Thinking about buying a djembe, but have never played one so I'm not sure what to look for and what to avoid.
Don't need the "best" one, but want to avoid getting a crap one
Any advice would be greatly appreciated....
djembe advice
djembe advice
Hi peeps....
Thinking about buying a djembe, but have never played one so I'm not sure what to look for and what to avoid.
Don't need the "best" one, but want to avoid getting a crap one
Any advice would be greatly appreciated....
Thinking about buying a djembe, but have never played one so I'm not sure what to look for and what to avoid.
Don't need the "best" one, but want to avoid getting a crap one
Any advice would be greatly appreciated....
I bought one from a little "woodwork and craft and stuff" type shop in a little tourist trap town. It sounded tops at the time, but a year on, and the skin is really loose and it sounds pretty ordinary. And I don't know howyou go about tighetening/tuning the skin. It's one of those ones tightened with rope around the skin over the wood. Cost me about $40 Australian.
I'd suggest comparing that with online stores, and going with something a bit more pro.
I'd suggest comparing that with online stores, and going with something a bit more pro.
Remo djembe's are great for studio use. That are synthetic skin and fiber-something shells.
They even use drum keys for tuning. Very high rim sound. A sharp ping. The bass is not too deep but nice. Not as deep as a real djembe.
Most that you find that are wood and flesh will be out of tune in the shop so it's hard to tell what they will sound like once they are tuned.
For wood(real) djembe's, check the wood work to make sure it's solid. Put your hand inside and feel around for where the bowl meets the shaft of the body and check for sloppy glue work or cracks. Also, inspect the head for any small gashes of cracks.
When in the shop with on out of tune djembe, play around the rim or outside of the head to listen for tones, you want one that has i nice ring to it. Harmonics.
Big ones are really nice, but when they get over 15 inches in diameter, you won't hear the bass. People 10 feet away will though.
Once you get it home, as I said, it may need to be tuned. The ropes are the key here. You'll notice, vertically, the rope crosses itself near the bottom with rope woven through in an 's'. this simply need to be repeated VERY tightly. I usually put the drum on the floor and hold it down with my foot and use a drum stick to wrap to execcs rope around while pulling with all my might. As I can't describe it, I would advise you to visit your local park and find th hippys. They will be able to show you how to weave the rope for a tighter skin and more tone.
The skins can crack so every week or month or so, rub it in a circular motion with your hand, hard and fast, for about 5 min. to apply natural oils.
Also, when fire or a hot air vent is near, you can gently warm the skin to get a much better tone. After a few camp fires with the drum, you'll feel like you need it warm. It sounds that much better. Don't warm it to much or it will dry and crack.
Let us know if you find anything nice.
They even use drum keys for tuning. Very high rim sound. A sharp ping. The bass is not too deep but nice. Not as deep as a real djembe.
Most that you find that are wood and flesh will be out of tune in the shop so it's hard to tell what they will sound like once they are tuned.
For wood(real) djembe's, check the wood work to make sure it's solid. Put your hand inside and feel around for where the bowl meets the shaft of the body and check for sloppy glue work or cracks. Also, inspect the head for any small gashes of cracks.
When in the shop with on out of tune djembe, play around the rim or outside of the head to listen for tones, you want one that has i nice ring to it. Harmonics.
Big ones are really nice, but when they get over 15 inches in diameter, you won't hear the bass. People 10 feet away will though.
Once you get it home, as I said, it may need to be tuned. The ropes are the key here. You'll notice, vertically, the rope crosses itself near the bottom with rope woven through in an 's'. this simply need to be repeated VERY tightly. I usually put the drum on the floor and hold it down with my foot and use a drum stick to wrap to execcs rope around while pulling with all my might. As I can't describe it, I would advise you to visit your local park and find th hippys. They will be able to show you how to weave the rope for a tighter skin and more tone.
The skins can crack so every week or month or so, rub it in a circular motion with your hand, hard and fast, for about 5 min. to apply natural oils.
Also, when fire or a hot air vent is near, you can gently warm the skin to get a much better tone. After a few camp fires with the drum, you'll feel like you need it warm. It sounds that much better. Don't warm it to much or it will dry and crack.
Let us know if you find anything nice.
fraq wrote:"visit your local park and find th hippys"
lol....
Thank you both for your help.
Jerry123, I like the idea of the synthetic/ fiber type. Easier to tune and a lot lighter to carry round too.
I'll check some out when I've got a bit of cash.
