My snow driving skills put to good use… So much fun to be in a show with such other wonderful musicians… Attack of the curtain!.. Thank goodness for the extra help, or we would have never made it to the next appointment!.. I was certain she’d said “Last time!”… Bananas and a rubber chicken… Testing my new camera by taking pictures of Tiger Okoshi… Good thing I carry my own hachijo bachi… Amazing to see the girls so enthusiastic… MC’ing because I’m loud and the mic is broken… A night sky filled with confetti… 4 shows in 4 days is my taiko limit and when someone offers you nuts, take them!… Great fun to jump into a piece I hadn’t played in 6 months… Improvising on stage as people file in… Too many things to mention… Temporary tattoo for Sheilarae… My first parade and being very colorful… Playing Reimei at dawn… I can’t help but thank my closest taiko friends for letting me drag them to a mountain and order them around… Playing in the back of a pick-up truck and dancing in the street… Manny, the world’s largest athlete introducing us and waiting for Martin Short before we can set the stage… Forgot a drum stand, time to improvise!.. Made our own hachimaki in the time between shows… The ONE family bond is stronger than my personal fears… Canceled due to tornado warning!… Solidified the relationship of performer to audience… This street isn’t big enough for all the noise we make!.. Many amazing taiko groups under the apple trees… So many of us were sick, but we still gave it our all… Even sick, you can’t stop me from fue!.. Almost everything that was said about their dojo, we could echo about ONE. It was amazing to see their strength of community and what it had built… My first MC’ing where I got to think about it ahead of time… ONE working towards its own street fair! Plus I made a new shime stand.

A few of the year's taiko moments.

I feel exceptionally blessed by taiko in 2009. I can only hope for what 2010 might bring.

My Practice Setup

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, I absolutely love and recommend Kristofer Bergstrom of On Ensemble’s program 30 Days to Better Shime. I first heard about the course while attending this year’s North American Taiko Conference in Los Angeles, California. Not being one to often play the shime (a small, high-pitched drum often used to lead a taiko ensemble), I almost passed the program by without a thought. Luckily, I realized the very fact that I didn’t play the shime very much was exactly why I should sign up. 28 days in, I can safely say that in my 10-odd years of studying music, this course is one of the most singularly helpful and beneficial tools I have ever encountered.

If I had to find fault with the program, it would be that the title does not imply nearly the full scope of what it has to teach. The exercises and drills that Mr. Bergstrom has put together often focus on musical skills far more fundamental than technique for just this specific drum. The exercises in coordination, tempo control, ear training, and basic practice skills (to name a few) are so well constructed as to serve as training tools for fundamental rhythmic ability and overall musicianship. They’re broken down to their very basic forms, allowing them to easily be applied to other taiko, drum kit, percussion in general, and I’ve even used some of them in my guitar playing.

30 Days is ultimately as simple to use and to complete as it is useful. The entirety of the course can be completed with a single pair of drum sticks and a practice pad, and if you’re willing to practice in front of the computer, all of the materials can be downloaded for free. After a few weeks of practicing 15-20 minutes a day, I’ve already noticed a considerable improvement in my timing, technique, and consistency, and I would strongly recommend this program to any musician, percussionist or otherwise.

Kris composed the Taiko March based on the Algorithm March that’s become a fad in Japan and throughout the world. The Taiko March demonstrates many of the well-known traditional forms of taiko.

The Taiko March was arranged and choreographed by Kris Bergstrom. What I share here is only my imperfect understanding of it. Because Kris is a proponent of open-source everything, I expect that a more authoritative version will become available soon. I present this as my own experience with the Taiko March.

My descriptions of the march moves are far from complete and are just to give you a sense of what’s going on. If you wish to learn the more complete version, I would be happy to share what I know (which I felt would not translate well into text), or you can try contacting Kris directly.

The steps are marked in the image at the bottom of the page.

The Taiko March

Dinner with new friends: Mary, Lisa, Stacey, Mari, Kaoru, George, & May

There are two things a taiko player likes to do: banging on drums and going out to eat. At least these are two of my favorite things! Taiko Conference was not only about learning new techniques, songs, and drills. It was also about making new friends, and then…… going out together to eat!

