Babaloo always has
fresh imports from Africa. Something new and surprising. When you see
Bobaloo, ask him about any new drums or contact him by means described
in the Contact page.
The drum to the right was imported from Ghana. It
was
cleaned, varnished and re-headed here in Nokomis. (this particular one
is not for sale) Most drums are priced between $170 to $250.
Tuning a djembe
Djembe drums are
tuned by evenly pulling the vertical ropes very
tightly so that a system of metal rings brings the skin down over the
drum shell. These verticals are tightened all the way around, perhaps
taking multiple passes, and using a lever of some sort. The next step
is to use more rope to put in horizontal "twists" of the vertical
ropes. It passes under two verticals, back over one, under one (making
a Z or S shape), then gets pulled hard and down. Nice even and parallel
rows of twists, as low as possible, is the ideal.
When a new skin is
being put on a drum, this whole pulling process
is preceded by soaking a skin in water until it is very pliable. That
wet skin is placed on the drum with the ring system while the rope
verticals gently pull the rings down a bit. Then it's left to dry
completely before the vigorous pulling and twisting described above
happens.
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Bobaloo
Djembes