Theshime-daiko (締め太鼓) is a small Japanese drum. It has a short but wide body with animal skin drumheads on both its upper and bottom sides. The hide is first stretched on metal hops, then stretched over the body. Similar to thetsuzumi and to Africantalking drums, both drum heads are bound together with cords so that the drum heads are bound by each other. Like the largertaiko drums, the shime-daiko is played with sticks called "bachi," while it's suspended on a stand. Being very taut, the shime-daiko has a higher pitch than that of normal taiko. Shime-daiko are used in various Japanese music ensembles, fromnagauta,hayashi,taiko, to folk music, ormin'yō ensembles.[1]
Shime-daiko have been used in Japanese music genre since thedengaku of the Middle Ages.[2]
The word "shime-daiko" comes from a larger word "tsukeshime-daiko" (付締め太鼓) often shortened to simply, "shime-daiko" or "shime". The prefix "tsukeshime" (付締め) incorporates the verbstsukeru (付ける, "to fasten; to attach"), andshimeru (締める, "to fasten; to tie"); the compound connotes a tight, secure fastening.
