmith for the making of djembe in return. The blacksmith regarded the making of such a drum an honor (Billmeier 2007). The blacksmith would venture into the forest to find the ideal tree to make a djembe. Once he has found the perfect tree, the blacksmith would then ask the spirit that inhabits the tree to accept the tree to be cut while engaging into a ceremonial performance at the base of the tree (Fanta Keita Tauber 2000). After a successful attempt, he then would carve the tree from the center of the wood, and created two holes (to the tope and to the bottom). This would serve as a way for the voice of the tree to be heard through the djembe. The djembe thus achieves an extraordinary sound range, from a high, to a low, resonating sound. The Djembe has carvings on the ...