Two or Three rings and hairline cracks

[Brian Lynch]

I met Petit Mamady Keita in Conakry this year, on his Djembe he had three ring as aposed to two rings. has anyone seen this before, as he explained it was for more strength to pull the skin down thighter. Also i brought back a jala djembe shell back, its qwite an old shell with qwite a few hairline cracks, does a shell with those kind of cracks effect the sound when skined up.

[bubudi]

hi brian. the topic of three ringed djembes has been extensively discussed here. check out the following threads:

technical-advice/three-top-rings-yea-nay-t855.html
technical-advice/rings-djembe-t2495.html

i found them by using the forum search function towards the top right of the page.

hairline cracks shouldn't affect the sound. as the drum loses moisture and undergoes climactic changes, some cracking will inevitably happen. you can keep this in check by oiling the shell prior to reskinning (be sure to allow ample time for the oil to dry).

[Brian Lynch]

you mean like shea butter that been melted down to an oil or would you sugest something else

[michi]

I'm not too fond of Shea butter for this because it leaves thich greasy film behind and does not penetrate very well. See this article for some other suggestions.

Cheers,

Michi.