On a quiet Tuesday evening, in a seemingly empty T.F. Green Hall, sounds echo down the hallways and shake the walls as a group of students throw their weight against a set of enormous drums. Building these drums and learning to play them has been the focus of the Brown Taiko group since its inception in 2004.
Taiko drumming was brought to Brown by Raiki Machida '07, who learned it in middle school in Singapore and went on to train intensively in northern Japan after high school. When he arrived at Brown, Machida raised funds and created the group, which has been performing and making drums ever since.
"In the past two years, it's kind of blown up," Machida said. "I'm pretty excited about that." The group currently includes six Brown students and one Rhode Island School of Design student.
Taiko has been a part of Japanese culture for more than 1,400 years. Originally used for religious purposes and wartime ceremonies, ensemble Taiko drumming has become a popular form of entertainment in recent decades.
Drum building is an integral part of the Taiko experience, group members said. Drum builders use a chain saw to cut down a large tree, which they carve out and paint. Cowhide is then strapped around and nailed onto the wood, a feat that often requires a car jack because of the weight of the wooden barrel.
Though Machida brought several of his own drums from Japan when he founded the group, members have built additional drums to accommodate the growing number of players. This process began during Machida's junior year, when he raised funds to bring his former teachers from Japan to the U.S. for six weeks of drum building. Members have since continued working on the drums.
"Since we're just beginner drum builders, we're just experimenting," Machida said.
The experiments have not always gone well. The group decided to order the cowhide this year after procuring hides from a Providence area slaughterhouse and trying to prepare them on their own once before. After removing all of the fat and meat from the skins and attempting the tanning process, the students found they were dissatisfied with the results.
"I hope there aren't many vegetarians reading this," Machida said.
Peter Sheppard '09, a member of the Taiko group, said "a lot can go wrong" in the difficult and lengthy drum-making process, but he and Machida both said the process is exciting.
The group is currently building five more drums, each about three to four feet long and approximately 100 pounds. Machida said the group is committed to using traditional methods to build the drums, even though modern techniques can be faster.
"The whole process of building the drums builds up to the fun of actually playing them," Machida said. He added that building the drums from scratch deepens the players' passions for performing.
"There's a certain spirituality in the creation of a Taiko," said RISD sophomore Miles Endo, another member of the group. The spiritual component of Taiko is tied to the Shinto religion, he said.
The group's commitment to Japanese tradition extends beyond drum building and influences their performance style. Sheppard said Brown Taiko models itself after Kodo, a well-known professional Japanese Taiko group. Though Sheppard said this is the style he knows and loves, he added that the group is "trying to branch out a little bit this year into some more American styles."
Still, Endo said, "Brown Taiko has more of a traditionally and truly Japanese style."
Group members said the fun of performing motivates them. Machida said traveling to different schools along the East Coast to perform something students have never seen before is the best part.
"You see the looks on people's faces, (and) you get an incredible reaction that's very, very genuine and very fresh. For us, that feels good," Machida said.
The long road trips are often bonding experiences for the group. Machida remembers the trips - including once getting lost minutes before they were scheduled to perform - as highlights of his experience with Brown Taiko.
"Everyone in the group likes to have a lot of fun," Machida said. "The performances are always a good time."
Many of the group members plan to continue Taiko drumming after they graduate. Machida said he hopes to pursue it professionally, but added that its appeal stands on its own.
"At the end of the day, it's very representative of Japanese culture," he said.
