spiral pattern

[ella0130]

hi , guys , i have a question regarding some information i gather from the internet , and Hope somebody can clear it up for me

Regarding the internal Djembe Shell

Most of the criticism surrounding Indonesia Djembe is that they are lathe turned , so they lack the the correct spiral pattern presented by the Djembe from African regions (i learn it from some of the post discuss in this forum , and it seems to be a dominant opinion here )
but later i come up with one website , http://www.djembe-art.de (their djembe is very good by the way), they tend to sand paper the inner of the Djembe shell , and the higher the category of the Djembe , the smoother of the internal shell
you can see picture below


so my question is ------if the spiral pattern of the internal Shell is so important , why the owner of this website spend some much trouble removing it? is by removing the spiral pattern indeed enhance the sound of the Djembe somehow ?

[dleufer]

I think you might want to reconsider your opinion of their drums, they look awful to me!
Especially their premuim class; the "artwork" with the skins is pretty tacky. Well actually it's more than pretty tacky, it's possibly the most tasteless thing I've ever seen done to an instrument.

Although, maybe they do sound good, but my intuition tells me that if they spend that much time polluting the aesthetics of the drums they probably haven't got much time to spend on the sound.

As for the spiral I've heard people say that it has a positive effect on the sound but I have no technical explanation either way.

[dleufer]

Actually the less expensive drums don't look as bad as the Premuim Class ones but still nothing on what Drumskulls have got to offer and Drumskulls are far cheaper.

[the kid]

Leufer tell me you don't love the 'true hippy' at a mere 1490 euro



And check out the brasilian on the 'Indigena'


I'm surprised you haven't loaded some of these babys into the 'Professional' djembe tread

[bubudi]

[Rhythm House Drums]

I agree maybe you should look elsewhere for a pro quality djembe. As far as the spiral pattern... I've heard lots of opinions on this and most say a slight pattern is indicative of a nicely carved djembe... which means someone took their time to do it right, with hand tools. From having carved a shell from a solid log the spiral pattern is practical. You cannot carve straight down on the grain, or you'll get tear-outs, so by carving a spiral you are cutting slightly across the grain which makes for a better cut... and better control over the shape of the shell. Not sure of any gain in sound quality by sanding down. Seems like marketing hype.

[Dugafola]

it's a sound aesthetic too.

super smooth interiors will cause a more metallic and ringier sound...IMO of course.

[michi]

Check out this post and take note of the other posts in the thread...

The smooth interior of these drums is almost certainly detrimental to the sound because it will cause sound to reflect inside the drum, causing it to ring. The spiral pattern is there for a reason: it dampens.

The djembes offered for sale on that site (at something like four times the price of a high-quality djembe) aren't djembes, they are sculptures. They might look pretty (if you are into this sort of thing), but they almost certainly won't sound good.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Djembe-nerd]

I am just surpised that they must be selling to put the price at that level. Wherever they are must be a very rich community with djembe art all over their house

[ella0130]

thanks for all the contribution, especially thanks for michi's explanation , that really make much sense

This is typically" going beyond is as bad as falling short "

i Hope the owner should understand what he is doing , and stop the usefulness work

[Dugafola]

those drums make me want to puke.

[Garvin]

The blonde one is hil-hairious!