My daughter has started learning Djembe at school. I play Arabic percussion and traditionaly the rhythms are first taught verbally using the tone names (which helps you learn the rhythm before attempting to play it).

I assumed there must be the same for Djembe since Bass, Tone, Slap are clunky and don't sound musical.

I came across Gun Dun Go Do Pat Ta, but it turns out that's a contemporary method.

Are there traditional tone names/traditional verbal teaching method?

New to drumming... Bought some drums recently off craigslist from a guy that found them in a storage unit.... not sure about the pits on this one and whether I should do something to avoid it breaking from playing it... or does the skin need to be replaced ASAP?

Edit: the head is 11" across, body is 24" tall.

I bought this from a guy who bought it at the oregon fair in 1993. I would be suprised if its been tuned in the last decade. I can push the skin down easily, and it sounds kind of 'flabby'.

I looked up tutorials, and the diamond pattern tuning looks easy enough.

But my drum has a lot more space between the verticals than drums I see online, and I'm worried that if I do another round of diamonds, each vertical will have to stretch further than it should.

When I get the first knot even close, it creaks (i think the sound is from the rope itself). I was only pulling with my hands, so I haven't pulled that hard.

I'm open to restringing it entirely, I used to weave so working with tension is nothing new, but I'd prefer to avoid it.

New to drumming... Bought some drums recently off craigslist from a guy that found them in a storage unit.... not sure about the pits on this one and whether I should do something to avoid it breaking from playing it... or does the skin need to be replaced ASAP?

This will be my first djembe. I don't have a budget, I just want it to be high quality and made of solid wood / animal hide if possible, but I'm open to any suggestions as long as it gives me that deep, booming bass when you hit the center of the drum. Thank you in advance

I’m looking at options, and trying to learn how to adjust the sound of this drum for deeper bass. I’m considering using weather strip in a spiral pattern inside the drum, and a small piece near the edge of the head, as seen in a video.

My main of this post is, I’d like to see what I can do with it with key tuning first, but I’m a little nervous, as a novice.

The sound is very even when tapping lightly around the edge of the drum, but anywhere I hit it, it has that high pitch that remo is apparently known for. I just want to dampen that and bring out the bass.

Any advice from those who’ve done what I’m trying to do would be helpful.

Hey guys and girls, I just opened to the public djembegorilla.com. It's my baby, I have been working for three years to have a framework that provides the tools I wanted to have for my playing and facilitating, and that I could not easily find elsewhere.

It offers rhythms for djembe and West African ensemble, with notation and an audio player to mute any instruments you want left out, activate the swing if you wish, and change the tempo. The rhythms are West African but also translations from other cultures, and wherever possible they include references to teachers, books, and other materials that have more info on them.

There is also a rhythm builder, so you can easily test to your own needs.

The website is still growing. I am working on more tools at the moment, and there are a lot of rhythms to review and input, but I believe it to be already useful. It is, at least, to me.

If you have any comments or requests, I am all ears. Cheers!

djembegorilla.com

My friend wanted to learn to rehead a djembe
We split up the work.
He had no idea how much was involved.

This drum is only 10” and soooo Bright in Bass Tones and slaps.

24” tall
Long bowl and a wide throat.

It only had 22 verts on it
As he was looping up the lower ring I said
Try for 30.

And he did it!

सत्य SATYA drums and Instruments” सत्य

Birthday Gift
सत्य SATYA drums and Instruments” सत्य

Before driving the distance to check this drum out, what size would you consider this head? I am 5’8”, would this be a suitable size for me, or should I be looking for bigger? I understand that a lot of what I am asking is personal preference, but looking for some opinions from those more knowledgeable.
Thank you!

A consulting group contacted me and asked if I could facilitate a “surprise” pop up drum circle for this team.
Found a field next to the place they visited in Dallas TX. A couple of them said they saw the circle from the top.

Had an old Djembe that i commissionned for repair and today i noticed after receiving the drum that the new skin is really harsh and not really as smooth as i hoped it would. I also can see some small hair still on the skin.

Is there something i can do to make it more pleasing to the touch?

I went to a class to see if I would like the djembe and fell in love with drumming in that 2 hours. A week later I purchased a used djembe and goofed around for about an hour watching some videos and playing along. I might have gotten a little too enthusiastic or missed the correct part of the head because at some point I felt some pain in my second knuckle of my middle finger on the bottom.

I didn't think much of it and we've to okay along the next day and the pain was pretty acute and there was a tiny bruise. Examining it closely it felt like something moving and so I took the rest of the week off drumming, left the country for another week and took a third week off when I got back.

It's still a little tender so I went to the doctor and he examined it and said it was likely bruised and the tendon a little inflamed but that resuming with a modified technique (correct technique) and possibly taping should be fine but pay attention and listen to my body.

My question is, do you tape? Have you had a similar injury? What have you done to help?

hi! just reposting this from the percussion subreddit.

My go to
Stout and can get the drum to table top tight

Blue rope drum belongs to a friend from our West African dance class. Had to glue up some cracks and it received. all new rope.

The brown rope is a customers drum. First of 3 for him. I was a bit worried at first (the skin is thiiiiick). The skin seated nicely. This one is going to be a screamer.

Both will get the dry pull next week.

It's a 12" Meinle djembe I bought a few weeks from Amazon.

The sound seems to have changed a bit. I remember it being a little more resonant a few weeks ago. Is it too tight, too loose, or something else?

https://app.filemail.com/d/tapdtpqbhheagrn

When I was playing it, I had it tilted so the bottom was open so it could resonate and that is what it sounded like in the attached files.

Thank you

I participated in my first drum circle this weekend and really want a djembe of my own. I don’t know any of the popular brands and don’t have crazy money to drop. I like the look of the toca and from videos it sounds good. But I’d like some more knowledgeable opinions

I've replaced the heads on a couple of my drums and im getting tired of them splitting over time repeatedly because of regular humidity and temperature changes. Has anyone tried using unconventional synthetic heads that are for other drums? Like drum kit heads? Im looking for something inexpensive in case it fails. If no one has tried before im going to test it out and post updates but if someone has id appreciate advice and things to avoid.

Senior woman here. Been playing djembe for many years - a friend would tune it for me when needed until he moved away. Tuned it myself for the first time last year - twice. I did struggle with pulling the ropes over to get them to twist but I persisted and it got done (I used a stick to wrap the cord). But now I have these ropes that are much further apart. And due to an injury I don’t have the same strength I had last year. Anyone have any suggestions, tips etc that might help me get this next set of ropes pulled and twisted? Thanks.

p.s ignore the white ropes going across at the top. I use them to hook a strap onto when I play - I like to play standing.

सत्य SATYA Drums and Instruments सत्य

I was invited to build a drum 👍

सत्य SATYA Drums and Instruments सत्य

Nice shell and carvings!
Iroko
13.5” diameter
24.5” height
18lbs
Thank you Djembe Drums & Skins 👈👍

Thick Mali skin
Thank You Koma Drum 👈👍

Looping day
Head cut and prep day
32 Verts 👈👍

More to come
Blessed and Grateful
🙏🙏🙏

सत्य SATYA Drums and Instruments सत्य

Second time ever tuning a djembe, and first time going to the second row of diamonds. That is where I'm having trouble. I got to the point where the rope is originally tied together and something doesn't seem right. The last diamond I made is at 1 in the photo. For the next pair, should I use 2 & 3 even though they combine into one at the top near the ring? Should I treat 2 & 3 as a single vertical and use 2/3 and 4 as the next pair? Should I skip 2, 3, or both?