About Us
We are members of Stockton Bukkyo Taiko and we started the journey to make taiko drums in 2011. We gained experience by making drums that were paid for by individual players and then for the group itself. The journey has brought us many opportunities to learn, sometimes from our mistakes! Together, we laugh and enjoy the drum making. Our friendship is the main reason we keep doing this. It is a lot of fun and we all three enjoy applying our scientific skills, asking questions and experimenting, trying to figure out how we can improve our process on the next drum. We intend to make changes as we make new drums and we will try to update the information as we learn more with experience.
Robert Crawford
Robert got everything started by researching online and building the stretching stand. His expertise in rope comes from his experience racing his sailboat in the Singlehanded TransPac from San Francisco to Hawaii. He wrote a book about this adventure, titled “Black Feathers“. Robert is retired from a career as an Oral Surgeon.
Matthew Bruni
Matt brings his expertise in woodworking to the project. Take a look at the kitchen cabinets which Matt built by hand, including making the butcher block counters with thousands of biscuits. Matt is retired from his career as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist.
Susan Bruni
Susan is our webmaster and film maker. She designed, sanded and finished the kitchen cabinets that Matt built. Susan brings her analytical experience from 25 years working as an electronics engineer. The inside of her drum reads “It is never too late to have a happy childhood”.
