Taiko Drums for the Band

[terrydowning]

As some of you know, I do a lot of volunteering for our local Marching Band.

The theme of this years show is "Samurai, Way of the Warrior"

Last spring it was decided we really needed some Taiko (Japanese Drums) Drums to really make the effect.

Taiko Drums typically cost thousands of dollars each. So, some of our parents started doing some research and we built them ourselves (only hundreds each now).

Here is a pic of the end result.
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Here is a link to photos of the building http://sdrv.ms/KafyGi. It took most of the summer, a lot of effort by many people, a couple of gallons of TiteBond III as each barrel stave had to be glued back into place and all gaps between the arched barrel staves and the plywood reinforcing rings had to be filled (Dust collection on belt sanders is great for making this filler along with the glue) and of course A LOT OF HARD WORK.

I was asked to handle building the stands that the drums sit on. While I helped with some of the Taiko Construction, I was not a key player there. But, the stands are all mine. These are the fourth revision on design.

Here is a link to the band in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCdvkjzJYjs at our latest competition where we took the Highest honor of Sweepstakes Award (Meaning we had the highest overall score in the competition out of 28 Bands)
Highest score for Percussion section,
High Visual Appeal Award
High General Effect award
First Place Colorguard (Flags and Rifles) in our division.

We have three performance's left this year.

This weekend we travel north 350 Milies to the San Francisco Bay Area to compete in Union City at Logan High School.

Next week, another local competition in Moorpark, CA

and then the week after Thanksgiving we compete in the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association field show championships for our division where we are currently Ranked number 1 by more than 4 points.

Our boosters are all very proud of the kids on this year's performance. I am especially proud of of my Senior Baritone Saxophone player and of course, the Taikos (which we actually hope to sell to offset the cost of production and perhaps make a few bucks for the band as well)

[dgale]

Wow - impressive! Did they start out as wine barrels? Good to see the Mark V slide into a couple of the photos :-)

[terrydowning]

Yes, we purchased used wine barrels,
Numbered the staves
removed the rings and broke down the barrels
Band saw and wire wheels were used to remove the soft wine soaked wood from the inside.
Reassembled using titebond III to glue the staves together clamped and let sit for the glue to cure.

Each drum head needs top be reinforced as the end grain of the barrel staves is not enough support to beat on.

Wine barells are not concentric, so we made a jig to hold a router with a circle attachment and routed the inside edges concentric.

Plywood reinforcing discs were glued up to 2 inch thickness and cut approximately round on a bandsaw (14" delta but it's old, so that's OK)

Using the jig we made the inside of the barrel concentric, adjusted the circle cutter for bit thickness and matched the circle to now round inside dimensions of the barrel.

The reinforcing rings are now glued and pegged into place 2" long 3/8 dia oak dowels were used to join the reinforcing ring to the barrel staves 1 hole centered on each stave glued and tapped into place.

Once that cured, the center part of the rings were removed again using a circle cutter and a router to cut the center out.

The next step is to fill any gaps between the staves and reinforcing ring, we mixed sawdust and glue for this.

Then Sand, Sand and more Sanding, you can see in the build photos that we made some jigs to turn the barrels while sanding and put the barrels at a comfortable working height. and then we sanded some more eventually to 220 grit.

Barrels were then stained with a poly finish (about 4 layers of gloss, they really shine up close).

Once the poly cured, it was time to start mounting the heads.

We purchased entire sides of cow from a pet food manufacturer we were able to get 2 heads per side.

The hides were soaked in water to soften them and get them to a pojt where they could be shaped.

for shaping the heads, we rough cut the hides over sized to a circular shape, draped over a barrel puched some holes in the hides and used ratchet straps to snug the hides down to the drums. These were allowed to dry and set a basic shape to the head.

To tighten the heads and tun the drums, steel rods are used to pierce the hide and serve as anchor points for tightening, we then attached come along hand winches to the bars and tightened the heads down in sequence tapping the drums occasionally at each point to tune the drum to the desired pitch.

