Where are these drums from?

[kawakbeat]

Hi all,

I have the opportunity of buying either of these drums but know nothing about them. I would like to ask for your help and if possible help me identify them.

From what i've researched the first one is probably from Ivory Coast and made of Iroko. This one is with me right now. It's heavy and very hard.

Ivory Coast - iroko?

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Carvings detail

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I was told by its owner that this next one is from Guinea from lenke wood. Shape seems guinean but i'm not sure about the carvings (rings) at the base. Pictures are terrible but they are the only ones i've got. I'll go see this one tomorrow and check it out.

Guinea - lenke?

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Thank you all

[bops]

They both look like drums from the Ivory Coast to me. The first is Iroko, as you said.

The second, I can't tell what the wood is based on the picture, but most commonly they are Iroko. The base is standard issue from Cote d'Ivoire.

[bubudi]

100% agree with bops there. lenke is avail in ivory coast but most of the drums you'll source from there will be iroko. the wood can make a very nice sounding djembe. of the 2 i would have to say i prefer the 1st, but the top rings are a bit loose fitting and i can't tell anything about the wall thickness/consistency. with iroko you don't want a thinly carved drum.

[Paul]

Globalisation has it the djembe world like anywhere else. While the style is ivory it could be made in Burkina.. I got some great burkina style djembes from a sabar maker in Gambia a few years back..

[kawakbeat]

Thanks for your answers.
The second drum has been sold already....

Here's another picture showing thickness of the first drum. +- 17 mm
Bops, this drum needs a new skin, would you recommend shortening the rings? Would they need to be cut and then welded again? How tight should they be?

[bops]

Bops, this drum needs a new skin, would you recommend shortening the rings? Would they need to be cut and then welded again? How tight should they be?

Maybe... maybe not. It's hard to tell based on the picture. It looks like they came down a little low, but that may just be a result of too much pulling while the skin was wet. They look like they're fairly snug already. You could probably get away with wrapping them with more fabric to make them fit more tightly.

But then again, I could be wrong. Like I said, it's difficult to tell based on that picture. Maybe you could upload a picture showing an overhead view of the shell and hoops?

[bops]

One thing I would add is that the rings are a little sparse for my liking. When you redo the rope on the hoops, I would add more rings, so that they're spaced about 1 - 1.5 inches apart.

[kawakbeat]

Thanks bops. I actually meant to ask bubudi since he mentioned the rings:

of the 2 i would have to say i prefer the 1st, but the top rings are a bit loose fitting and i can't tell anything about the wall thickness/consistency. with iroko you don't want a thinly carved drum.

I guess I mixed up bops and bubudi somehow. Sorry about that.
But thanks for your response. I also agree with you about the rings, there are few of them for a 13" playing surface drum

[bubudi]

the walls of the drum are a bit on the thin side for iroko. you'll probably need to shorten the rings a tad, or order new ones to fit the drum more snuggly. wrapping the rings with more fabric will only get you so far and it looks a bit beyond that to me.

[Sdready]

Wow, just have to tell you, I find that green-blue pattern on the ring totally BEAUTIFUL although I guess thats a detail you´re not interested in