TAIKO

any of various Japanese forms of barrel-shaped drums with lashed or tacked heads, usually played with sticks (bachi). When the word combines with another for the name of a specific type of drum, the t euphonically changes to d, thus the large o-daiko of folk festivals and Kabuki drama and the gaku-daiko of the court orchestra (gagaku). The tsuri-daiko is a hanging drum made of zelkova wood and suspended within an elaborate circular frame. Other prominent taiko are the asobi-daiko (a children's frame drum) and den-den-daiko (a fan-shaped frame drum).