Daihachi Oguchi
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese drummer
best known for popularizing taiko
.
Master Japanese drummer Daihachi Oguchi is credited with inventing kumi-daiko, the taiko
ensemble, in 1951. After founding his own ensemble, Osuwa Daiko, he led the spread of modern Taiko throughout Japan and the U.S.
A former jazz drummer, Daihachi Oguchi took ancient rhythms, broke them down and created new arrangements and compositions to accommodate an ensemble of drummers. One day, he was asked to interpret an old sheet of taiko music for the Osuwa Shrine, which was found in an old warehouse. The sheet music was written in an old Japanese notation and he could not understand it at first. He, fortunately, found an old man who had performed the tune, and then he succeeded in interpreting it at last. However, as a jazz player, the rhythm pattern of the tune was too simple for him to play. He wondered why nobody played taiko together. A marvelous idea came across his mind and made him decide to break through the tradition. Inspired by a western drum set, he formed a group in which each player beats a different taiko; in short, he gave the group a function as a drum set. A high-pitched Shime-daiko
established a basic rhythm like a snare drum
does. A growling Nagado-daiko added accents like a bass drum. His intention was right to the point, and this epoch-making invention changed the taiko music forever.
Oguchi helped turn the traditional form into a dramatic performance spectacle, elevating the traditional folk sounds of taiko to modern music played in concert halls, not just festivals and shrines. The period from 1970s to 1990s in Japan seemed to be the Renaissance of taiko music. The activities of Osuwa Daiko and other early kumi-daiko groups in 1960s, and the taiko performance at the Tokyo Olympics
in 1964 ignited the phenomenal taiko boom for next decades.
Mr. Oguchi helped found top taiko groups, including San Francisco Taiko Dojo, which has performed in Hollywood movies and on international tours since forming 40 years ago. Oguchi also led and starred in the performance of drumming and dance at the closing ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Olympics
.
“Your heart is a taiko. All people listen to a taiko rhythm dontsuku-dontsuku in their mother’s womb,” Daihachi Oguchi told The Associated Press at that time. “It’s instinct to be drawn to taiko drumming.” “In taiko, man becomes the sound. In taiko, you can hear the sound through your skin”.
In 2008, Daihachi Oguchi died at age 84 after being hit by a car while crossing the street. Charming, fiery and vivacious, Oguchi had been scheduled to perform with Kodo, the world-renowned Taiko performance group.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
best known for popularizing taiko
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
.
Master Japanese drummer Daihachi Oguchi is credited with inventing kumi-daiko, the taiko
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
ensemble, in 1951. After founding his own ensemble, Osuwa Daiko, he led the spread of modern Taiko throughout Japan and the U.S.
A former jazz drummer, Daihachi Oguchi took ancient rhythms, broke them down and created new arrangements and compositions to accommodate an ensemble of drummers. One day, he was asked to interpret an old sheet of taiko music for the Osuwa Shrine, which was found in an old warehouse. The sheet music was written in an old Japanese notation and he could not understand it at first. He, fortunately, found an old man who had performed the tune, and then he succeeded in interpreting it at last. However, as a jazz player, the rhythm pattern of the tune was too simple for him to play. He wondered why nobody played taiko together. A marvelous idea came across his mind and made him decide to break through the tradition. Inspired by a western drum set, he formed a group in which each player beats a different taiko; in short, he gave the group a function as a drum set. A high-pitched Shime-daiko
Shime-Daiko
]The shime-daiko is a small Japanese drum. The word "shime-daiko" comes from a larger word "tsukeshime-daiko" often shortened to simply, "shime-daiko" or "shime." It has a short but wide body with animal skin drumheads on both its upper and bottom sides. The hide is first stretched on metal...
established a basic rhythm like a snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
does. A growling Nagado-daiko added accents like a bass drum. His intention was right to the point, and this epoch-making invention changed the taiko music forever.
Oguchi helped turn the traditional form into a dramatic performance spectacle, elevating the traditional folk sounds of taiko to modern music played in concert halls, not just festivals and shrines. The period from 1970s to 1990s in Japan seemed to be the Renaissance of taiko music. The activities of Osuwa Daiko and other early kumi-daiko groups in 1960s, and the taiko performance at the Tokyo Olympics
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
in 1964 ignited the phenomenal taiko boom for next decades.
Mr. Oguchi helped found top taiko groups, including San Francisco Taiko Dojo, which has performed in Hollywood movies and on international tours since forming 40 years ago. Oguchi also led and starred in the performance of drumming and dance at the closing ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Olympics
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
.
“Your heart is a taiko. All people listen to a taiko rhythm dontsuku-dontsuku in their mother’s womb,” Daihachi Oguchi told The Associated Press at that time. “It’s instinct to be drawn to taiko drumming.” “In taiko, man becomes the sound. In taiko, you can hear the sound through your skin”.
In 2008, Daihachi Oguchi died at age 84 after being hit by a car while crossing the street. Charming, fiery and vivacious, Oguchi had been scheduled to perform with Kodo, the world-renowned Taiko performance group.