Reheading an African hand drum

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phishfood

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I have mentioned before that I am a novice hand drum player.

The type of drum that I play is an African drum called a Djembe, pronounced gem-bay. The body of the drum is carved from a single section of tree trunk, the head, or playing surface of the drum is made from goatskin, and strong cord is used to stretch and tighten the skin over the drum body.

It turns out that my sister that lives in Naples (FL) also plays the same kind of drum. A couple of months ago she called me crying the blues because her drum head failed and separated on her. Me being the wannabe drum repair technician that I am, I volunteered to replace it for her.

I took some pictures during the process, and thought you guys might be interested. If not, shut up and act like you are.:D

This is only the third time that I have been involved in replacing a drumhead, and the very first time that I have done it solo, without an experienced drum guy hovering over me and fixing all of my mistakes as I made them.

I am going to upload and post the pictures one at a time so that I can keep the description with the corresponding picture.

First one is of the drum with the old head removed. You can see the sound chamber, the rope cord verticals attached to the outer ring, the inner ring, and my incredibly sexy foot.

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Here is a picture of what will become the new drum head.

It is an African goatskin, a byproduct from a meat goat. It has been soaked in water for an hour or so to make it pliable and workable. It came rolled up in a tube, and was quite determined to stay that way. Then I washed it with antibacterial hand soap to kill any germs that Brer Goat might have been carrying around, and rinsed it.

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In this picture, I have shaved all of the hair off, and trimmed it down to about 4 inches larger than the inner ring, which is laying on top of it.

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Now I have made a series of slits in the outer diameter, and used some small wire through those slits to "tie" the hide onto the inner ring. At this point it is ready to be put onto the drum.

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This is a shot of the new head on the drum, with the outer ring over it. The next step is to start to tighten the vertical rope cords and pull the head down over the rim of the drum.

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As you might be able to see from the last picture the inner ring and outer ring pinch the hide between them, so that it will not slip when you pull the rings down.

As I was pulling the vertical cords, my inexperience showed through. I had pulled the hide too tightly over the inner ring when I wove the wire through it, and there was no reveal between the outer ring and the rim of the drum. I had to loosen everything back up and readjust it.

This picture is of the drum after I readjusted it and pulled the head down with the verticals.

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And here it is after the excess is trimmed off.

Now it will sit and dry out for a week or so. Then I will pull the verticals as tight as I possibly can, and add in some diamond weaves to the verticals to pull them even tighter. As the head stretches and seats down onto the drum, I will continue to add diamond weaves to retighten it. It is possible that I might have to take all of the diamond weaves back out and retighten the verticals once again, if the head stretches that much. Maybe I will post some more pictures then.

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My neighbor plays this kind of drum, which makes me wonder if he is shaving a dead goat right now. Pretty neat to see the step-by-step on this.
 
Really neat but one question? I have this goat that needs shaving can you help?

Also when are you going to start building the whole thing on your own tree trunk and all?

Also I see some stubble on the skin there, do you shave it again or play it as is?
 
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Really neat but one question? I have this goat that needs shaving can you help?
Sure, bring it on over.:p

Also when are you going to start building the whole thing on your won tree trunk and all?

Before I did that I would start growing and malting my own barley for my beer making hobby. Or expand my garden and start raising my own beef. And I would like to put in a woodstove and start heating and cooking with that. Reload and shoot more. Too many things that I would like to do, and not nearly enough time to do more than a few of them.
 
@havasu, the guy who showed me how to do this says that the only razor that will work is a Bic single edge disposable. You have to "modify" the razor to the point that it is no longer usable for shaving you face.

@Chris's last question. Yes there is some stubble left. I could reshave it, or let it dry and sand it with some 220 grit to get rid of it. If a person plays a lot, it gets worn off rather quickly. My personal drum has never been sanded, and most of it is worn off, though I did manage to shave that skin a little closer than this one.

Now I gotta change and head out the door, as the whole family is headed out to a drum circle this evening. Probably won't be a lot of people there, as it is outdoors and it is cloudy, light sprinkles, and very cool today.
 
Do you think you could use Raccoons for this? My buddy has caught eight so far and is tired of driving them far away and dropping them.
 
Do you think you could use Raccoons for this? My buddy has caught eight so far and is tired of driving them far away and dropping them.

Why are you driving? Sticks with nails are legal all over.
 
We were thinking of making hats and boots and selling them?

Then hit them once. No more wounds than a bullet, and you wont get powder burns.
 
That reminds me of a time I caught a big rat in a glue trap, it was screaming like hell so I grabbed a butter knife and hit in the head with the heavy butt end. It didn't work, I had to hit that thing like 15 times before it died. I kinda felt bad after that.
 

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