Tuesday night follies

[gurdymonkey]

For some reason, only four other students showed up for class tonight.  We warmed up with renshu and the three line drill, both of which are in my hands pretty solidly now and I don't have to think about 'em very much. "Matsuri Daiko" is feeling pretty good. Jolie was having some trouble with the last line, so we got to practice that a bit, which is good, because it's tricky and I'm still getting the hang of it. It's DON don don don don don, DON don don don don don, DON don don don don don, DON-ka, and it's almost ALL right hand while the left hand circles up over your head and comes down on the drumhead on the fifth don. R R R R L R. The trick is to get the left hand swinging on the first don and let the stick be a stick because if you get it around fast enough and let gravity take over, your left hand will be where it needs to be at the right time. (And if that description makes ANY sense to anyone other than karisu_sama and didjiman I will be very surprised.)  That said, when Sean or Shannon do it, it looks incredibly showy.

More work on the chorus of "Jishin." Most of it is starting to gel, but the last sequence is syncopated and does not start on the downbeat and I know I don't have it in my ears yet, much less my hands. 

(Hmmm, Estrella War is eight months away. If I feel like I have learned enough by year end, 5 gallon plastic buckets and wooden dowels are anachronistic, but cheap - and weather proof. Paint bucket taiko at Rising Sun? Maybe....)

Found a message on the machine when I got in from gcmadtown81 with his bus laying over in Minneapolis. He sounds excited.....

Comments

[didjiman.livejournal.com]

Yes, we know what you mean :-) BTW, what's the name of the place your school is using for dojo? We need a dojo space :-( Email me richard @imagecraft.com please

[tgrcats-tail.livejournal.com]

While I have NO intention of camping Estrella (aka Mudstrella) in the near future, the idea of Paint bucket taiko sounds like a blast! (though dawn - um... can I make a request for sunset ;-)

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Unlike the Dumbekistan Drum and Drum Corps, Japanese drummers are, you know, polite!

[ldyanna.livejournal.com]

I think Rising Sun was the name of their camp.

[tgrcats-tail.livejournal.com]

DOH, thank you for the clarification! Im not a morning kitty, and BC (that's before coffee) is really NOT a time I should be posting.

Monkeygirlz with taiko

[sasha-khan.livejournal.com]

... That's a cheery thought!

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

For more info, there's a "Rising Sun" tag in my journal if you feel you need the details of our first outing together.

[tgrcats-tail.livejournal.com]

Oooo kewl! Thanks for the links/hints.
If I brave Estrella again (living in a hotel thank you) I will have to try harder to get out and visit.
And what was that you mentioned about a wafuku for fencing???

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

I've slept since then, which entry was it?

Re: Monkeygirlz with taiko

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Oh for REAL taiko. Which are expensive. Or involve deconstructing and incessant sanding of wine barrels and stretching half a cow over each end, a process that requires someplace to do it, appropriate tools and construction of a stretching device.

[tgrcats-tail.livejournal.com]

Under the rising sun tag, I think the second or third post. The REALLY LONG and descriptive one (that made me remember all the mud, and the COLD Saturday night, and the rain was it Friday all day...)
Thankfully I have also slept since then. But in the post you mentioned (rather like a side note to yourself) to work on a wafuku for someone (I will need to hunt up the name if you need it) to fence in. Since I also enjoy swishy-poking it caught my attention.

[johnomar915.livejournal.com]

hummm your description of the beats and the wavign of the left hand make perfect sense to me, but then I used to have aspirations as a conductor. But I would think that letting gravity take over would give you an accented 5th which you don't show. is that correct? or is it a very controlled strike?

Omar not a drummer

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Oh. You know, we never actually got around to that. I haven't seen her in ages, but then again, I haven't made it up to any events in that part of the state.

Not what you'd call a drummer yet either.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

It's not accented. I tend not to have as much power with my left hand as my right, so getting that swing around is a timing trick as much as anything.

Re: Not what you'd call a drummer yet either.

[johnomar915.livejournal.com]

And as with all "tricks" it's a matter of practice practice practice.

Good luck! You are more of a Drummer than I am.

[tgrcats-tail.livejournal.com]

Well Pooo, It sounded really kewl and useful. Though in all technicality, my Japanese persona (kita nyanya) would no more be fencing than my German Merchants daugher European one - guess I need to develop a persona just to go with the blades.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Somewhere else along the line, someone else asked me about trying to make fencing wafuku. I've slept since then, however, I think a man's ensemble of hakama, suikan and kosode *could* be made to work, with some modifications.

Click on my tag for "kariginu." Note the sleeves close with a drawstring, which would be useful for fighting. However, they also have this weird attachment at the back leaving big gaps along the front edges to show off the garment underneath. You'd probably have to sew it TO the kosode under it for safety purposes. You'd probably also want to sew up the backs of the sleeves to reduce the risk of