By Jon Dumais

Photo courtesy of melodyann.blogspot.com

Yamato, the drummers of Japan, shook the Williams Center for the Arts on Friday night with their intense drumming. Their show, entitled “Gamushara,” was a spectacle of exotic drumming that commanded respect and admiration from the audience.

Yamato is a company of drummers, both male and female, who playWadaiko (Japanese drums). They work together with precision on stage, and perform in a way that is impressive musically, artistically and athletically.

So they beat on drums.

But to anyone who has seen them perform, it is much more. Yamato is a highly disciplined company. When they hit their drums, they make exaggerated motions to increase the aesthetic effect of their motion. They move with speed and look good doing it.

The drums they pound upon come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They make use of every instrument, including string instruments and chimes. During the chime routine, the performers pretended to play catch with the music. The way that they played their chimes made it sound as though they were cradling a ball within their chimes: toss it up, allow gravity to bring it down and pass it back and forth before they volleyed it off into the audience.

It is no wonder that Yamato is so precise and physical. On the group’s website, they admit, “All we do is practice, except sleeping, going to the bathroom or mealtime.” But the word “practice” is not confined to drum work.

Each morning, the members of the ensemble go on a 10-kilometer run to start their day. Weight training follows. Come afternoon, the group does drum work together and then separate for individual practice until they go to bed.

This schedule may seem all consuming, but for the members of Yamato, it is worth it. During the performance, in addition to their beautiful movements, their raging sound and their ferocious energy, the drummers of Yamato show a mix of two emotions: intense concentration, and extreme happiness. They have the look of satisfied enthusiasts. They appear to be living in accordance of their motto: “Go anywhere if invited and make the world a little more happy.”

Yamato is not just a pleasant listening experience. It is an interactive exercise for the members of the group as well as the audience. While the members of the group do not speak English, they are still adept at reading and controlling the crowd.

They invite the audience to participate in clapping exercises, but if they aren’t satisfied with audience participation, they make it known. One of the drummers would imitate the audience and portray them as sluggish and unenthusiastic.

The drummer showed his audience the level of enthusiasm he was looking for, using voice prompts to instruct them. “DA DA DA DA DA DA DA,” he shouted. The audience would respond, clapping 7 times to his rhythm. The drummer made the exercises increasingly involved until the audience could barely keep up.

Yamato’s display was so captivating that their audience gave them three standing ovations; Yamato had to ask the crowd to take their seats: the entire audience was on its feet cheering wildly for the drummers as they gasped for breath after a complete and draining performance.