As an artist I strive to produce quality hand made work, uniquely made for its owner. Each drum exhibits exceptional craftsmanship that is not seen in our market of mass produced items. The wood is selected from fallen trees, cut offs or scraps left behind by others wasteful lumbering, or it finds its way to my presents through friends and others who donate. TREES ARE NOT HARVESTED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THESE DRUMS.
After the wood is collected it’s stored out of the weather, were it is allowed to dry and cure. In the mean time each piece has its own identity, and this is when the creation process begins. As the logs cure pre-visualization allows for the drums to take form before the first cut in the log is made. I can look at the log and imagine the finished shape before I carve them. After the logs are dry, I choose apiece suitable for the style of drum I have in mind to be carved.
After the wood is collected it’s stored out of the weather, were it is allowed to dry and cure. In the mean time each piece has its own identity, and this is when the creation process begins. As the logs cure pre-visualization allows for the drums to take form before the first cut in the log is made. I can look at the log and imagine the finished shape before I carve them. After the logs are dry, I choose apiece suitable for the style of drum I have in mind to be carved.
The first cuts are made with a chainsaw, I’ll square the ends to each other, and at the same time determine the length of the drum, most often the size depends on the width and length of the log. After the log’s ends have been trimmed, I’ll take the time to stand the log on end and try to picture what I want the drum to look like. Sometimes taking the time to roughly mark out the shape with a wax crayon and some times just go right into the log with the second series of cuts.
The third cut on the log is the cut that divides the drum between its body and its tail or horn portion of the drum. Making this cut the whole way around the drum and taking care to keep the depth the same, this becomes the deepest cut and central portion of the drum. The following cuts will continue to be cut to this same location to form the hour class shape.
After the drum has been visualized, the log trimmed and the initial cut to divide the drum, I then stand the log back on its end and continue to use the chainsaw to remove the bark and gradually rough in the shape of the drum. I work my way around the edge of the log slicing little pieces off at a time until the drum begins to take its form.
The third cut on the log is the cut that divides the drum between its body and its tail or horn portion of the drum. Making this cut the whole way around the drum and taking care to keep the depth the same, this becomes the deepest cut and central portion of the drum. The following cuts will continue to be cut to this same location to form the hour class shape.
After the drum has been visualized, the log trimmed and the initial cut to divide the drum, I then stand the log back on its end and continue to use the chainsaw to remove the bark and gradually rough in the shape of the drum. I work my way around the edge of the log slicing little pieces off at a time until the drum begins to take its form.
By now I have a solid piece of wood that resembles the shape of a drum but its extremely rough and jagged from the aggressiveness of the saw’s gutting surface. I’ll now place the log on a bench were it will be comfortable to be worked upon with a hand held angle grinder. After attaching, wood abrasive grinding disks to a small hand held grinder I’ll continue to remove marks left from the chainsaw and reveal the final shape of the shell.
Upon completion with the grinder it’s back outside in the sun. I’ll make the initial cuts to carve out the center of the drum. The drum has now taken its finished shape, but is still solid and needs its center removed. Laying the drum on its side or securing it to a workbench, allows for it to remain stationary, as I make my cuts into the center of the log. The first cuts are again made with the chain saw, using the end of the chainsaw allows the center of the shell to be cut into a pie shape. To do this the using the end of the saw, gently driving it into the log while moving it towards the outer wall of the drum. This process takes place on both ends of the drum, if possible; some of the smaller drums the saw will not fit and need to totally have their horn or bottom portion chiseled out. The saw is used minimally on the inside, only to roughly loosen the center and make for easier chiseling. After the center cuts have been made, the rest of the center is chiseled. A few custom made chisels allow for the center to be knocked away and a hole to be broke through to the other side. Once the initial hollowing is complete the drum is allowed to sit awhile longer for curing before the finial chiseling.
