One world, two drums
Japanese drumming group inspires, educates audience about the art of
drumming
By Donna Taketa
It started with a bang and the energy never subsided.
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Members of The One World Taiko team have been playing for more
than 20 years but formed the group in 1990. Taiko instructor and
performer Gary Tsujimoto performed original compositions and explained
that it takes the whole body to play the taiko. Photos
by Emily Tuck |
Japanese drumming duo One World Taiko captivated audience members Saturday
night at the Satellite Student Union with its infectious passion for percussion.
Since the group’s formation in 1990, it has played throughout the
United States and abroad. One World Taiko is currently based in Seattle
and has four members, but only two performed Saturday night at the Satellite
Student Union.
“It rocked. I’d definitely recommend it to everybody,”
Fresno State student Jay Hall said. “It inspires creativity because
it’s so different.”
The group played to about 350 audience members.
“I thought it had really great intensity. It was unlike anything
I had ever seen, and it attracted so many kinds of people,” Fresno
State junior Jennifer Pellegrini said.
As drummer Nancy Ozaki explained, taiko is the Japanese word for drum.
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After the show, Lafayett Madden got a chance to check out the medium
drum, chudaiko in Japanese. The drums that the team use are made
out of wine barrels and raw cow hide. |
Drummer Gary Tsujimoto described their music as “a combination
of traditional rhythms taught to us, but also like to using contemporary,
non-Japanese world music with a Latin or jazz inspiration.”
On the low-lit stage, a spotlight highlighted the odaiko, a large, dominant
drum.
Playing a number of songs, Tsujimoto and Ozaki didn’t attempt to
suppress their smiles. In the reddish lighting, their arms blurred as
they swung their drumsticks with ease.
With fluid movements akin to dancing, the pair rhythmically sounded the
drums.
At times one on either side of the odaiko, echoing each other’s
beats and actions.
“It wasn’t just drumming,” Fresno State student Maureen
Paige said. “It had a lot of movement, and was really well choreographed.”
Throughout the performance, Ozaki played a bamboo flute or brass gongs
to complement the deeper reverberations of the drums.
Loud and soft beats offset each other, but the tempo and intensity remained
high.
Between numbers, while Tsujimoto rearranged the drums, Ozaki explained
techniques and backstories to their songs.
The team has performed as opening acts for
Riverdance. Nancy Ozaki is both flutist and drum player in the ensemble. |
One such original song, “Typhoon,” was aptly composed as
a response to the weather, Ozaki said. The pounding, emoted sounds of
thunder and rain.
She also educated the audience about the instruments. The drums are fashioned
from wine barrels, with both ends covered with a thick animal skin.
Due to the thickness of the skin covering the drums, Ozaki said in order
to get a powerful sound, the entire body must be used like and the hands
have to move like a whip.
Ozaki explained the proper technique requires that the drummer never directly
face the drum, but rather stand at an angle, low to the ground, with legs
apart.
The right leg stays straight while the left leg bends, and the body remains
straight.
In one number, the two performed side by side. Swinging dangerously close
to each other, they frantically alternated drums, swinging their arms
dizzyingly overhead.
The duo also invited five audience members to try drumming.
“We are really happy to play here at Cal State, Fresno,” said
Ozaki. “What a great school.”
For more information on One World Taiko, visit their Web site at http://www.oneworldtaiko.com.
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