Renewable djembes

[James]

I seem Michael Pluznick has just put out a new line of renewable djembe's. It's hard to tell how they sound by video, but they appear to sound better than any other indo djembe's.



Has anyone had a look at one yet? Apprently X8 will be distributing them in the US.

James

[Mikeleza]

Good to see!

[michi]

Some of the drums coming out of Bali are very well made. Very nice carving, down to the spiral pattern. (Yes, they first turn them out on a lathe and add the spirals afterwards but, heck, it's more efficient that way and you get a perfectly round shell.)

The workmanship from some drum makers is also very nice. Tight-fitting rings and quality rope work. My only gripes are that the rope itself could be better quality and that, for Australia, the quarantine regulations require a very harsh chemical treatment of the skins, which doesn't make them any better.

If you are on a budget, an Indonesian drum can be a good deal though.

Having said all that, I'm not sure how much weight to give to the sustainability argument. Yes, the trees are replanted and the wood supposedly comes from sustainable forests, but so does the wood for many African drums. Given that something like 90% of all djembes end up gathering dust in a garage or as coffee table ornaments, it would be far better to find new owners for the countless thousands of djembes that are already out there and being played by no-one than it is to keep making new ones, no matter how sustainable the forest.

And, of course, plantation mahogany, while it can sound decent, never sounds the same as the traditional woods from West Africa, meaning that people who are serious about the djembe inevitably end up buying the real thing eventually, possibly leaving yet another unused carcass behind…

If you are serious about playing, I would still recommend a traditional djembe from West Africa. And, if you are serious about playing and decide to stop at some point, you should know as a matter of course that it behooves you to find new owners for your drums, owners who will actually play them.

Your responsibility towards the djembe does not end the day you decide to stop playing…

Cheers,

Michi.

[archetypo]

if you are serious about playing and decide to stop at some point, you should know as a matter of course that it behooves you to find new owners for your drums, owners who will actually play them.

This is an excellent point - works if you're on a budget as well, instead of buying an Indo drum, find a good second-hand djembe from Africa.

I think my biggest ethical issue with djembes manufactured in places outside of the Mande region (I include Ghana djembes in this) is that there is a lack of respect and gratitude towards the originating culture. If you're going to manufacture djembes out of sheer love for the instrument and the culture, then why not at least pay a tithe towards supporting the teachers/culture that inspired you? That, to me, would be a LOT more sustainable that merely re-planting trees. By ignoring that aspect, manufacturers demonstrate that they have missed a very important lesson that the djembe culture has to offer us. Musicians and artists who dedicate their lives towards bringing a wavelength of joy and celebration into their communities deserve to be respected and supported.

The degree of discipline required for them to do this is monumental (I would compare it to the level of discipline required to become a Tibetan Lama, for example), and they deserve some kind of financial/energetic acknowledgement and support from the people who benefit from their discipline and dedication. Instead, I see many brilliant artists, master drummers even, who suffer in poverty. Even their own culture has started to move away from a correct position on this, in many cases, with the advent of Western values. I personally feel pretty strongly that many of those traditional values are something that ALL of humanity can benefit from, so we need to honour that whenever possible and however we can.

This goes for traditional values from MANY indigenous cultures the world over - this phenomenon of opportunistic business development failing to compensate the originating culture isn't just limited to the djembe world. It's a glaring symptom of how Western values are sadly out of balance.