Client: Pacific Retail Management/ Wasabi Warriors
Brief: Create Functioning Imitation Taiko Drums for Store Openings
Big Kahuna was called in to custom fabricate imitation Taiko drums to be played and displayed at the opening ceremonies of Pacific Retail Management’s newest brands — the growing franchise that is… Wasabi Warriors!
With authentic Japanese Taiko drums going for $5,000-20,000 a pop, Pacific Retail came to Big Kahuna for a more affordable option without compromising on the aesthetic prowess and majesty of the Taiko, nor too seriously foregoing the Taiko’s customary, hearty, mellow sound quality.
Swapping the wood and leather used in traditional versions, BKI opted for polyester/nylon skins (a common synthetic animal skin substitute) stretched over fibre-glass drum bodies – tightly secured with ‘truckloads’ of broad upholstery pins. We gave the polyester a warm, leather-like look by treating the “skin” with a stable purpose-blended, organic glaze tint. Big Kahuna achieved high fidelity using some of the most basic fabrication techniques but applied with suitably high structural intent.
Deeming that structure of the drum would have to be ‘bulletproof’, so it would hold fast while a big and burly Wasabi Warrior kept the beat, one technique we used was to structurally discipline the drum bodies with 62mm thick marine-epoxied ply rings as armatures. These could apply to a maxi yacht’s construction for their strength, but provided the high compression modulus required for stretching our drum skins, in this application.
Another innovation, serving to simplify the activation of the Taikos in service, was to incorporate rare earth magnets and ferrous plates so as to align the drum at a prone, graphically strong brand angle upon the chunky stands. So, without need for screws or pegs, franchisees can click-lock the Taikos onto the sturdy bases – and then belt the living shit out of them – tunefully, of course!
Via traditional drum making techniques, it requires the application of thousands of kilos of pressure over some weeks, to stretch the drum skin tightly enough to eventually beat sweetly. Our solution was simple but effective… using an individual screw’s pulling force between two timber formers, and multiplying this 40 times at the perimeter, “drum-tight” was achieved. Perhaps they’d have done this traditionally, as well – if they’d only have invented the humble ‘grabber’ and ratchet drill, then!
The Wasabi Warrior’s logo is a gem! It is emblazoned on the skins via controlled wick-in vinyl dyes.
The deduced approach was successful. Pacific Retail is rolling out the drums for Wasabi Warriors, nationwide. Some are customized as pancake versions to fit the retail space. Go on!… Eat wasabi with passion – to the authentic beat of a Taiko. Boom!
