Taiko – Aber Taiko

Taiko with Yuta

At the end of February we had the pleasure and good fortune to host Yuta Kato for a weekend of workshops, food, walks and talks. Yuta is a Japanese-American Taiko artist who had just decided to become independent after years and years of being the principal teacher at LATI. He has been playing since he was seven – he can play anything, at any speed, and the way he uses his whole body to play is very unique and captivating. He taught us so many things in those 12 hours: Omiyage from beginning to end, Yodan basics and Hachijo basics. His love of Taiko and of teaching came through in everything he was showing us. And it was not only about the technique and the rhythms. After all, without telling your story when you play, why are you playing? But how DO you tell your story with sticks and drum? ah, that’s where the magic is. Yuta had a way of getting us to feel all the feelings and channel them while we played. It needs practice and being open – and a lifetime of exploration.

An important part of all taiko activities – sitting together for food and chats

What made the weekend even more special was having taiko friends with us – James Barrow came with a van full of drums (and Yuta!); more players came from Bristol, the Brecon Beacons, and even Exeter.

Posing in Rhossili after a walk along the cliffs

We were all very inspired to practice more and become better players, and keep and maintain our connections with each other. Thanks Yuta, we already miss you!

Open Taiko Practices

The past year has been exciting for us in Aber Taiko. A year ago it seemed that Covid had overtaken important things in our lives, we were only just getting back to somewhat regular practice but the future for us as a Taiko group was not clear at all. We had no gigs in sight, we had not played regularly together and our repertoire was nestled in our brains and bodies, dormant.

We had then made the decision to invite new people to try out practicing with us with the idea that while for some the pandemic made Taiko harder to commit to, maybe for others this would be just the time to try something new.

This was a critical point in our journey as a group – and proved to pick us all up, shake the cobwebs, and got us to commit again to regular Taiko practice.

Several people started out, and 3 of them have now joined us as members, practicing regularly and learning our repertoire in the speed of light. Gig and workshop invitations dropped in our email and we had produced our own gig to show off our new members to friends and family in Singleton Park.

And now, a year has passed and we are ready again to welcome new people to join us.

So here is our offer: we are opening up the first hour of our Taiko practice sessions (Thursdays 6:45 – 8:00pm) from the 13th Oct till the end of October. Leave your worries at the door and join the fun! Connect to your body, get fit, be musical, be loud, and meet new people. We will teach the basics starting with how to stand, how to hold the drumsticks and how to hit the drum. Then there will be rhythms and movement and all the fun things. If you are 16 or older, you are welcome!! These 3 sessions in October will be stand-alone ones, you can come to any or all of them.

At the end of October you can decide if you want to come regularly, and then in November we will start learning a new piece together and each practice session will build on those before it.

To join the October practices you will need to:

Book your place in advance, (£7 per session, £5 concessions), as you go (email aber.taiko@gmail.com for details).
Bring your own ear plugs: the drums are big and LOUD.
Be able to be active for the hour, albeit listening to your body and taking care of your well-being while we practice. Taiko drumming is a physical activity which can be intense at times.
Agree to adhere to our COVID19 safety measures and not attend with any COVID19/influenza symptoms (if unable to arrive due to COVID19 you will be refunded). Whatever else we do, we keep 3 doors open to allow fresh air and take regular breaks to go outside.

We will supply all drums and sticks (bachi).

Invitation to play Taiko

We love playing the big drums and we want to share this exciting form of group drumming with more people, increase our energy levels, and widen our community. That’s why we are opening up the first hour of our Taiko practice sessions on a weekly basis – come and have a go!

Leave your worries at the door and join the fun! Connect to your body, get fit, be musical, be loud, and meet new people. We will teach the basics starting with how to stand, how to hold the drumsticks and how to hit the drum. Then there will be rhythms and movement and all the fun things.

If you are 16 or older, you are welcome!!

Sessions are Thursdays 7:00 – 8:00pm, more details when booking.

To join the practices you will need to:

Book your place in advance, (£7 per session, £5 concessions), as you go (email aber.taiko@gmail.com for details).
Bring your own ear plugs: the drums are big and LOUD.
Be able to be active for the hour, albeit listening to your body and taking care of your well-being while we practice. Taiko drumming is a physical activity which can be intense at times.
Agree to wear a mask while playing, adhere to physical distancing and the regulations in the hall and not attend with any COVID19/influenza symptoms (please let us know in advance of any exemptions; if unable to arrive due to COVID19 you will be refunded). We keep 3 doors open to allow fresh air and take regular breaks to go outside and remove our masks.

We will supply drums and sticks (bachi). Those who would like to commit to weekly practice, learning, studying at home and stretching their abilities will be encouraged to purchase their own equipment, starting with the bachi.

2019 – The Year That Was

17 performances which varied from playing for the Swansea Half Marathon runners, to appearing on Welsh TV teaching Rugby players to play taiko, to the relaunch of a Japanese Garden in front of the Japanese ambassador, to rugby stadium gigs and the Chinese New Years celebration. Workshops and demonstrations in local schools and kids clubs. Our Taiko life is always fun and exciting.

Raku – carefully thought of end pose which got into the BBC feature on Swansea’s celebrations of 50 years as a city.

All those gigs enabled us to continue studying taiko and this year we had amazing teachers: Ingmar Kikat taught us that we can dance when we drum. Kenny Endo opened our eyes to the classical aspects of taiko.

Edo Bayashi rhythms on Shime with Kenny and Chizuko Endo

Ting-Chi Li continued to guide us on the way of playing taiko in the slanted position

Martin and Shonagh taught us Yatai Bayashi, polyrhythms, shime chappa and kane, and Alison Roe pushed us to be musical and brave while soloing over the mitsu uchi backbeat on one or two drums.

And all that can only be possible thanks to the continued dedication of all of us to our weekly practice, and to our strong friendship and mutual consideration.

Weekly practice – preparation for a gig.

Studying with Kenny and Chizuko Endo

Taiko players from around the UK with Kenny and Chizuko

One of the nice things we learnt on our taiko journey is that reaching out to other taiko players will most probably lead to wonderful things happening. And so when we heard that Kenny Endo and Chizuko Endo are coming to Europe for a couple of months we immediately sent an email asking them to come over to Swansea and teach us.

Kenny Endo spent about 10 years in Tokyo playing with Oedo Sukeruko Taiko and studying classical music of the Edo period (Edo bayashi, Kabuki). So we asked him to teach us Naname and Shime basics.

Taiko players from around the UK came to Swansea to take advantage of this opportunity. Members of Mugenkyo, Kagemusha, Taiko Journey, Taiko Meantime Tamashii Taiko and Oxford Taiko arrived and brought with them drums, stands and such beautiful spirit.

We spent all day learning from the vast knowledge and experience of Kenny Endo and Chizuko. They were both so generous with their knowledge. We played drills and learnt a practice piece called ‘Oi Uchi’ on Naname. And on the shime we learnt a few Edo bayashi rhythms and could enjoy several demonstrations from Kenny and Chizuko.

The evening before – we had a demonstration and talk by Kenny and Chizuko. They played pieces written by Kenny Endo, and some from his time in Tokyo, written by Oedo Sukeruko. Kenny told us about Noh theatre and Kabuki theatre and demonstrated the use of the Kotsuzumi and voice. From his time in the Kabuki theatre in Tokyo he also demonstrated the quiet sounds that an odaiko can make that are used in Kabuki to bring to life the different natural phenomena – and unnatural phenomena too – Ghosts and spirits. It was a very inspiring evening for all of us.