Upon completion with the grinder it’s back outside in the sun. I’ll make the initial cuts to carve out the center of the drum. The drum has now taken its finished shape, but is still solid and needs its center removed. Laying the drum on its side or securing it to a workbench, allows for it to remain stationary, as I make my cuts into the center of the log. The first cuts are again made with the chain saw, using the end of the chainsaw allows the center of the shell to be cut into a pie shape. To do this the using the end of the saw, gently driving it into the log while moving it towards the outer wall of the drum. This process takes place on both ends of the drum, if possible; some of the smaller drums the saw will not fit and need to totally have their horn or bottom portion chiseled out. The saw is used minimally on the inside, only to roughly loosen the center and make for easier chiseling. After the center cuts have been made, the rest of the center is chiseled. A few custom made chisels allow for the center to be knocked away and a hole to be broke through to the other side. Once the initial hollowing is complete the drum is allowed to sit awhile longer for curing before the finial chiseling.
Each drum requires three steal rings in order to attach the head. measuring the circumference of the drum shell, pieces of iron rod are cut a short length longer, this will allow for the finished ring to slide over the drum shell. The iron rod is then hand rolled through a rod bender, bending the rod into shape. Each ring is then welded, and ground leaving the ring clean of sharp burs. The rings are then painted with an anti rust paint and rapped with plastic electricians tape. This keeps the rings from rusting and damaging the head. The two rings used to attach the skin on the drum are very similar in size, and are usually the larger rings. The third ring is usually smaller and used over the horn , or smaller end of the drum. This ring will allow pressure to be drawn back against the top two rings. The smaller of the two top rings and the bottom ring are then covered with cloth to further protect them. I use a marine grade rope , normally 5mm to tie a series of not’s around these rings. The not’s become the contact point with the drum skin and pinch tight against the skin keeping it from slipping.
The remaining ring is used to secure the head. Goatskin is preferred by most hand drummers, and is most commonly used on Djembes. The skin is chosen by thickness according to the shell it will be married with. . After the skin has been selected and prepared, it is laid flat on a table and cut to size, a few inches in diameter larger than the drumhead. Once the skin has been cut to size it’s soaked in water to make it pliable and stretchable. There are different techniques used during the soaking to achieve different desired quality. If the head is desired with hair on it, the skins will only soak long enough to make it pliable. If a clean hairless skin is desired, the skin is soaked up to three days to loosen the hair follicles, and then the hair is pulled away from the skin. After the hair has been removed the skin may be left natural or lightened in color by soaking in lime juice or lye. Then skin is now ready to be attached to the drum.
I use marine grade rope with that has limited stretch, it needs to be spooled before use. I roughly estimate how much rope will be needed , and cut a length that is appropriate. The soaked skin is placed flat on a bench were the heading will take place. The skin is laid so that the outside surface of the animal is facing upward. The metal ring, absent of rope is centered on the skin. The skin is then wrapped and loosely sewn around its ring. Once the skin is sewn, the rings that have been prepared with rope are put in place. The skinned ring and the roped ring are placed together and set back on the bench. The drum shell is placed on two rings. The third and remaining ring is positioned over the shells horn, or slid over the narrow end of the drum. Working around the drum the rope is woven between the top and bottom rings. The slack is pulled tight, and the head is pulled evenly into its final position. The drum now looks complete but still needs tightening. It is placed aside to dry, sometimes up to a few days, depending on the skins thickness. This allows the skin to dry to its shape around its ring. Once dry further pressure can be applied with out slippage and loss of tension..
Using my weight to hold the drum in place, I’ll slowly pull the head tighter. Starting at one end of the rope were it has been tied off, I work my way around the drum pulling and holding the tension until I can remove the collected slake where I started. I’ll continue to pull slack out of the drum, carefully not pulling the head uneven. It may take five or six times around the drum before all the tension by hand has been removed. To save my hands from rope burn and allow pulling extreme pressure I use a devise used by sailors, this cleat pinches the rope and allows for a better grip. The last thing to do is tune the drum, I prefer to use a traditional African technique known as the Mali weave. The weave crosses the vertical running ropes, and continues to pull pressure down upon the drums head. The weave is continued around the drum until the head is at its desired tension. The drum reaches its finished state when a deep bass and good tonal quality has been reached. Each drum is different and may need further tuning as the skin stretches, but the use of the Mali weave makes it easy to maintain the instruments tension and tone.