Soh Daiko, the Fine Art Of Japanese Drumming

In ancient Japan, folklore has it, a village's boundaries were determined by the farthest point from which the villagers could hear the sound of the taiko - a big drum.

Listening to the taiko today, one imagines those villages must have been awfully big because, if sound has size, taiko music is enormous. Pounding and roaring in compositions traditionally associated with festivals and ritual ceremonies, taiko players blend movement and rhythm to create music that is both startling and invigorating.

Festival drumming is undergoing a great revival, and this weekend, Soh Daiko, said to be the only known American taiko group east of Chicago, will celebrate the spring season with two appearances, one at the Fifth Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, also known as Sakura Matsuri, held at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the other at the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Festival in Damrosch Park at the Lincoln Center.

The performances promise to be lively. When Soh Daiko plays, its members whoop and whirl, moving together with mastery. On various-sized drums, many made by group members, they play folk music intended to drive away evil spirits and strengthen warriors. The physical aspects of their drumming require high energy, endurance and movement that have their roots in the martial arts.

There is a lot of variety in the performances. In rhythmic patterns played over a bass beat, Soh Daiko members clap their sticks together and strike the sides and heads of their drums, creating a full, deep sound unique to these instruments. Brassbells, conch shells and the bamboo flute are played in some numbers, providing a delicate contrast to the thunderous drumming.

And by combining traditional positions with their own arrangements, Soh Daiko members are developing an Asian-American artform, while also preserving an ancient tradition. The name means peaceful, harmonious drum. the "t" in taiko shifts to "d" in Soh Daiko because of a structural idiosyncrasy of the Japanese language.

A Diverse Group

The New York-based group is a diverse one: its 14 members include a doctor, two graphics designers, an advertising copywriter and a dancer. Only three have formal music training. There are men and women, Chinese-Americans as well as Japanese-Americans. There are two restrictions, ethnic or otherwise, on membership, and though few members have been to Japan, they manage to create a sound that Japanese have said makes them feel homesick.

Actually, taiko playing is relatively new to this country, having been introduced during the late 1960's by Seuchi Tanaka, a drum master who had recently arrived in San Francisco from Japan. A number of American players have flourished under his influence, mainly in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and some 40 groups now practice and perform this traditional folk art.

The 42-year old Mr. Tanaka visited New York in 1982 and 1983 to instruct Soh Daiko members, and he says they are among his favorite students.

In Japan, taiko has traditionally been practiced as a folk art by people who are not trained musicians. Now, as taiko has evolved into a performance art, several groups have begun to devote their lives to it. The most well-known group, Kodo, follows a rigorous discipline, living communally on the small island of Sado, 200 miles northwest of Tokyo, and rising before 5 o'clock every morning to run 12 miles before starting the daily drumming.

While Soh Daiko members all have work and families apart from the group, drumming is for them more than just a performance. It also involves a discipline and a dedication to the group as well as to the community. They operate as a collective, and because they have no leader, they rely on one another to further the group. The New York Buddhist Church on Riverside Drive serves as their base, but Soh Daiko is secular.

"There's a philosophy, but it's not tied to religion," said Alan Okada, one of the group's founding members. "There are no religious overtones but there's clearly a sense of the way of taiko, and what is expected in terms of the commitment of an individual that goes beyond proficiency. The way people work together and perform together is one of the most exciting things about Soh Daiko. The spirit is really what's special about this group."

San Francisco Chronicle

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In both the literal and colloquial sense, Saturday's Japan-USA Taiko Festival in Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium was a smashing success. The SRO crowd heard and saw some of the world's fanciest folk drumming at the zenith of effectiveness, and in palpable dynamics that (also in both senses) rocked the hall for more than three hours and had the crowd screaming for more.

Produced by San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the annual concert also featured appearances by Japan's tabled Gojinjo Daiko ensemble, New York's Soh Daiko, the Los Angeles Matsuri Daiko Aikokai as well as Japanese guest shamisen virtuoso Michihiro Sato. Featured soloists from the local group included a stunning Lion's dance by Nosuke Akiyama (the best I've seen) and drum solos by Kenny Endo.

Gojinjo Daiko, from the small village of Nafune, was the first important Japanese percussion ensemble. Its heritage runs in an unbroken line to the 16th century, when the local population pulled a fast one on an invading army. They dressed up in grotesque masks, and managed to convince those in the army's night encampment that they were demon ghosts from the sea. The army fled according to legend and the roots of a tradition took hold.

Both appearances here of the group featured their antique demon masks along with Various amounts of playing on one drum. One percussionist played a weird but consistent pattern as a kind of anchor. As the various ghosts appeared from the fake fog in semi-darkness, their threatening gestures were accompanied by assorted whacks at the drum's head and rim.

Nobody fled. On the contrary, these ancient, highly stylized "dances" seemed to enthrall the audience. Considering the culturally remote nature of their action as well as music, and the fact that most of the performers were nimble gentlemen in their 60s, the audience attention was remarkable. On the other hand, it offered proof positive of the remarkable quality and polish of the craftsmanship.

The presence of GoJinjo Daiko also inspired the other performers to peak performances not least the final item, in which members of the local group were allowed to join in with Gojinjo members.

Taiko Dojo, being local, had the largest and most elaborate items to begin each half of the program that seems a bit stingy toward the guests, all of whom were excellent.

As In Japan, each American city seems to have developed interesting variations on basics. The Los Angeles group, for instance, played more metallic percussion than the others, and displayed an earthier style of playing. Their performances offered more essential, and a less calculating show than the others. It was all the more effective for that.

Yet the precision of complex counterpoint from the New York group nearly stole the show. Considering that this is the newest of major American taiko ensembles (founded in 1979), the snap and polish of the performance were astonishing.

Sato played up a storm on the shamisen (a kind of percussive lute), his second work accompanied by Endo. Exaggerated dynamics from an electronic pick nearly ruined the shamisen performance, which ended up sounding as though they were being played for Godzilla.