Bachi

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Bachi (桴, 枹) (also batchi or buchi) is the name for the wood

Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...

en sticks used to play Japan

Japan

is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese taiko

Taiko

means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming .-Types of taiko:Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide...

 drums, and also (written 撥) the plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand...

 for stringed instruments like the shamisen

Shamisen

The shamisen or samisen , also called sangen is a three-stringed musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi...

and biwa

Biwa

The biwa is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, and a close variant of the Chinese pipa. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto.-History:...

.

Drum bachi are made in a wide variety of sizes and materials, as appropriate to the drum it will be used to play. A typical bachi is about 22 mm (⅞ inches) in diameter, 400 mm (16 inches) long and made out of a hardwood

Hardwood

The term 'hardwood' is used to describe wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood which...

 such as oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

.

]

Bachi (桴, 枹) (also batchi or buchi) is the name for the wood

Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...

en sticks used to play Japan

Japan

is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese taiko

Taiko

means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming .-Types of taiko:Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide...

 drums, and also (written 撥) the plectrum

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand...

 for stringed instruments like the shamisen

Shamisen

The shamisen or samisen , also called sangen is a three-stringed musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi...

and biwa

Biwa

The biwa is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, and a close variant of the Chinese pipa. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto.-History:...

.

Drum bachi are made in a wide variety of sizes and materials, as appropriate to the drum it will be used to play. A typical bachi is about 22 mm (⅞ inches) in diameter, 400 mm (16 inches) long and made out of a hardwood

Hardwood

The term 'hardwood' is used to describe wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood which...

 such as oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

. These would be suitable for a wide variety of playing styles.

A bachi for playing a larger drum like the O-daiko would be bigger both in circumference and length. Similarly, smaller bachi are used for smaller drums.

Some other woods commonly used to make bachi are (Japanese names in parentheses): maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as Maple. Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification, favour inclusion in Sapindaceae...

 (kaede), pine

Pine

Pines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...

 (matsu), cypress

Cupressaceae

The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera with about 130-140 species. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...

 (hinoki), magnolia

Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subclass Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae.The natural range of Magnolia species is a disjunct distribution, with a main center in east and southeast Asia and a secondary center in eastern North America, Central America,...

 (hou), beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.The leaves of beech trees are entire or sparsely toothed, from 5–15 cm long and 4–10 cm broad...

 (buna) and bamboo

Bamboo

The bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Some are giant bamboos, the largest members of the grass family. Bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants in the world...

 (take). Hou is one of the lightest and softest woods, most suitable for playing smaller drums with a sharp attack and less decay. On a larger drum, however, a hou bachi usually sounds "slappy" and flat, because it is too light to strike the thicker head of the drum with enough power to generate the lower tones of the drum. It is also too soft to play on the rim of the drum (in kuchi shoka, it is called a "ka") without denting the wood. Hinoki is slightly harder than hou, and is usually cheaper as well. On the opposite extreme, a kashi (oak) bachi is heavy and hard. It brings out a good sound when playing larger taikos, but on a smaller drum, it muffles the higher harmonics of the taiko, and sounds "thunky" and dead.

Taiko

Taiko

means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming .-Types of taiko:Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide...

drumming is a highly visual art form, and so bachi are sometimes decorated with bells and/or tassels for use during performance.