The type of bachi you use for playing an okedo very much depends on what type of okedo-daiko you make. For larger drums, you can use the same bachi employed for large tack-headed Miya-daiko taiko drums.
Many okedo have thinner heads than the big miya-daiko, however, and I prefer a stick made of softer wood. In Japan, they use hinoki (Japanese cypress) and the even lighter hô (magnolia).
Katsugi are often played with a soft bachi about 370mm (14.5") long and 19mm in diameter (3/4"). Being lightweight, these sticks can be very fast, allowing the player to more easily perform "cross-sticking", a technique in which the drummer switches from the front to the back head with the left hand. I have pairs I made from Honduran mahogany and walnut, two of the lightest woods I could find in my local stores. I also bought a nice pair from Prefect Harmony Taiko Store (Kawada). They are hô.
The daibyôshi pictured on some of these pages is played with flat bamboo sticks sometimes called take-bachi. These are used in Japan for kabuki theater drums, but I had to make mine myself, since I couldn't find a way to order them. They often have wrapped handles, which makes them more comfortable, but I haven't done this to mine yet. These sticks are slightly larger than the ones used in Japan. Mine are 420mm (16.5") long and they taper in width from 20mm (3/4") at the grips to 10mm (3/8") at the tips. They also taper from 5mm (3/16") to 3mm (1/8") in thickness.
A collection of bachi. At the top are the take-bachi I use for my daibyoshi. On either side of the CD are katsugi bachi: hô on the left, Honduran mahogany on the right. At the bottom are standard miya-daiko bachi for size reference. I do not use the CD for playing taiko drums. It is also for size reference.
