Djembe in the MUD! need help please

[Tokapelli]

My Djembe fell out of my truck right into the mud, bummer! It didnt fall flat on the drum head, just the edge hit. I was able to clean it up pretty good but the skin absorbed some moisture, mostly on one side. When i got home i noticed the skin had stretched quite a bit and was loose, so i took out all of my knots. When i did that i saw the skin was warped really bad, the skin was firm on one side and soft on the other side. I put a few knots back in, only putting in enough tension to hold the skin flat again. I really have no idea what im doing thought to be honest, im not sure if im making the problem worse or what. Should i moisten the whole drum head, is it okay to let it dry for a few days and then try to retune it? im afraid the skin will tear the next time i try to tune it. Anyway, like i said, i have no idea how to fix this, any suggestions?

[Djembe-nerd]

Open all the knots and losen the skin and post a picture for better advice from the forum

[Tokapelli]

will do, it might be a few days before i get a chance to post a pic though. I think its pretty much dry now, i just have a few knots in to keep a little tension in the skin (hoping that it will keep it from warping more as it dries). I will open up all the knots tonight and see how it looks, do you think it would be safe to tighten it up if it still looks flat when i open the knots? I know its hard to help without pictures, i will try to post some soon. Basically about half of the skin got wet, only the edge had contact with mud but it soaked up the moisture. When i got home that night and took out all the knots, the dry side looked normal, but then it dipped down and warped on the wet part like it had stretched more

[bubudi]

i say keep the knots and just keep it at low tension, that way the skin will keep the shape of your drum and you don't risk doing it any damage. if it's especially humid there, try keeping it in an air conditioned room. once it has dried fully, take out the rest of the knots and pull all your verticals really tight, clamp in place and then go around again and pull really really tight. once your verticals are properly tensioned, you may only need a few knots to get it to your desired pitch.

i've had minor spillage on my drum - water and even blood. i just wipe it off straight away (remove blood with a damp tissue/cloth) and keep playing, it doesn't affect the skin too much. but if your drum head gets major or prolonged exposure to moisture, it should be dried out first.

next time secure your drum better in the truck, and keep it in a good bag!

[Tokapelli]

will do bubudi, this is a smaller 9-10 inch djembe, not very expensive at all, so im glad i can learn from my mistakes with this drum, and probably replace it for $60 or $70 if i need to. At least i didnt drop a $600 drum! I did pretty much exaclty what you said last night, and everything seems okay. I made sure it was dry, pulled all the verticals tight and only put in 3 knots in the first row and it sounds pretty good. I was really worried for a minute there, its not a very expensive drum but it still would have been a huge bummer if it was ruined, it has sentimental value. Soon i plan on getting a nice djembe from drumskull, and i will deffinitely invest in a good bag for it. Thanks for the help!

[Djembe-nerd]

so im glad i can learn from my mistakes with this drum, and probably replace it for $60 or $70 if i need to. At least i didnt drop a $600 drum!

You cannot ruin a $600 drum with water either, at most this would have resulted in a new skin. Done by you its the cost of skin $40 max, done by a builder will cost more depending on where you are.

All is well, that ends well