Customer Reviews

Heartbeat Drummers of Japan

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I firmly believe that Taiko drumming is not something one can capture on a recording. It must be heard and FELT live. However, as far as recordings go, this one has a good feel. I also believe the recording technique used for this cd was intentional on the part of the makers--it forces you to turn the volume up to a level which can allow you to appricate the drumming's effect. Traditionally, the softer lower-volume parts are intended to offset the louder parts. Also, the silent gaps are very important and should be appriciated, which is something Westerners are often unused to. I feel this recording is true to the nature of the art.

People have been commenting on the quality of the actual recording when they listen to this CD, and I can understand the negative feedback. On tracks 1 (Miyake) and 5 (Hae), there are sections where volume needs to be adjusted to hear practically anything above a whisper. It does detract from the overall enjoyment to fiddle with the volume knob, but aside from that, it's got a good acoustical feel to it. Miyake has a traditional song just before it, and the harmony of the voices really adds a great touch. Monochrome is on a few other CD's; it's not the easiest thing to listen to - it's a long piece and best served as a blend of visual/audial. The Odaiko piece is powerful - but then again, it always is... Chonlima is a personal favorite, and this time it's played fast, on the edge of amazingly so. Hae is only on this album, but it's got a soothing, relaxed feel even through the build at the end. I'd recommend this for Kodo/Taiko fans, but not for first-time buyers or just the curious. You'll like it better if you know what you're in for.

The complaints about the technical quality of this recording are off-base. It was originally made during the analog era as a "direct to disk" recording. This means that it was recorded live onto vinyl (not tape) without compression or limiting. This provides an enormous dynamic range (difference between softest and loudest peaks) that will, if done correctly, reflect what the music sounds like in a live environment. It also requires leaving substantial "headroom" - i.e., not recording at too loud a level, in order to avoid distorition in loud passages. The dynamic range on the CD version is anything but limited - there are easily 60db jumps from quiet to loud passages. As one reviewer points out, the soft passages - perhaps unusual to western ears - do reflect the actual performance experience. As a second reviewer points out, the virtues of the recording are best appreciated with very high quality playback equipment. Much music today is highly compressed - the difference between loud and soft passages evened out to provide "punch". Compression also changes the way the music sounds and destroys nuance ([...]). The reviewer who increased sound levels by 980% probably did so through "normalization" - a type of compression. I'll take the original "pitiful" engineering on this disc (carried out by Doug Sax, probably the most renowned pressing engineer in the business) any day.

I bought this and Best of KODO Vol. 1 for comparison. This recording is simply magical. It's amazing. I listen with Conrad Johnson tube amps and KEF 107/2 speakers. I think those who found this recording very annoying or "poor" did not have the proper equipment to take advantage of the engineering that went into this disc. This is not background music. You really need to sit down and liten to this disc to take it all in. Yes, has fewer tracks than most CD's BUT they are alive!

Best: Go listen to this heartbeat live. (I did it twice and do it again). Second best: Use good and big speakers and feel the impact. Bandleader Leonard Eto writes for one of his other CDs, the drums sound like fruit crates if your speakers are not up to it. But if they are - goood. You want the room for yourself and absorb the pulsating life expressed in the delicately complex patterns of impact.

Quiet stretches, incredible synchronized drumming, and the musicians' shouts make this a fascinating document. The Kodo drummers are powerful and disciplined, and their music is as well. Though the sound quality is not quite perfect, the artistic quality is.

This is the live recording of some great music. However, it was manufactured from a two-track master tape, recorder with a single-point microphone. I believe the playback quality suffers because of this.

The CD liner contains the following notice: "This disc contains music of extraordinarily wide dynamic range, encompassing long passages at the threshold of audibility that build to levels of extreme intensity." This caution must have been intended to address the pitiful engineering of this CD. The actual dynamic range of the entire CD is remarkably narrow. Track 5 for example is almost completely inaudible, even at maximum volume. (My personally "remastered" version of track 5 sounds fine - after 980% amplification).

percussive masterwork of the highest order. If you like this one and want to hear some of this sound integrated into a rockin' pop sense, check out Hai, by The Creatures. The two works complement each other quite well!