Want to be good in Taiko drumming in the arcade? Here's a few recommendations: a) Make your own drumstick/bachi. Note that it has to be relatively light, but heavy enough so that the machine can sense your hits. You don't want one which is too light till the machine can't sense anything nor do you want one which is too heavy till you get tired easily! Note that this takes TRIAL AND ERROR and you'll need to keep making till you find one which is suitable for you! As for me, I bought a long pole stick from the hardware shop and used a saw to cut it. After that, I made it smooth by scrubbing it using sand paper.
PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WANT TO MAKE IT REALLY SMOOTH SO YOU DON'T GET BLISTERS! The contact between your skin and the bachi will cause a friction and will hurt your hands without you realizing. They can be very painful and you tend to get them often during your first rounds of active Taiko drumming. However, your skin will build resistance against it after a period of time and they happen a lot less frequently. The best thing to do to avoid blisters is to cover your bachi with a form of coating you are comfortable with handling (as pictured above)
b) Be prepared to practice A LOT and be patient!
If you want to be good, be prepared to practice a lot and DON'T RUSH! Sure, everyone who plays Taiko would love to be godly and full combo and achieve high scores all the songs they can find. Why bother to rush to pass a song you keep failing if you don't feel like drumming anymore? Doing so will put stress on yourself and you will take a longer period of time to even pass the song. Play the song only when you really want to and don't bother about what other people say.
c) Read the notes properly and not just simply mash them
I'm very sure any of you who reads to this point would have came across a very difficult setting of notes you find hard to hit. My only recommendation is to READ those notes with the best of ability and train yourself to hit them correctly. Practice makes perfect and there are a lot of ways to remember notes. For instance, you can use Taikojiro and Osu for note reading practices. I have provided over 200 authentic Oni songs in Taikojiro here and you're bound to find a song you're having trouble with! If you have the Nintendo Wii and Taiko game, I recommend you to practice your note reading abilities there as well!
d) Need not hit the drum so hard!
Please remember that playing Taiko in the arcade is NOT a showcase of strength and to show how strong you are! There are many players who play Taiko and it's important to keep them in mind! The drum's sensitivity DECREASES with time and hitting the drum really hard would decrease its sensitivity even faster! A common practice in Japan is to cover the drum with a cloth to reduce impact. A light hit is enough for the drum to sense your hit and you won't easily tire out when playing really hard songs! It's a win-win situation and other players will be thankful.
PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WANT TO MAKE IT REALLY SMOOTH SO YOU DON'T GET BLISTERS! The contact between your skin and the bachi will cause a friction and will hurt your hands without you realizing. They can be very painful and you tend to get them often during your first rounds of active Taiko drumming. However, your skin will build resistance against it after a period of time and they happen a lot less frequently. The best thing to do to avoid blisters is to cover your bachi with a form of coating you are comfortable with handling (as pictured above) b) Be prepared to practice A LOT and be patient!
If you want to be good, be prepared to practice a lot and DON'T RUSH! Sure, everyone who plays Taiko would love to be godly and full combo and achieve high scores all the songs they can find. Why bother to rush to pass a song you keep failing if you don't feel like drumming anymore? Doing so will put stress on yourself and you will take a longer period of time to even pass the song. Play the song only when you really want to and don't bother about what other people say.c) Read the notes properly and not just simply mash them
I'm very sure any of you who reads to this point would have came across a very difficult setting of notes you find hard to hit. My only recommendation is to READ those notes with the best of ability and train yourself to hit them correctly. Practice makes perfect and there are a lot of ways to remember notes. For instance, you can use Taikojiro and Osu for note reading practices. I have provided over 200 authentic Oni songs in Taikojiro here and you're bound to find a song you're having trouble with! If you have the Nintendo Wii and Taiko game, I recommend you to practice your note reading abilities there as well!d) Need not hit the drum so hard!
Please remember that playing Taiko in the arcade is NOT a showcase of strength and to show how strong you are! There are many players who play Taiko and it's important to keep them in mind! The drum's sensitivity DECREASES with time and hitting the drum really hard would decrease its sensitivity even faster! A common practice in Japan is to cover the drum with a cloth to reduce impact. A light hit is enough for the drum to sense your hit and you won't easily tire out when playing really hard songs! It's a win-win situation and other players will be thankful.That wraps up points to note when playing in the arcade. Read on for some interesting stuff...
Drumming styles
a) One-hand for each type of note style During the time I just started drumming in the arcade, I used my right hand to hit the Don notes and my left hand to hit the Kat notes. There are PROS and CONS to this style of drumming.
Pros: Can hit more complicated note patterns, accuracy increase
Cons: Not usable in high BPM songs, can tire you out easily