I played djembe a lot, both synthetic and wood made, I would recommend you a wooden one, to my ears they sound warmer, but if you have to lug it around a syntetic one could be better, they are generally lighter than the woody.
Well.. I think that you should never apply anything to the skin. The skin must be as dry as possible! Protecting it against humidity is very important. Niether you should warm it, the worst thing you can do for your djembe is to play it on a beach, warm it by the fire and then leave it uncovered. You should tune your djembe and then leave it, the more you treat the skin the faster it gets broken. But anyway, djembe's skin get's broken, and it's quite "normal", the africans say that if a skin stay's on a djembe more than a month, it has not been tuned well.jerry123 wrote: The skins can crack so every week or month or so, rub it in a circular motion with your hand, hard and fast, for about 5 min. to apply natural oils.
Also, when fire or a hot air vent is near, you can gently warm the skin to get a much better tone. After a few camp fires with the drum, you'll feel like you need it warm. It sounds that much better. Don't warm it to much or it will dry and crack.
This is obviously exagerated, my skin gets broken once a year in average, but than again my djembe is not so perfectly tuned. When I took my djembe in Africa, they even didn't let me play it, so much it was out of tune. 
Regarding the Remo stuff: Yes, with Remo you don't have to care about all the stuff above, BUT Remo djembe doesn't have the sound of a djembe, and will never have. Djembe is not made to be tuned to a particular tune (buy congas or something else if youi need this), djembe just need to be tight to the max. The bass is the less important sound djembe produce, they are dundun's made for this. The more important are the middle's and the hight's (tones and slaps) they just have to be as short as possible.
And stay out of the hippies (and room 237), hippies are (in most cases) degradating the Djembe's, I hate all this shamanic/trans/meditation shit. Djembe is a musical instrument like any other and should be taken for it. Also, to lern tighetening your djembe is a must. tuning strings are not hippy elements!
Good luck with your choice, to me it took many djembe's before I found the right one. Never buy it in a souvenir shop and never untighted!!!
.J.
the senegalese guy who learned me to play djembès (he knows his shit about it) use to let the drum under the sunlight for a while in order to warm the skin and get quicker the warm sound he wanted.PanJan77 wrote:Well.. I think that you should never apply anything to the skin. The skin must be as dry as possible! Protecting it against humidity is very important. Niether you should warm it, the worst thing you can do for your djembe is to play it on a beach, warm it by the fire and then leave it uncovered. You should tune your djembe and then leave it, the more you treat the skin the faster it gets broken. But anyway, djembe's skin get's broken, and it's quite "normal", the africans say that if a skin stay's on a djembe more than a month, it has not been tuned well.jerry123 wrote: The skins can crack so every week or month or so, rub it in a circular motion with your hand, hard and fast, for about 5 min. to apply natural oils.
Also, when fire or a hot air vent is near, you can gently warm the skin to get a much better tone. After a few camp fires with the drum, you'll feel like you need it warm. It sounds that much better. Don't warm it to much or it will dry and crack.
Regarding the Remo stuff: Yes, with Remo you don't have to care about all the stuff above, BUT Remo djembe doesn't have the sound of a djembe, and will never have. Djembe is not made to be tuned to a particular tune (buy congas or something else if youi need this), djembe just need to be tight to the max. The bass is the less important sound djembe produce, they are dundun's made for this. The more important are the middle's and the hight's (tones and slaps) they just have to be as short as possible.
And stay out of the hippies (and room 237), hippies are (in most cases) degradating the Djembe's, I hate all this shamanic/trans/meditation shit. Djembe is a musical instrument like any other and should be taken for it. Also, to lern tighetening your djembe is a must. tuning strings are not hippy elements!
Good luck with your choice, to me it took many djembe's before I found the right one. Never buy it in a souvenir shop and never untighted!!!
.J.
Half an hour sun in Dakar mean 2 hours in switzerland anyway.
And the hand fat thing is good too.
If you're playing live I'd recommend a Meinl Fiberglass model. It's got phenomenal highs, it's not as heavy as a wood, and it takes some serious punishment. It uses real animal skin, but it will take the synthetic Remo heads if needed (whenever you're faced with a broken skin in the middle of nowhere and the only store around is a Guitar Center).
LP makes fiberglass djembes as well, but I find those sound closer to congas than djembes, and cost a lot more than the Meinl models.
