(image source: minamitori.jp)
Minamitori is a name very well-known in the Taiko community. Guy has immense passion for the game, is very good at it (4th place in the 2016 Donder Championship!) and does both content creation for the game on Youtube, as well as running a business making handmade Taiko bachi which are, as I have heard myself, fine-tuned for high level play.
A couple months ago, I received a huge surprise in my email inbox. Minamitori himself had sent me a message! He was impressed with the work that me and the Taiko Time team had done to spread the fandom of Taiko no Tatsujin to a wider audience outside of Japan, and gifted me some of the handmade Taiko sticks from his workshop. To think our humble blog had gotten acknowledgement from him! Needless to say I was very excited at the chance to sample his craft.
Absolutely crazy parcel to receive
There's not much I can say that would make this review not sound like a sponsored post admittedly but I will say it was a sincere gift. I offered this review in exchange as I couldn't accept four pairs of high-quality bachi just like that. Minamitori has mentioned to me that he wants to make his bachi more available to the international Taiko community and as such has an Amazon link for easy purchase if you wish to try the sticks out for yourself.
Some background about myself as a Taiko player before I start the review, as player skill level will affect the perspective of how the bachi are evaluated:
- I have silver crowns (clear) on every single song in Taiko Nijiiro arcade, of which around 1300 of them are full combos (80+ charts left in the arcade that I have not yet FCed).
- My highest rank on the dojo is 10th Dan.
- Main bachi used for about 2 to 3 years prior is the official Mybachi (both Yamabuki and Red), and I will be comparing my experience on Minamitori's bachi with these two.
I tend to also prefer longer bachi; around 39cm as compared to the standard 36cm, and slightly weightier ones on top of that. Super light bachi don't work very well on non-Japanese cabs as the sensitivity tends to not be in top condition on average, and I just enjoy the general feel of momentum which you won't get on light sticks. A Tatsujin-level player would probably be able to pick out finer differences in the feel of the bachi but I digress.
Thankfully also for me, all the bachi supplied to me are 39cm, though 37cm editions of each are also available in the store if you prefer yours to be a more standard length.
The review was done on a well-maintained cab with good sensitivity, and I mainly focused on a few songs for each of them;
Angel Halo (Oni) and Yami no Mahou Shoujo (Oni) for basic patterns,
Anata to Tu Lat Tat Ta (Ura Oni) and Souryuu no Ran (Oni) for roll technique,
Kita Saitama 2000 (Oni) and Yuugen no Ran (Oni) for high speed and high difficulty.
Ho Wood Eagle Edition - Standard
Price: 6480 yen
The only one of the four bachi I received that is made of Ho wood, easily identifiable from the dusky color (the other three are made of yellow cypress). This is advertised as standard spec and well-balanced, and it does feel that way to me. This pair has average weight and average rebound, not overly sharpened at the tip and feels pretty nice in terms of swing control, very quick and responsive. Despite being the standard weight option, it still felt lighter compared to the other three pairs I tried out. (there are two weight options for Eagle Edition, there's another that's even lighter) There is of course a weight variance since the bachi are all handmade so mine are probably on the lighter end of the range.
Using the Eagle Edition Standard, performance on basic charts in the 7 star to 9 star range was very good. I had to work a bit when using it to play more difficult high speed charts like Kita Saitama consistently; noticed that I had to swing at a slightly wider angle and strike a bit harder. That's most likely a personal preference thing as I still ended up scoring very well with relatively little effort.
Responding to any timing mistakes I made is very easy on this pair since there's not as much momentum; I can correct my swing in just a few notes of difference and get back to playing properly, and this is probably its greatest advantage; agility. This will probably end up being my substitute pair for high speed 10*s if my physicals aren't great during a particular session.
Overall an excellent high performing pair, very light and agile and great for learning and getting used to the deeper end of Taiko.
Drumroll Pro - Lightweight
Price: 4980 yen
For specialized technique.
The immediate difference you first notice with this pair is two-thirds of it is wrapped in grip material, which according to Minamitori is an important part in how it operates. Drumroll Pro is optimized for playing with the roll technique (ロール処理). This tech goes by many colloquial names but it's where you hit the Taiko surface once, and let the stick bounce and strike the drum again; one swing for two notes in quick succession. A very interesting and less physically taxing way of playing the game, which becomes almost an essential skill on the very top end of the difficulty scale where charts frequently hit blistering speeds of 300 BPM or even higher.
