All You Can Hit!

(Before we start things off, I just want to say that to tell this I had to really reach back into my memory banks. I’ve really got to start writing events as they happen, instead of going back a few weeks or so every time. I’ll be doing that a lot for the next few posts. But anyways!)

In late November during fall break, I had that chance to attend Wadaiko’s 20^th Anniversary All You Can Hit Party! Literally, that was what they called it: an uchihoudai (打ち放題). Besides being another gathering of Wadaiko players past and present, people made more of an attempt to come and celebrate ICU Wadaiko’s 20^th Anniversary. The current members had quite a task of setting up the event, contacting everyone, and preparing for the day’s activities, but luckily the retired members made sure to help out and we all ended up having a great time. As usual, the OYRangers were dazed and confused throughout much of the day, so we ended up doing odd-jobs, served food, or sat around and tried to stay out of the way. Wadaiko used up the whole basket ball court that day; half of it was covered in blankets for people to sit on and watch, the other half was covered in taikos. I mean it. Absolutely covered in taiko drums! We had every, single drum that was owned by the school and our club out on the floor. Large, small, often used, hardly touched – it didn’t matter.

The first hour or so was spent setting up, signing in, and waiting for everyone to arrive. 10 am marked the start of the party with sensei leading us in a group warm-up exercises. Then the real fun started! On a board was written all the major songs that Wadaiko has played in the past 10 years. No system was given, we just waited for the leader of the event to name a song and everyone who knew it, performed it, liked it, or wanted to try it could go up grab a drum and have a go! Some of these songs were written for 3 to 4 people, but it didn’t matter. We set up every drum we could find for each piece so that anyone who wanted to had a chance to play. There was an army of kodaikos, a plethora of chappas, a swarm of odaikos, you get the idea. Everyone else got to sit and watch the massive group play. I had only been there for one term, so I only knew that songs that they had played for the ICU Festival concert. There were so many songs that I had never heard of before. It was really strange to see the upperclassmen join the retired members to play pieces that I didn’t recognize at all. There were songs that used flutes, different sized/styled drums, and some that had bells, symbols, and gongs! People weren’t trying to have a real performance, just play Wadaiko’s pieces. You see, all but two of the club’s songs are composed by its members. There are two traditional Japanese songs that we play, but everything else is an original, which makes each piece very precious to the club.

Besides just other members, some people brought their children, too. Most of them were under 6 and they were really curious about the drums and what their parents were doing. They would stand next to the taikos as their moms or dads play and were amazed that their parents knew how to do all of these songs/dances. On little girl insisted on sitting in her mother’s lap while she played the kodaiko and another boy hovered around sensei as she performed an odaiko and chime solo. We brought out a giant, fluffy, stuffed pig for them to cuddle with and we had little Wadaikos for them to hit. Anything to keep them interested. Derek's parents even came all the way from California and got a chance to play the drums with him. Afterwards, he took them out around town, but they left us dried mango strips from Trader Joe's! What a treat!

I got to perform all the pieces that I really likes, and even played on some drums that I know the club would never allow me to perform on. That’s what the kick out parties and All You Can Hit sessions are for, after all: experimentation, exploration, and just hitting a drum in a loud room!! Afterwards, we went out to an All You Can Drink place, but I went along for the company and the food. It all turned out to be a great day. I’m really lucky to have come to ICU this year and met the Wadaiko players. They’ve helped me make some of the greatest memories here.