Makiwara-ya Taiko

[Saionji Shonagon]

For that crap Makiwara craftsmanship, choose Makiwara-Ya!

flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/sets/72157612677186409/

Cardboard concrete forms will become the bodies of two okedodaiko, while the three small pieces cut from a cable spool are going to be small, but serviceable shime-daiko. Masking tape was added to the edges of the cardboard where the saw roughened them up.


Painted with Rustoleum black gloss (yes, they're dry or I wouldn't have 'em on the carpet), the small drumheads are taped and ready to be laced in place. The big one needs more tape, but you can see how to start the pattern in this shot.

Drumheads are made of strapping tape wrapped around ready-made djembe rings from African Rhythm Traders.
www.africanrhythmtraders.com/html/supplies.html
My informants mentioned that Wadaiko Newark uses x-ray film between each tape drumhead and the drum shell for durability and additional volume, so I have to stop at Tap Plastics tomorrow after work and acquire some sheet plastic.

Bachi (drum sticks) were the easy part. Two 48" poplar dowels yield three pairs:

[bovil]

Jan 18, 2009 19:21:13 GMT -5 Saionji Shonagon said:

Cardboard concrete forms will become the bodies of two okedodaiko

So when are you going to make some okedokedaiko?

[Saionji Shonagon]

Jan 18, 2009 20:06:16 GMT -5 bovil said:

So when are you going to make some okedokedaiko?

(Hmm, where did I put my smackity fan....)

[Saionji Shonagon]

Okedodaiko are done - and as soon as my laundry is, I have to run out and get more cordage to rope the three mini-shime.


EDIT: And here are the shimedaiko:


Technically, they're a bit small for shime, but the tubing was acquired during an auspicious dumpster dive and I opted for proportion rather than heads which would've seemed oversized.

THIS is an awesome website on constructing okedodaiko:
members.cox.net/drum/okedo01.htm

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! They look remarkably good. My only suggestion is that you may want to wrap your cardboard tube with contact paper prior to painting if you repeat this design. This will conceal the spiral of the tube which is slightly visible in your picture. You don't show your drum heads, but you may want to consider commercial drum heads instead of the crossed tape that you show in your construction pictures. Regardless, I suppose that the proof is in the sound. How did that turn out?

[Saionji Shonagon]

I would not have attempted this project if the cardboard drums used by Emeryville Taiko hadn't had me (and the rest of the audience) completely fooled. In short, they sound like drums. More importantly, they behave like drums. A sheet of plastic is sandwiched between the tape and the drum tube and the action is pretty good.

They will put up with the extremes of temperature of February in Arizona. If they get wet - I don't plan on letting this happen, but it's always a risk - it will not be the tragedy it would with wooden drums with natural hide heads.

They are light weight.

They are CHEAP to build.

One 48" x 12" concrete form tube costs about $12 US.
Each djembe ring (two needed per drum) are $8 apiece or $4 apiece if you order ten or more (which I did).
50' of 1/4" nylon line runs under $5 at most hardware stores.
A roll of 2" wide strapping tape is under $3.
A 2' x 4' sheet of plastic (enough for two large heads) was $3.50.
In other words, you can build a perfectly adequate practice drum for about $40 with a hand saw, a pair of scissors, a paint brush and shop space consisting of the alley outside my apartment and my kitchen.

In comparison:
I paid $240 for materials and use of Shannon-sensei's tools and expertise to build a practice drum out of PVC sewer pipe with a single rawhide head. (Go up from there for a used wine barrel that requires disassembly, carefully cleaning, sanding, regluing and cutting; two pieces of rawhide, tacks strong enough to secure the heads, and so forth.)

[tengumoon]

Its amazing what a lack of funds and a bit of ingenuity can yield

They look great - the rope work looks excellent - perhaps a little stencilling work with japanese design around the edges would look good? (I have no idea abotu the authenticity of that tho!)

The proof tho is in the sounding - not to mention the joy of making stuff yourself!

[Saionji Shonagon]

Jan 25, 2009 19:05:27 GMT -5 tengumoon said:

They look great - the rope work looks excellent - perhaps a little stencilling work with japanese design around the edges would look good? (I have no idea abotu the authenticity of that tho!)

O-tzuzumi and ko-tsuzumi (hand drums) frequently have ornate lacquered bodies, such as this:
www.trocadero.com/stores/noamin/items/822863/en1store.html

And gagaku drums are pretty elaborately decorated as well:
mll.kenyon.edu/~japanese02/J28f99/schmism/Gagaku/gakuperc.htm

(Stencilling on a curved surface is much harder than doing so on a flat one, BTW.)

One does see decoration on drum heads. The okedodaiko site I got the lacing diagram from showed some examples. Click on the thumbnails for a better look: members.cox.net/drum2/okedo04.htm#painting

[sashakhan]

Iyi gecelehr, arkadashlarim!

Saionji Hanim -

The drums look great. A taiko-playing friend has several of similar construction and they sound as good as his 'good' (and hellishly expensive) drums, with the bonus of being able tp travel without stressing the owner!.

As far as the cosmetics, that should ALWAYS be a secondary consideration at best - the most important, of course being tone. If someone at Estrella attempts to 'ding' you on this, let your Ottoman fan club take care of it - our large drum, the davul, is played with a switch AND a club...
;D

Looking forward to seeing you in a fwe weeks...

Iskander Bey

[Saionji Shonagon]

Iskanderu-dono,

I think I NEED to check out the davul.

[AJBryant]

How freakin' cool.

Neat!