{"id":26066,"date":"2025-07-01T18:00:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T09:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/?p=26066"},"modified":"2025-07-05T14:58:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T05:58:05","slug":"taikothunder_tips1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/en\/taikothunder_tips1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Know Your Taiko: Meet the Instruments That Define a Tradition \u2014 Part 1: The Shime-daiko"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What sound comes to mind when you hear the word \u201ctaiko\u201d? You might imagine the pounding taiko at bon odori<\/i> dances or festivals. Or maybe the intense taiko tracks heard in movie scores. In truth, taiko include a broad range of percussion instruments that produce many varied sounds and textures.<\/span><\/p>

This series of blog posts presents the many taiko instruments included in our TAIKO THUNDER: The Ultimate Collection library. Because we believe learning just a little about the characteristics of these instruments, and how they are used, will increase your appreciation and enjoyment of the wonderful world of taiko.<\/span><\/p>

This first post looks at two types: the shime-daiko and the nagado-daiko.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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TAIKO THUNDER: The Ultimate Collection<\/a><\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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$695<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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TAIKO THUNDER: The Ultimate Collection is, in essence, 20 separate sound libraries \u2014\u00a0consisting of 16 taiko instruments and four percussion instruments \u2014 that cover all taiko sounds necessary for modern music making.<\/span><\/p>

The collection features realistic sound variations from different hitting positions, special tone-shaping parameters for finding the perfect sound, and as many as seven separate mic channels with individual controls including hall reverb. All these features add up to a next-generation taiko library for every musical situation.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tsukeshime-daiko<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The tsukeshime-daiko consists of two heads skins stretched over steel rings that are bound together and tensioned with cords or bolts.<\/span><\/p>

The drum is distinctive for its gorgeous sharp, high-pitched sound. Its pitch can be tuned by adjusting the binding tension. The tsukeshime-daiko plays a central role in an ensemble, as its powerful sound is ideal for setting the rhythm and tempo of a piece and maintaining the rhythmic feel.<\/span><\/p>

The head skins vary in thickness and are measured in units called cho-gake. The thinnest skin is about 11 mm (one cho-gake<\/i>, also called namitsuke<\/i>) and skins go up in thickness from two cho-gake<\/i> (~19 mm) to five cho-gake<\/i> (~29 mm). The thicker the skin, the harder and stiffer the drum\u2019s sound and response.<\/span><\/p>

The library includes four tsukeshime-daiko sizes: 33 cm (1 shaku<\/i> 1 sun<\/i> in traditional units), 36 cm (1 shaku<\/i> 2 sun<\/i>), 36.6 cm (1 shaku<\/i> 2 sun<\/i> 2 bu<\/i>), and 39 cm (1 shaku<\/i> 3 sun<\/i>).<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Shimeshishi-daiko<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The shimeshishi-daiko emerged from the stage of the taiko group Kodo as an extension of the tsukeshime-daiko. Its biggest distinction is the use of different leathers on each side: one side is cowhide and the other is horsehide.<\/span><\/p>

It is an idiosyncratic instrument with a piercing, dry sound full of presence that makes it stand out even in a massive ensemble.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Nagado-daiko<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Literally meaning \u201clong barrel\u201d, the nagado-daiko is easy to recognize because the drum body is longer than the drumhead diameter. Frequently seen on stages, at bon dances, and many other settings, the nagado-daiko is what many people imagine when they think of taiko instruments. It is also called miya-daiko [Shinto shrine drum] because it\u2019s often used at Shinto shrines and other religious events.<\/span><\/p>

The nagado-daiko is made by hollowing out a single piece of wood so the sound will resonate inside the body, creating its distinctive deep and booming tone.<\/span><\/p>

The drum\u2019s sound varies considerably depending on where the drumhead is struck, allowing for a variety of tonal expressions with just a single drum by combining various drum strokes.<\/span><\/p>

The library includes three nagado-daiko sizes: 36 cm (1 shaku<\/i> 2 sun<\/i> in traditional units), 48 cm (1 shaku<\/i> 6 sun<\/i>), and 81 cm (2 shaku<\/i> 7 sun<\/i>).<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What sound comes to mind when you hear the word \u201ctaiko\u201d? You might imagine the pounding taiko at bon odori dan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[119],"tags":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":26066},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/images\/1_TST12_Main_Adv.jpg","pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26066"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26066"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26320,"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26066\/revisions\/26320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonica.jp\/instruments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}