I won't discuss this technique in detail in this article but ロール処理 is well-covered on Youtube with a lot of video footage of the stance you need to hit two dons, two kats, don then kat, and kat then don. With some practice and a bit of muscle memory re-adjustment, it is satisfying to pull off.
That said I am far from being consistently good at the roll technique, which the Drumroll Pro is advertised as being a good pair to facilitate it. The grip tape being so high up changes the weight balance just enough for a good bounce to be achieved, making the process of rolling a bit less strenuous. I used this pair on Souryuu no Ran and other roll-heavy charts way more than the other three and noticed the difference. Though I am personally a long way off from mastering the tech, it does make things a lot easier to do. I can swing with more or less force, grip the bachi more firmly or more loosely, and the rolls would still come out just fine as long as positioning and angle are correct.
It performs about as expected when you swing normally and is fairly lightweight, far lighter than everything I tried here. Not my cup of tea for everyday play since I prefer something with a bit more momentum, but for the few charts where the roll technique is a must, or to just practice roll technique, it serves its purpose well. Just be aware that when the grip tape eventually wears down, your replacement should be wrapped just as high!
Cedar All-Purpose - Standard
Price: 4480 yen
Balanced all-rounder.
Alright now we're in the weightier end of the scale. Though none of the four pairs are as heavy as the official Mybachi Red, this would be the closest in relation and is my second favorite due to its balance and ease of use (I did clear 10th Dan last year using the Red, so there is something that's just right about the design). Handling this feels like I'm handling the Red but with all the problems I had with it ironed out; this has my preferred bachi length of 39cm, has a tapered edge for proper rebound and just feels better overall.
This was the pair I started my testing with and my first impression was the sound it makes as you strike the Taiko surface; it has a very satisfying ring to it. Being a bit heavier than the other two I covered earlier it also gives me that swing momentum I needed for better performance and this is on the cheaper end of Minamitori's offerings. I can see why this is a popular pick. It does decently at roll technique too! One of my highlights during testing was an FC on Carmen Prelude Ura and some good upscores on Souryuu no Ran.
If you're in the market for only a single pair and want a well-balanced performer for any level chart, this is for you. Great
for skill climbing through the lower to middle level Oni, since it's not
optimized in any one area, and as with any good pair of custom bachi,
the aim is to be able to progress upwards while minimizing physical
stress of your arms and wrists. You can definitely get some use out of
it on higher tier charts, once you break it in and get used to how it
feels.
That said, I was playing on a very well-maintained cab, so your mileage may vary with performance.
Gold Tatsujin Model - Standard
Price: 7980 yen
Highly fine-tuned model.
Named as such because this exact spec is what Minamitori himself uses to reach Gold Tatsujin rank in the dojo mode. The grip color and material is very striking and definitely is nice to hold! As for play, at first personally it feels almost the same as the Cedar All-Purpose, so after being done with the Ho wood and the roll specialized bachi I focused a few subsequent sessions with these two on all sorts of high level charts to see if I could pick out the difference.
I did find that my performance on this eventually won out slightly; it was around the same weight, yet had many of the advantages you would expect from a lighter pair of bachi. I found myself able to make better timing corrections on this pair, it rolls decently well, and can go a long way before getting tired. Hands don't have to work as hard as on the Ho Wood bachi either. It has the highest rebound of the four so that probably contributes to the reason.
The rebound also gives this bachi a slightly higher learning curve than the others in terms of swing control, some muscle memory and timing adjustment is needed when using this. My general accuracy was actually worse than usual when I started playing with the Gold Tatsujin model. Once you get used to it though, this model will likely take you very far up and it ended up being my main bachi of the four. I'm using it for my own casual sessions alongside the Yamabuki, which also has a similar swing control tech but way less rebound, and am planning to take on 10th Dan this year with it.
As a result of this fine-tuning, this pair is more expensive than the others, but if you're serious about the game this pair of bachi will serve you well.
Once again, huge thanks to Minamitori for gifting his work, and I'm very honored that he has followed our blog's progress for such a long time! If you're interested in getting a pair of his bachi for your own, you can either order from his website directly (minamitori.jp) or through his Amazon store.
