Show off your axe

[bubudi]

drum sounds great. your technique sounds much cleaner than last time you posted a clip, too. some of bangourake's bawama phrases in there

[michi]

Thanks! I live and learn…

Michi.

[michi]

holy shit.

Not sure what to make of that comment

Michi.

[michi]

Here is a better-quality recording. Its the solo original for Kuku. Not quite as clean yet as I'd like to be able to play it, but it's getting there

Kuku.mp3

Mamady Keïta's solo original for Kuku

(4.95 MiB) Downloaded 226 times

Cheers,

Michi.

[pariah]

Very nice drum indeed!

[Allurelife100]

nice.

skin 'em up!

Sounds so sweet!

33747_1552832093444_1014410052_1535896_5095669_n.jpg (46.43 KiB) Viewed 448 times

[FreekAce]

here's a new axe i picked up on the weekend (i appologize for the poor quality photo).

Its a 24" x 14" made of Dimba. I'm not exactly sure where its from, in my excitement i forgot to ask

The skin has this perfect straight line across it, would this be the spine of the goat?

Also i think the shell is a little dry and could use some TLC. It was just tuned though, so i dont want to take everything off. Would you guys reccomend waiting for the next time i replace a skin, or is it okay to just do the base of the drum and the inside and do the bowl the next time i can properly get to it?

[bops]

Nice, FreekAce. That's a Malian drum.

Regarding your question, I personally wouldn't worry about oiling it until you're ready to change the head. However, if you want to do some more reading on that topic, see this thread.

[Dugafola]

here's a new axe i picked up on the weekend (i appologize for the poor quality photo).

Its a 24" x 14" made of Dimba. I'm not exactly sure where its from, in my excitement i forgot to ask

The skin has this perfect straight line across it, would this be the spine of the goat?

Also i think the shell is a little dry and could use some TLC. It was just tuned though, so i dont want to take everything off. Would you guys reccomend waiting for the next time i replace a skin, or is it okay to just do the base of the drum and the inside and do the bowl the next time i can properly get to it?

are you sure that's dimba? it's kinda hard to tell from you pic.

could pass for lenke too.

[FreekAce]

thanks bops! i'll wait until i re-skin it then!

i had a suspision it could be Malian drum, from what i found out most of the Dimba wood drums come from Mali (perhaps the wood is more readily available there then Guinnea).

she has a lovely sound, nice bass and a clean tone and slap. think she'll do well until i get the itch for another drum

[bops]

from what i found out most of the Dimba wood drums come from Mali (perhaps the wood is more readily available there then Guinnea).

Dimba is most commonly used in Senegal, IMO. In fact, Dimba is a Wolof word. The Bambara (Malian) name for that wood is Dugura. It's somewhat less common in Mali, and not very common at all in Guinea, from what I've seen.

[FreekAce]

here's a new axe i picked up on the weekend (i appologize for the poor quality photo).

Its a 24" x 14" made of Dimba. I'm not exactly sure where its from, in my excitement i forgot to ask

The skin has this perfect straight line across it, would this be the spine of the goat?

Also i think the shell is a little dry and could use some TLC. It was just tuned though, so i dont want to take everything off. Would you guys reccomend waiting for the next time i replace a skin, or is it okay to just do the base of the drum and the inside and do the bowl the next time i can properly get to it?

are you sure that's dimba? it's kinda hard to tell from you pic.

could pass for lenke too.

the lighting in the picture is pretty poor, when you look at it in person its a deeper shade of red. it does look a lot lighter then it actually is.

edit: i'll see if i can take a better pic tonight with a proper camere (instead of cellphone).

[FreekAce]

here's a better picture, not as dark as i previously thought...must be going colour blind

so what kind of wood do you guys think it is if not dugara? perhaps lenke as duga suggested?

also bops, what gives it away as a mali shell? is it the lack of ornate carvings, the shape?

thanks for your input on this, as a newb i'm eager to learn as much as possible on all matters drumming! your expertise in this is very helpful!

[bops]

bops, what gives it away as a mali shell? is it the lack of ornate carvings, the shape?

Yeah, the shape gives it away. The bowl tapers as it nears the stem. Also, the carvings along the bottom are typically Malian. Guinean drums tend to have more angular carvings. Looks like Dugura wood to me.

I can tell that it's been reheaded by someone outside of Africa. I'm guessing the cowries were also added by that person. Not sure about that, though, just a guess.

[michi]

It's none of the red woods, unless the color in the picture is way off (but I don't think it is). I think we can rule out lenke, unless it's an unusually brown specimen. Not only is the color not quite right, but the grain pattern also doesn't fit lenke. (Lenke has fine grain, like your drum, but lenke also has another smaller texture in the wood, somewhat similar to silky oak, which I don't see in your drum.)

So, none of the reds, leaving the browns. If it's a traditional wood, that means dugura, hare, or iroko. Hare normally has quite pronounced dark grain that makes a sharp contrast, so I don't think it's hare. Iroko also tends to have more pronounced grain and often has a color that tends more towards grey brown rather than the reddish brown of your drum.

But dimba/dugura is a good fit: little or no grain with a fine texture, and a warm reddish brown rather than a grey brown.

Cheers,

Michi.