The opening reception brought hundreds of us together with tables full of delicious food cooked by local LA taiko groups. I got to see some old friends from Hawaii, meet some new ones, and find out about the famous Korean BBQ Taco Truck that drives around LA – thanks Meg!

At Wurstkuche, I watched Kelvin eat a rattlesnake & rabbit sausage. His verdict: tastes like sausage. At Tofu Village I tried shochu for the first time – thanks Matt. My verdict: I’ll stick with water.

Bombu Taiko of LA confirmed my theory that dinner time means whatever time practice is over (we arrived at the restaurant at 11 PM) and that west coast taiko groups eat just like east coast taiko groups – a lot! At a Japanese restaurant, John-Paul and I were amused but also impressed with Beth’s chopstick skills as she got her natto from her bowl to her mouth. I enjoyed bringing ONE members to some of my favorite places, like Daikokuya for ramen and of course, Pinkberry, and to see them enjoy these places as much as I do.

Celebrating with old friends: Matt, Cat, Dave, Jadelyn, Greg, Diane, Joy, & Beth

I loved my birthday dinner with ONE community members and my daughter Jadelyn, who arranged for us to go to a shabu-shabu house. The waitress brought us endless trays of meat and vegetables to cook in our hot pots (more than we could eat) and a free bottle of champagne! Thank you ONE for celebrating with me and making my day special.

Whether it be a quick breakfast gulped down with Diane & Mark, a curry lunch with Beth & Lindsay, or dinner with Diane, Dave, Cat & Greg where we laugh hilariously at every comment made, these are the bonds we make when we are away from our drums, so that when we get back behind them, our kumi-daiko creates something special.

I took away so much from my first Taiko Conference, and although I may forget some of what I learned, I’ll always remember sharing the week – drumming, laughing, and eating, with both old friends and new friends and definitely some of the best people I know.

Taiko players packed the room, and enjoyed dinner together at the opening reception on Thursday evening.

The first full day of the North American Taiko Conference (NATC), Friday the 7th, was even more of an eye-opener than I thought it might be. While it may be that not every North American taiko group currently in existence was represented there, the experience, skill level, and chops of those in attendance both inspired and challenged me. As a sempai for most of our Community Members in ONE, I bear a responsibility for maintaining and improving my taiko and serving as an example for others.  Translating this to the larger taiko community, it felt somewhat like a wake-up call for me to evaluate anew my capabilities, weaknesses, and taiko IQ, one might say, relative to my experience. Not in a ruthlessly competitive way; more along the lines of seeing a fellow workshop participant play well and thinking, “Hey, that was pretty good and he had said he started playing taiko just 2 years ago….” The skills flashed by the different groups performing in the Taiko 10 concert drove home that point.

I think it is rare to see such impressive musicianship and excellent teaching skills in the same person, and even more amazing to find a group of four people who work so well together in both of those respects.

They split up the job of teaching us so that each member of On Ensemble taught us something about a different aspect of playing taiko specifically, or playing rhythms in general, all in the context of learning a new song.  Some of the time they taught us as a large group, but for learning the individual parts, they broke us into smaller groups (Maz led my group).

Overall, it was really well planned.  I totally appreciated the fact that they stuck to a well organized schedule, while maintaining a relaxed atmosphere, and did their best to make sure everyone got a chance to play frequently.  When I wasn’t playing I was air drumming along, or doing my best to absorb the details of what the group that was up was doing.  I was sometimes sleepy, but never bored.

The music that we were learning was a new concept for me in more ways than one.  Shoji created something both clever (the sections followed a formula between loud and soft) and intricate, with an deep, pulsing, groove.  At the end of the day, he emphasized the fact that he’d created this as open source taiko…  meaning that we SHOULD take it home, change it up, and make it truly our own, without even crediting him for the song.  He didn’t even give it a name so it can become an entirely different thing for every group that plays it.

