Drums are sometimes very loud

Pitt student Benjamin Pachter commutes every weekend from Pittsburgh to Cleveland to be a part… Pitt student Benjamin Pachter commutes every weekend from Pittsburgh to Cleveland to be a part of its thriving Japanese taiko drumming scene. Pachter, a graduate student of ethnomusicology, discussed the lack of a taiko drumming scene in Pittsburgh despite the growing international appeal at his presentation in Posvar Hall Monday night. ‘Anybody can do it,’ said Pachter. ‘If we had a group [in Pittsburgh], anybody could play.’ He mentioned a current effort to start a taiko group in Pittsburgh, but he doesn’t know if this will happen because of the high cost of taiko drums. The drums cost about $3,000 each if carved directly from a tree, said Pachter. Pachter also talked about the historical growth of rhythms of Japanese taiko drumming. Pachter used a series of videos to show taiko drumming’s evolution and rise to international stardom since 1951, when a Japanese jazz drummer invented the art form by infusing his own drumming style into traditional Japanese drumming styles. Taiko drumming formed when people began mixing modern rhythms and theatrics into the performance of traditional Japanese festival drumming, called matsuri-bayashi. It has has since become synonymous with all Japanese musical forms, and this musical form has grown significantly from its Japanese origins. There are now around 15,000 taiko groups in Japan and at least 200 others around the world, said Pachter, including many U.S. university groups on the West Coast. Featured recently in the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics, taiko combines the use of four Japanese drums and accessory instruments to create a powerful ensemble sound. Pachter played performance videos of various taiko groups, featuring a diverse collection of genders and ethnicities rocking out on drums with acrobatic flair. Four distinct styles of taiko performance developed and spread across Japan, entertaining audiences with theatrical takes on traditional music. In the 1960s, a Japanese drummer started a taiko school in San Francisco, where Americans of both Japanese and non-Japanese descent helped to popularize taiko for U.S. audiences. He enjoys learning about and showcasing the booming drums. ‘The more I started finding out about taiko, the more I became interested,’ said Pachter. Americans helped change many aspects of traditional taiko, said Pachter, including the composition of taiko ensembles. Women now outnumber men in American taiko ensembles, he said, and many ensembles include more members of non-Japanese descent than Japanese. Freshman Kezia Wong came to Pachter’s lecture with no previous knowledge of taiko, but she left wanting more.’ ‘It was interesting, but I wish there was a group on campus,’ she said.