what is this ?

[simba]

is it a good quality djembe?
thanks a lot!

[Tom]

Below is a link to a thread on this wood (Noumou, Gele, Chelen, etc).

technical-advice/gele-wood-your-thoughts-t1387.html

I mostly avoid it because it tends to be very heavy, and because the wood-eating powder post beetles really love Chelen sap wood. But, some time ago I viewed the photos
of the maker, Bara Gnouma, and I can tell that their high end djembes are carved with great precision. Can't attest to the sound quality since I have not heard them played, but they are definitely professionally made instruments.

[simba]

thanks Tom! here's the youtube link of their drum playing:
It seem their drums have a strong ringing sound, I'm not sure if it is caused by their smooth bowl inner shell?
can you tell me why?
thanks again.

[simba]

Many thanks for your help.

[michi]

The ringing isn't necessarily caused by the shell. It can be caused by the individual skin a drum. In fact, I find that skins are more responsible for ringing than shells. I get dramatically different sound from the same drum, depending on what skin is currently on it. Sometimes bone-dry sound with no ring at all, other times really ringy (and, to me, not very nice) sound.

Michi.

[simba]

The ringing isn't necessarily caused by the shell. It can be caused by the individual skin a drum. In fact, I find that skins are more responsible for ringing than shells. I get dramatically different sound from the same drum, depending on what skin is currently on it. Sometimes bone-dry sound with no ring at all, other times really ringy (and, to me, not very nice) sound.

Michi.

do you mean the thickness of the skin will have different ringy sound?
and I also find out that the more roundness the bowl the mor ringy it make, so good djembe are not perfect round of the bowl.
the djembe above seems to be made by lathe from the photos. is that right?
thanks!

[michi]

It's not just whether the skin is thick or thin. I've had both thin and thick skins with ring and without. On average, I think thick skins are less likely to ring, but they could still do so.

I have no idea what the inside of these drums look like, or whether they've been produced on a lathe. They do look nice and round, but that could just be because they use a very skilled carver. I don't believe that perfect roundness would increase ringing. I have drums that are perfectly round and don't ring with some skins, but do ring with others. I honestly believe that ringing is caused mostly by the skin.

The one thing that does produce ringing is a smooth (lathe-turned) interior because that reflects sound much better than the traditional rough interior you get on a hand-carved drum.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Tom]

Skin is definitely a factor affecting ring in the sound. If the bowl interior is carved out too smoothly, then that may be the biggest factor.

[Paul]

I've been very happy with anything I got from them.. I would say the drum in the video is new and the skin hasn't settled, there are plenty more vids.. Their prices are very good..

[Chris972]

Noumou wood is rather rare so a bit unknown, not much debated, but really dense and "noble".
I have a nice Djalla wood djembe from Baragnouma, it is 14" diameter and weights 10.4 kg. It is very powerfull with a neat distinction between bass tone and slap. Very nice tones even with what I consider a thin to medium goat skin. It sounds real good and I assure you can go with Baragnouma, really trustworthy. I often buy skins from them (malian goats) really good quality.
The ringing sound you detected might be due to the fact that they don't always mount thick skins on their djembes. But I'm sure if you ask them to do so they will, they are also able to pick a shell that suits your criterias and show you the pics. I've done it for a friend a few months ago.
Best regards from Martinique.

Christophe