Raion Taiko at Detroit Concert of Colors 2011

Yesterday Raion Taiko reached a major milestone (in my mind, at least) when we performed on the stage of Detroit's Orchestra Hall as a part of the 2011 Concert of Colors.  What a privilege and honor to be a featured performer at such a wonderful hall, one of the top 3 halls acoustically in North America. When Mayumi and I first formed Raion Taiko back in 2005, I never dreamed that we would make it to Orchestra Hall.

Orchestra Hall is the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra and has hosted many national and international acts, which is evidenced by all the signatures on the backstage walls. Including one that we were especially delighted to discover yesterday ...

When I was in high school, I played violin in the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra and we rehearsed at Orchestra Hall every Saturday, so I was well aware of the hall's acoustic qualities and it's reputation. As we were setting up and preparing for our set, I stepped out into the audience to check the placement of the drums and I looked up and around at the hall and for a minute a wave of emotion washed over me as it sunk in that we were actually on the stage at Orchestra Hall.

The hall certainly lived up to its acoustic reputation. As a result, I think we were able to give one of our best performances yet.  It was hard to see very far out into the audience, but the response was good and I noticed several people in the front row who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves with big smiles on their faces. My cousin, who drove down from Saginaw to see us, told me there were even a couple dancers in the aisles in the back. It's amazing how the audience energy gives energy back to us on stage.

We ended with our arrangement of Yatai Bayashi (made famous through Kodo) and received a standing ovation, to our surprise.  Unfortunately, because of time restraints, we weren't able to end with our usual encore, Mushi Okuri.  We did get a big compliment after the show.  A man came down to the stage to ask me if we have ever seen Kodo perform to which I replied that we had several times.  He followed up with, "You guys are right up there with them, aren't you."  Of course, we know better, but it was still nice to hear.

If you missed us at Orchestra Hall, try to catch us at the Detroit Institute of Arts this Friday, July 22 at 7 and 8:30 PM.  You can always stay up to date on our performances through the Performances Page on this website and also by becoming a fan of our Facebook Page.

Kids Taiko Class

This week I am very excited for our Monday night kids taiko class for two reasons. First of all, the class is full! We have 8 kids and 8 kid-sized drums. We started our kids class back in February, but it was difficult to get it going. For a long time we only had one or two enrolled. But starting in the summer, the students slowly began to come and join and now there is no more room in the Monday class. Don't worry, we will work on starting another kids class.

The second reason I am excited, however, is even better. After practicing through the summer, this group ranging from 4 to 7 years old, is really starting to play well. Yesterday at the end of class, the students performed the song they are learning for their parents. It sounded great! They remember their parts, they're listening to each other and playing together. The moms and dads were very impressed with the progress they've made.

On October 3rd at Novi High School, our kids class will be able to perform this piece in public for the first time. They are very excited to be able to perform as a part of the Japan Festival in Novi, sponsored by JBSD.

We have two more weeks to practice hard for this event. I hope many people will come to see the performance!

University of Michigan JSA Spring Festival Article

A couple weeks ago we performed at the Japan Student Association's Japan Festival at University of Michigan.  Our performance got a little write up in the Detroit area Japanese language newspaper, Japan ニニュース倶楽部 Here is what they wrote about us:

雷が落ちたかと思うような音でスタートしたのはＧｒｅａｔ Ｌａｋｅｓ Ｔａｉｋｏ Ｃｅｎｔｅｒ　主宰するソウル夫婦と仲間による和太鼓グループ　‘雷音‘のパフォーマンス。大きさも形も様々な太鼓を体全体を使って叩く姿はエネルギッシュで颯爽としていた。目を離さず見続けていた女性は｢すっかり引き込まれてしまったわ。とても感動した！｣曲風の異なる数曲を太鼓の種類を変えたり、横笛を加えたり、変化のある構成で披露。祭りムードを一気に盛り上げた。

and here is my loose English translation:

The performance by Raion Taiko, a group from the Great Lakes Taiko Center led by Brian and Mayumi Sole, started with a thunderous sound. Using their whole bodies and including many different types and sizes of taiko drums, the group gave an energetic and gallant performance. One woman who did not take her eyes off the performance the whole time said, “They really drew me into the performance. I was very impressed!”.

By changing the style of the songs, using various types of drums and even adding Japanese flute to some pieces, they offered a program with variety. Suddenly the feeling of a festival atmosphere had increased.

Also, before that, we had performed at the Michigan Japan Quiz bowl.  We didn't have anyone to take video of us, but with a room full of teenagers, you have to expect that at least someone has a cell phone out and is recording.  And just as I thought, they were.  The other day I found our first unauthorized video posting on YouTube! Do I pursue the copyright infringments? Or just let it go... I think I'll just let it go for now.  Here's the video if you're interested

Marshall Middle School Concert

Raion Taiko

Marshall Middle School Concert, February 20, 2010

"Matsuri"

お疲れ様でした！Wow! What a weekend! What a week, for that matter.  Saturday, Raion Taiko held our first major concert (almost 2 hours long) at Marshall Middle School, in Marshall, MI.  That's quite an accomplishment considering that we only just started practicing together last November.

We arrived in Marshall around 1 PM to unload and set up.  Marshall Middle School has quite an old building, but it seems to be well taken care of, so it was very nice building, with a fairly impressive auditorium for a middle school.

The view from the stage. I wonder if we can fill up all the seats?

