The ensembles for Noh and Kabuki include percussion called Kotsuzumi, Otsuzumi and Shime daiko.
Although the shapes of the three differ from one another, all of them belong to the category of Shime daiko. The bodies are coated with beautiful gold lacquer work. Miyamoto distributes its quality products to the National Noh Theater, Kabuki theatres the heads of various schools of Noh, Nagauta and others.
小鼓 Kotsuzumi
When one mentions Tsuzumi (general term for percussion), it is referred to this type of percussion. Cherry wood is used for the tube-shaped body, and the heads are made of horsehide affixed on metal rings. Additional lacquer is put on the heads for reinforcement and decoration. The heads are laced and tightened with bright, vermilion hemp rope called Shirabe. Hemp is favored for the Shirabe because of the softness to the touch. To play it, one hits the head directly with his hand and produces in principle four different notes. Soft and delicate skin is used for the heads, and because of its sensitivity to the changes in temperature and humidity, the player at times has to adjust the tone during the performance. For this purpose, small pieces of paper attached on the heads are used. The performer wets the paper and the heads with his saliva or breath and thereby adjusts the tone.
大鼓 Ohtsuzumi(also known as Okawa)
Ohtsuzumi has similar but slightly larger body than Kotsuzumi. The major difference lies in the middle section of the body where Ohtsuzumi body is bulged out and Kotsuzumi body is more or less smooth. For the heads, thick skin of grown-up horse is used. Since Ohtsuzumi often leads the Shibyoushi quartet of Noh ensembles, high-pitched sound is expected. To bring out the high-pitched sound, the player dries up the heads around the charcoal fire and secures them tightly on the body before performance. During the performance the player hits the head with fingerstalls made of stiffened paper.
締太鼓 Shime Daiko
Shime Daiko has exactly the same structure as the Tsukeshime Taiko for festivals and Taiko ensembles. However, the materials and elaboration of each detail is greater for the Shime daiko for Noh and Kabuki. Also, the floral-patterned lacquer decoration is made around the rims of the heads, and beautiful gold lacquer work of various designs is made on the body.