Once the tuning is right, the real fun begins. The heads are tacked down to the barrel, each tack that is hammered in must be pre-drilled, and they have to go in order to make sure they look right.

The drums were then cleaned and polished.

The metal rings on the side were custom fabricated by one of our band dads that has access to to CNC machines and all kinds of metal working tools, these were then attached.

1 Drum Done, 5 more to go.

We did establish a bit of an assembly line and once we got the first drum done , we had a clue and were able to proceed at a pretty quick pace. Many nights and weekends went by lots of people went into the construction of the drums.

They really are quite impressive and a local Taiko Group is very impressed with their size and sound.

We have materials for 2 more drums that we are going to build up and sell as a fund raiser.

[Gene Howe]

Quite a build. Exceptional and unique methods to achieve excellent results.
The carts appear very sturdy and, in watching the video, serve their function admirably. Well done.

It's easy to see why that band has won so many awards. They are magnificent!

While visiting Okinawa, we were privileged to be invited to an annual ceremony where drums very similar to yours were featured. In the hour long ceremony, six drums were used and each was carried by two men. They danced while drumming. A very strenuous and exacting performance. We were told that the performers in the ceremony practice for hours every day and it's their only job.
We were not allowed to film any part of the ceremony and applause was not allowed until the ceremony was ended and the performers left the stage.

[charlese]

WOW! This project is so beautifully done it is almost unbelievable! Thank you for sharing!

Adding to the beauty and outstanding quality of the drums and the carts is the cooperation of the band boosters.

Congratulations to all involved!

[bosox]

WOW! Phenomenal project! Remarkable work! Thanks for posting

[terrydowning]

It truly was a team effort! At least 10 people were involved in the construction of the drums. There certainly may have been more.

We did our best to ensure these were as authentic as possible (within our budget anyways). A traditional Taiko of this type is actually made from a single piece of tree trunk that is hollowed out by hand by craftsmen using traditional tools. Their aren't as many of the traditional trees (I can't recall the actual species) and that significantly increases the cost (like 5 figures here and a very long wait). Drums of similar "barrel stave" construction in this size cost thousands.

The wood used in the stands is actually scavenged from our props from last year's show "White Out". I cut up 3 of the stages which are made of big box store white wood 2 x 4, 2 x 6 and plywood. I milled the 2 x material to 1" x 2" actual measurement with the SS and it performed like a champ. The wheels on the stages and these stands came from our props from 2009 Triumph and Tragedy.

The powers that be originally wanted Oak for the stands to match the drum's grain, but when I showed them the estimate for the material alone, we opted for re-purposing the stages and painted them black as our budget for props was already blown.

Most of the joints are half lap or mortise and tenon with hard wood pegs for added strength. I was able to stand on the X of the first revision and it supported my weight (I wouldn't do that regularly though). Each drum weighs about 40 pounds and the carts make them very easy for even our tiny flute players t push them around.

[algale]

Really outstanding work! I'd say those look like the real deal -- but that would be an insult. These look better than the real deal! Hard to believe they started as wine barrels!

Al

[bigfish06]

i AM TRYING TO GET AN EMAIL OR CONTACT INFO FOR TERRY DOWNING ABOUT THE TAIKO DRUM STANDS HE BUILT A FEW YEARS AGO. I AM THE EQUIPMENT MANAGER FOR WARNER ROBINS HIGH SCHOOL BAND IN WARNER ROBINS GEORGIA. WE RECENT GOT 4 TAIKO DRUMS AND I HAVE TO MAKE STANDS FOR THEM FOR OUR SHOW. WANTED TO REACH MR. DOWNING ABOUT THE PLANS HE USED TO MAKE THE STANDS OR GUIDANCE ON WHERE TO FIND THE PLANS FOR SUCH STANDS.

WALLY_HINTON@HSB.COM
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