LP makes fiberglass djembes as well, but I find those sound closer to congas than djembes, and cost a lot more than the Meinl models.
i like wood ones most, but a good wood one with natural skinn doesn't come cheap, i was a lucky bastard and got one from a friend of my mum, he is a drum maker (only djembes) in senegal... so that one is handcrafted and from superb quality. if you are after an african handmade one, then check the quality of the wood, it should be hard wood (just knock on the body, it should sound like you hitting massive steel) and heavy as F87ck, you will easy *hear* the quality of the skinn as well, once you played it, the skinn should be nice and even shaved and sit really, really tight. (no funny assosiations here. LOL) try playing it before you buy...
i don't know the price in dollar, but a really nice african handcrafted djembe will burn an about 400-800 euro and more hole in your pocket.
it's a beautifull instrument. have lot's of fun, if you purchse one...
the only thing is that i can't play mine at home, even playing *light* makes everything shake, it's so brutally loud and has dynamics and a sound range to die for
i don't know the price in dollar, but a really nice african handcrafted djembe will burn an about 400-800 euro and more hole in your pocket.
it's a beautifull instrument. have lot's of fun, if you purchse one...
the only thing is that i can't play mine at home, even playing *light* makes everything shake, it's so brutally loud and has dynamics and a sound range to die for
(From CNN.com)
"A New York musician has tested positive for anthrax that authorities say came from unprocessed animal skins used to make traditional African instruments.
He is in stable condition at a Pennsylvania hospital, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
"The man poses no public health threat of transmitting anthrax to the community or the health care providers caring for him," the department said in a statement. (What is anthrax?)
The 44-year-old man recently traveled to Africa, where he bought animal hides and took them back to New York City to make drums, the department said.
The man, who plays native African music, complained of flu-like symptoms before collapsing last week at the end of the Kotchegna Dance Company show at Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, sources said.
The department said he was taken to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles northeast of Mansfield.
Blood tests were taken Friday, and on Tuesday the tests detected anthrax bacteria in the man's system, according to the state health department.
"At this time, there is no indication that the exposure was from an intentional release of anthrax," according to a release from the department. "The patient has a history of contact with unprocessed animal hides and recently traveled to Africa, where he purchased unprocessed hides."
It adds, "Unprocessed animal hides can be a source of anthrax spores."
Anthrax bacteria lie dormant in tough cells called spores until conditions are favorable for them to infect animals or humans.
New York City and federal authorities discussed the case at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, where they assured the public that the incident does not pose a health threat. (Watch Mayor Michael Bloomberg explain how the case is an isolated one -- 3:27)
The FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting local authorities in the investigation.
It includes an assessment of the patient's home and workspace in Brooklyn. Authorities also are trying to find anyone who might have had contact with the hides as well as members of the dance company, who are all from New York City, according to the state health department news release.
Dr. Calvin B. Johnson, the department's secretary, said a team of health experts has been sent to Mansfield University, and a public meeting was scheduled at the university Wednesday evening."
Jeez!! Synthetic it is, then
"A New York musician has tested positive for anthrax that authorities say came from unprocessed animal skins used to make traditional African instruments.
He is in stable condition at a Pennsylvania hospital, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
"The man poses no public health threat of transmitting anthrax to the community or the health care providers caring for him," the department said in a statement. (What is anthrax?)
The 44-year-old man recently traveled to Africa, where he bought animal hides and took them back to New York City to make drums, the department said.
The man, who plays native African music, complained of flu-like symptoms before collapsing last week at the end of the Kotchegna Dance Company show at Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, sources said.
The department said he was taken to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles northeast of Mansfield.
Blood tests were taken Friday, and on Tuesday the tests detected anthrax bacteria in the man's system, according to the state health department.
"At this time, there is no indication that the exposure was from an intentional release of anthrax," according to a release from the department. "The patient has a history of contact with unprocessed animal hides and recently traveled to Africa, where he purchased unprocessed hides."
It adds, "Unprocessed animal hides can be a source of anthrax spores."
Anthrax bacteria lie dormant in tough cells called spores until conditions are favorable for them to infect animals or humans.
New York City and federal authorities discussed the case at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, where they assured the public that the incident does not pose a health threat. (Watch Mayor Michael Bloomberg explain how the case is an isolated one -- 3:27)
The FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting local authorities in the investigation.
It includes an assessment of the patient's home and workspace in Brooklyn. Authorities also are trying to find anyone who might have had contact with the hides as well as members of the dance company, who are all from New York City, according to the state health department news release.
Dr. Calvin B. Johnson, the department's secretary, said a team of health experts has been sent to Mansfield University, and a public meeting was scheduled at the university Wednesday evening."
Jeez!! Synthetic it is, then