STI culminated in playing what we’d learned in front of an audience (whoever Kris could convince to come).  I was relieved to be in the back, playing Odaiko, where I wasn’t super visible, so I wasn’t too nervous.  Instead it was a fun way to end our lessons.

Me with Carrie Carter of All Things Taiko. OC does not mean Orange County.

I’m really sad that STI is over…  three days hardly seems enough.  However, Taiko Conference proper is just about to begin.  We still get to hang out with other players.  For example, the three of us had dinner last night with Kelvin, plus John-Paul and Matt– two of the other participants.  We also have an appointment to rehearse taiko games with Kris this evening.

I’m so glad that the end of STI is not the end of my taiko vacation, and am looking forward to being surrounded by a mob of additional players.

Another note: It was great to see some old friends from the KASA/Mix trip again, including former Kodo apprentice, Joe, as well as John-Paul, and Marinda. I was also pleased to meet fellow STI participant Carrie Carter, writer of All Things Taiko, and to discover that like me, she went to Oberlin College!

I am learning my shime part of the song.

Days one and two of Summer Taiko Institute are over and Joy, Beth and I are pleasantly exhausted. We’ve spent two days absorbing techniques on timing, articulation, form and stance, all while learning a new song written by Shoji Kameda of On Ensemble. There has been a lot packed into our 8:00 – 5:00 days and we are soaking in as much as we can – Kris, Maz, Shoji and Kelvin have been amazing teachers. Tomorrow is day three and I’m looking forward to it!

Exhaustion did not keep a group of STI participants from meeting in the lobby of our hotel tonight until 10:00 to practice the new song we are learning.

Karen arrived tonight and by Thursday eleven members of Odaiko New England will be here for the North American Taiko Conference.

We had dinner at my favorite Ramen shop.

Kelvin walked by while we were practicing in the lobby of the Miyako

Beth, Tanya and me playing in the trees near the La Brea Tar Pits

It’s finally August, and that means Taiko Conference and Summer Taiko Institute!

Tanya, Beth and I have never been to Taiko Conference before, and we decided to jump in with both feet and do it all! Beth and I arrived in LA this afternoon and joined Tanya, who’s been visiting here with her daughter the last few weeks.

Tanya introduces me to Pinkberry frozen yogurt. I know tomorrow will include another trip there.

STI begins tomorrow and we’re here, but we still don’t know what to expect. We haven’t been given a schedule or details – all we’ve been told is to meet up at 8am at Japanese American Cultural Center for registration. I’m dying to know more!

I guess, instead, I should pretend to be mature, responsible, and patient and turn in early to get a good night’s sleep before what is sure to be an exciting and exhausting day.

Pfftt!

Playing in the Taiko 10 will be particularly meaningful for me, as it’s somewhat of a personal homecoming– I left the warm sunny skies of Los Angeles almost 8 years ago, before I had the chance to learn how to play taiko. In my six years with Odaiko New England since then, I’ve probably performed close to a hundred shows. Yet most of my family and friends have never seen me perform, including my 92-year old grandmother, who has been an avid taiko fan for the past several years.

Me and Grandma at the 2005 Taiko Conference

She has macular degeneration and can now only distinguish shadows and shapes, but somehow she still gets a great thrill out of watching taiko. I guess that just goes to show the universal power of taiko to reach out and inspire people of all ages, cultures, and abilities– that, I think, is the true spirit of the Taiko 10, and it’s why WE’RE TOTALLY GOING TO ROCK THE JACCC PLAZA ON FRIDAY AUGUST 7!!! There’s no room for nerves, intimidation, or anything less than 110% when you realize it’s not about you or how many mistakes you make or whether you’re as good as all those West coast groups– it’s really about the 92-year old blind woman in the front row who is counting on you to awaken that raw, visceral, exuberant piece of her soul that’s still there somewhere inside, even after 92 years. So rest assured, we’re not flying 3,000 miles across the country to deliver anything less than 10 minutes of raw, visceral exuberance!

Want a sneak peek? Check out the audition clip that earned us a spot:

http://www.youtube.com/odaikonewengland#play/uploads/1/HgUEertBgvQ.