A frequently played, “three-beat” drum pattern with the kotsuzumi playing on beats 5, 7, and 8 and the ōtsuzumi on beat 3. When the drummers play mitsuji the actors and chorus chant in mitsuji utai rhythms, which are more evenly paced than the standard syllabic distribution. The standard tsuzuke utai requires extending certain syllables in order to fit the metric unit when the drums stroke on every beat.
JPARC