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Here’s how to set up a system with pretty graphs to track your practice time and display it at your WordPress site!  I’m using mine to track the time I spend each day on four different categories of practice, and also show my progress toward the goal of 10,000 hours of total practice.  Every day I add my practice times to a log file and the system generates updated graphs nightly.  When you visit my blog site, the running tally is given in the header (or anywhere else I want it on the website… like here! (4738.54).  And the graphs at my “10,000 hours of taiko” blog post are also automatically updated every night.

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This came up at the last second, but I’m performing tomorrow with Tarang led by tabla master Abhijit Banerjee tonight at Whittier college.  My good friend and amazing ghatam player Somnath Roy is also in the ensemble.  If you are in the area and want to see me struggle through some crazy fast complicated Indian pieces the concert is at 8pm at the Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts.

I just finished up the last leg of the Khoomei Taiko Ensemble tour.  These two great photos of our last concert were taken by Daniel Sheehan a Seattle based photography who specializes in Jazz photography.  He posts photos from every performance at the Earshot Jazz Festival so check out his website for more full size photos of the Khoomei Taiko Ensemble performance and other Earshot Jazz Festival performances.

After New York we flew to Seattle for two concerts and a workshop.  The Seattle Taiko community took great care of us and I’d like to give a shout out to Stan, Linda, Masae and Eric for all of their help! (more…)

Witness the debut of On Ensemble music!  New instruments join the On Ensemble mix, including gamelan gongs and home-made electronic drums, in never-before-seen compositions by each of the group’s members.  Artistic risk-taking and experimentation lead the way in On Ensemble’s most important performance of the year.  With special guests Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer (Maz and Shoji’s first teachers) of Shasta Taiko and David Wells!

On Ensemble Presents: Works In Progress ’09
A concert of all new works featuring Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer

December 12, 2009, 8:00pm
The Miles Memorial Playhouse
1130 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA  90403

Tickets: $25 available online at: Brown Paper Tickets or by phone at: 1-800-838-3006

FoundatiOn Team fund drive now underway! 

Help us reach our goal of $10,000!  Read more here!

This week I had my first rehearsal with the Dancing People Company based here in Ashland, OR.  On December 19th, ’09 they will have their 4th annual winter solstice dance celebration and I’ll be collaborating with them on one piece with taiko.  We met this Wednesday and had an improvisational session.  This was a really great experience for me since I’ve never collaborated with dancers before.  Check out their website for more information dancingpeople.com

My sister has unearthed an old CNBC interview of me and Ondekoza.  I had totally forgotten about it.  It’s funny how choppy my English was then due to speaking Japanese and broken English the whole time I was in that group.  Here’s the link:

Thu Sep 2 02:00:01 PDT 2010

A great test of taiko science is now under way!

The book Outliers (review here) proposes the “10,000 hour rule” — mastering anything requires 10,000 hours of practice. As an experiment, I’ve decided to try and track my taiko practice time. I’ve conservatively estimated how many hours completed thus far, and am now carefully recording my daily practice. Watch this site to see when I cross the 10,000 hour mark (probably somewhere between Apr 8, 2017 and Aug 14, 2026) and then we’ll decide if I’ve reached “master” status. :)

Current total:

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Graph generated: Thu Sep 2 02:00:01 PDT 2010

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My dad and I spent about a week in Switzerland. I had a good time playing around with my new camera, a Panasonic GH1. While I hate to contribute to the tragic “vacation video” genre, here is a little something I put together from the trip, using music I saw in Zurich and Lucerne. It was my first time editing video but the fantastic kdenlive program made it fun!

Lessons learned:
Switzerland is incredible
Random dances with your dad are fun
The train depot is a great place to compose at any hour

Downloadable version here. Caution, HUGE file!