How to Build a Shime -daiko

A shime-daiko is a small taiko drum composed of a tubular body and two iron hoops over which rawhide is stretched to make the drumheads.  The heads are connected and tensioned by ropes which ‘zig-zag’ between them.

A shime-daiko is relatively simple to make (once you’ve done one, the second will take about half as much time), and doesn’t really cost much in materials.     

There are two ways to construct the heads.  The first is ‘single skin’ construction, and the second is ‘double skin’ construction.  In single skin construction, you will use one fairly thin piece of rawhide for the drumhead.  In double skin construction, you use a ‘doughnut’ shaped piece of heavier rawhide with a thin piece of goatskin in the center.  I’ve included a full set of instructions and diagrams for each style, because it’s easy to cut and paste in Microsoft Word.

The following instructions are divided into 6 sections:

1. Constructing and finishing the body.
2. Forming the hoops.
3. Single skin drum head.
4. Double skin drum head.
5. Lacing and tightening the heads.
6. Making the bochi (drum sticks).
7. Drum maintenance.

Part One- The Drum Body-

The drum body is made of 18 pieces of 9” to 11” wood glued together into a circle. 

Materials-

-         1” X 10” X 4’ pine board, as free from knotholes as possible.

-         A large (12oz.+) bottle of wood glue.

-         Stain or paint.

Tools-

-         A table saw.

-         A belt sander.

-         20’ of cheap rope, like clothesline.

-         A wet rag.

-         Paintbrushes, etc.

Procedure-

1. Mark your pine board and cut it off at between 9” and 11”, depending on how deep you want your drum to be.
2. On your table saw, set the guide to 1 ½”.  Now angle the blade to 10 degrees. 
3. Cut 18 pieces as shown in figure #1.

4. Apply a liberal amount of glue to the cut edges of two pieces.  Stick them together and stand them up.  Continue around until all 18 pieces are glued.

5. Take your clothesline and tie around the glued body as tightly as is possible, making sure to keep all of the outside edges as aligned as you can.  (I’ve had pretty good luck making a tourniquet and cranking it down with a screwdriver.) Shape the body with your hands until it is perfectly circular (both top and bottom) as you can manage.  (Note- It’s been suggested that a pair of really big hose clamps would do a good job, but since I’ve never tried it I can’t recommend it.)

7. Set aside and let dry a minimum of 24 hours.

8. Using your belt sander, shave off the edges until the drum body is perfectly smooth.

9. Using your belt sander, form an angle on the inside edge of the body.

Part Two- The Hoops-

Materials-

• A ½” X 1/8^th” X 48” steel rod.  You can find these at any hardware store.
• Two heavy steel rivets or ten-penny (10d) nails.

Tools-

• A steel roller (best), an anvil (good), or a section of large diameter steel pipe.
• Hacksaw.
• Drill and bits.
• A pair of heavy wire cutters (if using nails or overlong rivets).
• Ball peen hammer.
• File.

Procedure-

1. Take your steel bar and cut it to 46”. Form if into a circle. Overlap the ends by 3”.

3. Put in the rivets or nails (flat side out), trim them if necessary and peen them over.

4. File off any sharp edges.

5. If the hoop is out of round, re-form it as best as you can.

Part Three- The Single Skin Drum Head-

Materials-

1. A side of thin rawhide (1/16^th” or thinner).

Tools-

1. Leather shears.
2. A strap cutter.
3. A rotary punch for leather.
4. Hammer punches for leather- 1/8^th” (tiny) and ½” (or larger).
5. A spool of twine.
6. A pair of scissors.
7. Hemostats or small needle-nosed pliers.
8. A five-gallon bucket filled with water. (Not hot!)

Procedure-

1. Lay your hoops on your rawhide.  Scribe a circle 4” from the edges and cut them out.

3. Place the skins and laces into the bucket of water, making sure they are fully submerged.  Let them soak for 24 hours to soften the rawhide. (Note- Do NOT put your hand in the water if you have any kind of cut or abrasion on it! I made that mistake once when I had a tiny cut on my finger, and four hours later my hand had blown up like an intensely painful balloon.)

4. Lay the rawhide out and center the hoop on it.

5. Fold two opposite sides (the 12 o’clock and the 6 o’clock positions) in towards the center.  Beginning with the 12 o’clock side, measure in about 1 ½” from the hoop and mark two parallel spots about 5/8” apart.

6. With your small hammer punch, put holes on the marked spots. 

7. Using your twine, lace a piece through the holes and tie it snugly.

8. Repeat the above procedure with the six o’clock position.  Remember that the rawhide should be sung on the hoop, but not tight.  If you try to make it tight, you will deform the hoop.

9. Work your way around the circle in opposite sets-- 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock, 7 & 1, etc.

10. Working on the face of the drumhead, ‘fill in’ by punching holes so they are spaced about every 5/8ths” all the way around.

11. From the bottom, begin snipping a few pieces of twine and removing them.  Thread the rawhide lace through the holes, working in and out all the way around. 

12. Make a second circuit of the lacing, this time reversing the direction so that your lacing is now making a ‘figure eight’ through the drumhead.  (Note- if your lacing is short, it may be necessary to splice it.  See figure #10.)

13. Trim off the excess rawhide on the bottom of the drumhead.

14. Using your large punch, make either five or nine evenly spaced holes as close to the hoop as you can.

15. Set it aside and wait until it is completely dry.

Part Four- The Double Head Drum Skin-

Materials-

1. A side of rawhide (about 1/8^th”).
2. A goat hide. (Note- Goat hide tends to come with the hair still on, and it’s got a nasty smell.  You’ll have to dry shave it off, and you HAVE to do this outside. I use my Swiss army knife.  Any sharp knife will do.  Be sure to clean up your mess, or your dog will roll in it (like mine did) and smell like hell.)
3. A small spool of nylon cord, about 1/8” thick.  Pick a nice color.

