Taiko

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I was curious if there were any other aspies in taiko ensembles or that enjoy watching/listening to it. I've been playing in a taiko group for the past two years and I love it so much I'm borderline obsessive. I love how physical the music is. You can feel it at concerts and we literally rattle the building during practice. And it's mesmerizing to watch too, like synchronized swimming only...more awesome.

So, yeah, if you're in a taiko group tell me about it or you if you know of any awesome artists. I'm always on the lookout for new taiko groups.

I have one album by Kodo (Ibuki), so that likely doesn't help you.

Nevertheless, taiko is an interesting musical style, and it's on my list to revisit at some point. What are your favorite taiko bands? Are there any 'must hear' albums in the genre?

Well, I watch the DVDs and the youtube videos so I haven't the foggiest which pieces go with each album because I feel like by only listening to taiko I'm missing most of the experience. Have you ever seen taiko live? Kodo is amazing though. They're one of my favorites along with Taiko Project.

Good American groups are San Francisco Taiko and San Jose Taiko. They were the first two groups in America and have very different takes on the taiko ensemble. Notable next generation of those are Taiko Project and Kenny Endo. We used to get batchi from those groups though lately we contracted with one of member's Dads and he made our batchi for us for a lot cheaper.

Other groups are RAW (Raging Asian Women) I really love their message and I think it's cool that their ensemble in entirely women. Taiko Mugen which is pretty much a pretty boy taiko band. Tao Taiko is good too and there's an awesome group from Tasmania called Taiko Doramu. There are a bunch more awesome groups but I'm gunna stop there because I just listed eight and I feel that's enough for now.

Thanks for the suggestions. I youtubed some of them. I may try something by Kenny Endo or Tao Taiko.

I haven't seen taiko live, though. I heard about it from an acquaintance.

I watched a UK-based group calle Mugenkyo (a few of them trained in Japan for a while iirc) play live and really enjoyed it. Since I listen to a lot of classical orchestral music or 'wall of sound' ambient stuff, it's a refreshing change to hear music that's so stripped-down. There's so much expression and feeling, just from drumming.

I need to hear more actually.

I don't know much about taiko, but I love Japanese culture and it seems like fun. I would like to try it if I can manage to find any groups in my area.

Oh, you have to see it live, Heavy. It's such an amazing experience!

I looked up the group you saw Concretebagder. They're awesome. It must have been fun to see them in concert. And yes, there's something just so raw and powerful about drums. I love it.

There are a few people in my ensemble who joined because they really loved Japanese culture IdahoRose. You should totally look and see if there are any in your area. Usually you can find them by typing in the name of where you live and tacking on taiko in your search engine of choice. You should try it. Taiko is amazingly fun. I was hooked after my first year and I've never had much interest in either drumming or the Japanese before then.

If ever I need a new hobby, maybe I should start beginner lessons with Kita no Taiko
("Northern Taiko", a taiko group in my home city).

I've seen Taiko live in Japan, and loved it. I'd like to try it one day.

I've seen Kodo live several times and always found it amazing how, on tracks like Monochrome, they could smoothly transition from being barely audible to literally making you feel your eardrums moving, on drums that are about the size of a tin of butter cookies at Christmas time. They're the only Taiko group I've ever been able to get into, however. I saw one local more amateur group perform at a local cultural center and wasn't nearly as impressed. Occasionally there's some crossover recordings with Taiko drummers & soundtrack work that gets done, and I always enjoy these - songs like Hybrid's True To Form and the season 3 soundtrack of Battlestar Galactica are a couple of examples.

You should totally try it. It's amazing. I can't describe the feeling accurately but it's kind of like a power trip.

I would love to see Kodo live! They're so amazing. It must have been fantastic. After seeing Kodo I can imagine that most other groups wouldn't be as impressive. I mean, the Kodo drummers are so dedicated it's insane. We kind of fan girl over them in my taiko group.

I love it when they use taiko in soundtracks! I also love it when they're visually represented in movies and stuff. The drums can be as visually striking as they are musically. Especially in movies where they are trying to get a tribal flare or something. Taiko is also pretty cool in car commercials. The weirdest taiko crossover I've ever seen was taiko and Justin Beiber. It was disappointing, especially since he had them all dressed up like ninjas.

Absolutely they were fantastic. I saw them a few times at Royce Hall at UCLA, and once or twice at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. The "Best of Kodo" CD is pretty representative of their live performance. The very large drums they use in their finale song are amazing, as are the players. The playing of those drums is almost a choreographed dance, and the two guys playing the these large drums are drenched in sweat by the end. Another very impressive physical / visual aspect of it are a few of the smaller drums, where the drummers play from a position which I can best describe as doing a sit up, but stopping about half way through and just holding that position with your stomach muscles. They do this for minutes at a time. Insane.