The reason for putting on this concert was as a fundraiser for some students who will be traveling to Japan in May. The more tickets they sold, the more money they raised for themselves. They had hoped to sell out the auditorium, which olds over 800 people.  Unfortunately, since this was really our first major performance, we don't quite have the drawing power to sell that many tickets. Most people are still saying, "Raion Taiko? Who? What is taiko, anyway?" Hopefully our performance on Saturday began to answer some of those questions.  In the end, however, we were only able to bring in somewhere around 150 (?) people.

Whether it was 100 people or 800 people, our goal was to give them an enjoyable evening.  Based on the reaction at the end of the show, I believe we accomplished that.  We had hardly finished playing the final note and there were calls from the audience for "One more! One more!" I can't tell you how happy that made us feel.  Although there are many parts of our performance where we wish we could have played better, we our pleased that the audience enjoyed themselves. We had a good time, too.

The Encore - "Kaga Mushi Okuri"

We were all fairly exhausted after a big performance like this. Here is what our day was like:

9 - 10:30 taiko class at our Novi studio

11:00 leave for Marshall

12:45 arrive at Marshall Middle School and unload truck

1:15 場ミリ - marking stage locations for drums

"Move it just a little more to the right." Doing "Bamiri" before the run-through.

3:30 - 5:15 Rehearsal, program run-through

5:15 - 5:45 dinner

Backstage getting ready

6:30 - 8:30 Concert!

Miyake Taiko

9:00 Pack up

9:30 depart for studio

11:00 miss exit on freeway add an extra 30 min onto travel time

11:45 arrive at Novi studio and unload

12:30 AM Bedtime

 After we finally got home, I said to Mayumi, "No wonder we're so tired, including the run-through, we actually played two full concerts today.  But just think, groups like Yamato or Kodo have this kind of schedule nearly every day!" I think she may have been asleep before I finished what I was saying, though.

Great job everyone. Thank you to the members of Raion Taiko: Tom, Eileen and Larry; Thank you to our families who all helped us out in getting this show together and thank you to the staff and students in Marshall who hosted us.  We all had a great time. 

See you next year!

See the rest of the pictures from the concert in the photo gallery:

Marshall Middle School Taiko Concert

A Brief Odaiko Lesson

Welcome to the new home of the Raion Taiko Blog. Eventually, this website will become the official home of the Great Lakes Taiko Center.  Please be sure to update your bookmarks and so on.

Last night we had an extra practice for Yume Mitai. We have a performance coming up next Friday evening and need the additional practice. One of the songs we will play is called "Daichi no Arashi" (大地の嵐) which is a loud, fast and exciting song.  It starts with an Odaiko intro, which I and another member will play.  At last night's practice, Yamada sensei focused on the Odaiko part for 20 minutes or so, so it was like a mini-private lesson.  Anyway, I thought what she did with us was most helpful, so I thought I might share it with anyone who is interested. 

At the last practice on Monday, she had asked us to change the opening a little bit, so she wanted to see how it was going. We played it and she said, "Wow, you guys are just sprinting right out of the gate! You guys are a little stiff, though. Try it again and relax a little more." 

Getting rid of stiffness when you play taiko is a lifelong challenge, I think. I'm 10 times looser than I was two years ago, but I still have a long ways to go before I am as flexible as Yamada sensei and the other Hono Taiko players. Still, I have heard them after impressive performances say things like, "Oh, I'm still playing to stiff, I've got to relax more."

Anyhow, after Yamada sensei showed us how she wanted us to play it, we tried again. "Hmmm," she said. "A little better, but not quite there yet. Let's try slowing it down a bit."  She started clicking a tempo with her sticks significantly under tempo. We played, but there were a couple spots where we weren't quite together with the clicks, or each other.

Playing a piece under tempo was a technique first introduced to me by my brother (a professional percussionist) last year. He said that it was a good way to become aware of spots in the music where you might be speeding up or slowing down. But Last night, Yamada sensei added another reason to practice under tempo. After we played at the slower pace and were not really together that well, she told us, "If you can't play the part easily at the slower tempo, then it means that you are too stiff. If you're arms and body are relaxed, it should be very easy to play the piece slowly, or quickly."

 The next ten or fifteen minutes were spent trying to help us relax our arms and body and improve our Odaiko playing style.  Of course, one thing to do is to make sure your arm movements are as large as possible. You should be swinging from the shoulders, not from the wrists or elbows. When you swing back, bring your upper arm at least even with your ears, keeping the stick pointing up. Remember that it's not the force with which you hit the drum, but rather the speed of your stick, that produces the really big sounds. And don't forget to flex your stomach as you hit the drum.

Of course, you can hear all this advice and then go to play the piece and you're thinking about the notes, the accents, the dynamics, your stance and the advice you just got, and it ends up the same as before, or maybe even worse. In order to make the advice effective, you need to take out some of these variables.

First Yamada sensei had us get rid of the stance.  Normally, you would lower your center of gravity, putting your left foot forward, with the knee bent, and the right foot stretched out behind you. She had us stand up with our feet shoulder width apart and play without worrying about volume or dynamics and at the same slow tempo as before.

As we got more and more relaxed, she gradually picked up the tempo, clicking her sticks the whole time, and had us gradually spread out our feet until we were back to the original tempo and a regular stance.

Playing Odaiko, it is difficult to watch yourself in the mirror and now one was there to take video, so I couldn't see the change myself, but Yamada sensei, and everyone else, said that the two of us looked much more relaxed by the end of our mini-lesson.

So in the end, I guess I was reminded that when playing taiko we need to constantly remember to tell ourselves to relax and also, if you want to check out how relaxed you are, set the metronome at a slow tempo and see how easily you can play your part along with it.