Taiko
The word taiko (太鼓) means simply “big drum” in Japanese. Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums (和太鼓, ‘wa-daiko’, “Japanese drum”, in Japanese) and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming (sometimes called more specifically, “kumi-daiko”).
Types of taiko
The nagado-daiko (長胴太鼓, long-body taiko) consists of two cow-skin heads stretched over a single-piece wooden body and tacked to high tension. The heads of the tsukeshime-daiko (付締め太鼓, often shortened to simply, “shime-daiko”) are stretched over iron rings and sandwich a smaller body. The tsukeshime-daiko’s rope is pulled tight before each use. Other Japanese taiko include the okedo-daiko (桶胴太鼓, barrel-body taiko), uchiwa-daiko (内輪太鼓、fan taiko), hira-daiko (平太鼓, flat taiko), o-daiko (大太鼓, big taiko), and a host of percussion instruments used in Japan’s traditional noh, gagaku, and kabuki ensembles.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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