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“Be Prepared & Have No Regrets” by Tetsumi Hanaoka


On Oct. 5, we gave a performance of “Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery” in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki. We also came here with “Legend” two years ago and we were happy to be back.

Photo: Tetsumi Hanaoka

Let me tell you about one type of drum we use on stage. Shimedaiko (the small drums shown above) have drum heads that are bound together by either bolts or one long rope. Kodo always uses roped shimedaiko so we can create an unconstrained, mellow yet clear, shrill sound. But because we tune our shimedaiko before every performance, the ropes wear out and eventually snap. We need to keep replacing them.

Photo: Tetsumi HanaokaPhoto: Tetsumi Hanaoka

So, we always have extra ropes on hand, just in case. The ropes are made of hemp and they are very stiff, so we pull them and beat them every day to make them just the right softness. By doing this, if one of the ropes snaps during our daily tuning, we always have rope on hand that is ready to replace it right there and then.

Photo: Masayuki Sakamoto

As the saying goes, “Be prepared & have no regrets.”

Everyday, we all do our best to be in top condition for our performances!

Photo: Takashi Okamoto

 

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