Yatai-bayashi

Yatai-bayashi (屋台囃子^?, lit. festival cart orchestra) is a traditional taiko piece inspired by an annual festival in Chichibu, Japan. The piece been performed by many taiko ensembles, and became well-known through dramatic variations of the piece developed by Ondekoza and Kodo.Yatai-bayashi has been recognized as a piece that requires great physical endurance.

Yatai-bayashi actually began as a somewhat different piece called Chichibu Yatai-bayashi (秩父屋台囃子, Chichibu yataibayashi^?), which is intended for a festival performance, rather than a stage performance. Chichibu Yatai-bayashi is normally played during a festival in Chichibu, Japan that occurs annually from December 3–4. More recently however, this particular arrangement has also been adopted for local performances on stage.

In 1972, members of the taiko group Ondekoza spent only one week in Chichibu in order to learn the piece from festival participants and adapt it for their future performances. In addition to the short time they had to learn the piece, there was difficulty in how folk music of this kind was usually taught: Chichibu players did not conceptualize the piece in terms of its underlying beat structure. Instead, these rhythms were memorized and even contained an element of improvisation from player to player. Ondekoza could not replicate the local techniques, so the piece was substantially changed so they were able to play it. In an interview with Ondekoza founder Eitetsu Hayashi, he said, "We were really bad drummers and we knew that the only way we could show we were trying our best was to speed the piece up." To make the performance more dramatic, players leaned farther back from the drum and a decrescendo-crescendo section was implemented. It was also the first ensemble piece that Ondekoza mastered together.

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