Tools-

1. Leather shears.
2. A strap cutter.
3. A rotary punch for leather.
4. Hammer punches for leather- 1/8^th” (tiny) and ½” (or larger).
5. A spool of twine.
6. A pair of scissors.
7. An awl.
8. Hemostats or small needle-nosed pliers.
9. A five-gallon bucket filled with water. (Not hot!)

Procedure-

1. Lay your hoops on your rawhide.  Mark a circle 3” from the edges and cut them out.
2. Using your strapcutter (or shears if you don’t have one), cut several long strips of rawhide 1/8” or 3/16ths” wide. (This will be very hard, but make it as thin as you can.  You can always splice it. See figure #7)
3. Place the skins and laces into the bucket of water, making sure they are fully submerged.  Let them soak for 24 hours to soften the rawhide. (Note- Do NOT put your hand in the water if you have any kind of cut or abrasion on it! I made that mistake once when I had a tiny cut on my finger, and four hours later my hand had blown up like an intensely painful balloon.)
4. Lay the rawhide out and center the hoop on it.
5. Fold two opposite sides (the 12 o’clock and the 6 o’clock positions) in towards the center.  Beginning with the 12 o’clock side, measure in about 1 ½” from the hoop and mark two parallel spots about 5/8” apart.
6. With your small hammer punch, put holes on the marked spots. 
7. Using your twine, lace a piece through the holes and tie it snugly.
8. Repeat the above procedure with the six o’clock position.  Remember that the rawhide should be sung on the hoop, but not tight.  If you try to make it tight, you will deform the hoop.
9. Work your way around the circle in opposite sets-- 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock, 7 & 1, etc.
10. Working on the face of the drumhead, ‘fill in’ by punching holes so they are spaced about every 5/8ths” all the way around.
11. From the bottom, begin snipping a few pieces of twine and removing them.  Thread the rawhide lace through the holes, working in and out all the way around. 
12. Make a second circuit of the lacing, this time reversing the direction so that your lacing is now making a ‘figure eight’ through the drumhead. (See figure #10.)
13. Trim off the excess rawhide on the bottom of the drumhead.
14. Using your large punch, make either five or nine evenly spaced holes as close to the hoop as you can.

31. Take your shears and cut along this line smoothly and carefully.

32. Use your pencil to mark two rows of holes approximately ½” apart and with ½” between each hole.

33. Lay the drumhead face down on the goatskin.  Hold it in place firmly, or clamp it.

34. Mark a few small lines on the edge of the rawhide that cross over onto the goatskin.  This is so you can find the correct position when you begin to lace it.

36. Take your rotary punch and punch a 1/8^th” hole every place the goatskin has been pricked.  (The reason you don’t simply make a bigger hole with the awl is that it will tear easily when under tension.  A smooth hole is much stronger.)

37. Place the disks of goatskin and the drumhead back into the water.  Let them soak for about an hour.

38. Pull the disk and the drumhead from the water.  Line up the marks and, using your nylon cord, begin firmly lacing the disk onto the drumhead. (Note- I’ve thought about doing this when it’s dry and using glue for added insurance. If you decide to try it, drop me a note and let me know how it worked.)

39. Set it aside and wait until it is completely dry.

Part Five- Lacing and Tightening the Heads-

The process of tightening a shime-daiko is much easier with two people.  Don’t be afraid to tighten the living bejeezus out of the drumheads.  They can take a lot more than you’re willing to give, I promise you.  And remember, if one does rip apart, you can always make another.

Materials-

1. Thirty feet of 3/8” white nylon rope (twist, not braided)

Procedure-

1. Place the body of the drum in the center of the drumhead.  Place the second drumhead on the top of the body.
2. Feed one end of the rope through a hole.  Untwist about 3” of the end and braid it through the main line to form a loop.
3. Pass the free end back and forth until you reach the loop.
4. Feed the end of the rope through the loop.
5. Begin tightening from the loop.  Make many passes around the body, drawing it tighter each time.  Make sure the body stays centered on the heads.  Tighten the rope as much as you can. Don’t be surprised if it creaks and moans when you do it.
6. Tie off the free end of the rope at the loop.
7. From now on, pictures will make much more sense.

Part Six- Making the Bochi-

Materials-

1. A 36” long ¾” diameter hardwood dowel.

Tools-

1. A wood saw.
2. Sandpaper.

Procedure-

1. Cut the dowel into two 18” long pieces.
2. Round the ends with coarse sandpaper.
3. Sand with finer paper until smooth. Do a nice job or you’ll get blisters.

Drum Maintenance-

1. Always store your drum in a dry, cool place.  Don’t leave it in your garage or basement.
2. Make a heavy drawstring bag or wooden case to keep it in or to transport it. 
3. Don’t let other people wail on it.  Would you let someone saw away on your violin? You’ve made an instrument, not a public toy for every man, woman and child to abuse.
4. Slight changes in humidity will affect the tone.  If it gets wet, ease off on the tension and let it dry.  (In the sun is okay.)  When it’s dry, re-tension it.
5. According Kodo, you should loosen the heads whenever you’re done playing and re-tighten them just before you play each time.  According to me, you should tighten the heads up a couple of times a year (if and when you notice a difference in the tone).

* Oh, and one last side note: All of the athletic stuff you see from Kodo and the other taiko groups- it’s not traditional, and certainly not pre-1600.  None of that started until after 1957. Before that, people stood or sat when they played.