Headed my first cowskin

[rachelnguyen]

In 2009, I came back from Mali with a beautiful old djembe from one of my teachers. Within days the vintage goatskin head popped. Since I was planning to head it in cowskin anyway, I wasn't too upset.

Well, this poor drum went through some crazy stuff. My teacher put a thin calfskin on it and it sounded awful, then popped. I bought a couple of nice cowskin rounds from Nate at One Tree and Sidy tried to put the thinner one on, but the rings were too small. So I asked my husband to make a new set of rings, but they were too small too. In the mean time, the whole thing was sort of back burnered because I had taken up dunun.

Well, to make a long story even longer, I finally got the rings adjusted and in the process of all of this, decided that since it is my drum, I am going to bloody well build it and skin it myself.

I chose the thick skin from Nate. It is going to make a great bass djembe, I think.

I admit I was pretty scared when I pulled the skin out of the water this morning. It was very thick to start with, and had swelled significantly overnight. But I rolled up my sleeves and got to work and found it wasn't really that much more difficult to work with than goat skin. My rings were a good size, the rope is the perfect thickness (Thanks, Shorty!) and all in all I just took it step by step.

Sidy had suggested that for the wet pull, I bring the skin to where I want it to be for playing. I know this conflicts somewhat with the advice given here on the forum to keep the skin high until it dries... but I decided to go ahead and follow Sidy's advice. (He is my teacher, after all, LOL)

I have a funky old pulling bar and was extremely happy to discover that I was able to pull the wet skin down just fine.

Once the skin was where I wanted it, I had to trim the excess. I was intimidated by this process, too, since the skin was so thick, but with a razor blade, it actually went pretty easily.

Finally, my next step was to shave the hair. For the wet shave, I just used the razor blade. I left the hair on the sides for later, once it is dry. The drum really looks great and I am hoping it will sound great once it is dry and tuned.

All in all, this process wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I think I may need help with the dry pull and tuning, but I am really happy I was able to head my sweet old drum myself.

Will keep you posted on how it sounds!

[rachelnguyen]

And tell me that isn't a spectacular shell!

[michi]

Looks like you did a fine job Rachel!

Let us know what it ends up sounding like.

Cheers,

Michi.

[davidognomo]

great, Rachel.
I skinned my djembe (with a regular goat skin, from Guinea), but I had to do it in a hurry, because all my djembes were headless, and the two that were headed, popped one after the other.

So, I had to put it together for a theatre play I directed where I used wafrican percussion, and didn't take care of it like I wanted, because there was no time. Didn't level the bearing edge (I mean, I shaped it, got rid of bumps, but it's still tilted), didn't replace the lacing rope.

As a result, the spine got out of line (didn't pay attention as I was lacing the skin to the flesh ring, it got out of place). But the real problem was when I was doing the wet pull. One of the knots of the lacing on the upper ring broke. During the dry pull, the knot next to that one broke too. So, the ring is tilted, and I can't bring that side of the ring down.

Nevertheless, I never had a djembe that sounded this much as a djembe. Right now, the play is over and I'm divided between reassembling it and tuning it a little more, assuming that it's going to need a new skin, or at least a new skinning. And I was working when I did that skinning job, one week before opening night, last chance to do it in time, and took me a whole night after rehearsal. I don't have a pulling stand, did it with that iron pulling toll. Well, when it starts singing, the pain and the fatigue are replaced by a great and childish enthusiasm.

[rachelnguyen]

that is so great, David! I love that the drum sounds good even with all the issues. if I were you, I would go ahead and take your time skinning the other drum first. Then crank this one up and see what happens. In the end of the day, it is all about the sound and if it can be tuned and sounds great, who cares if it is a rush job? When the current skin breaks, you can take your time to rebuild it properly.

[rachelnguyen]

by the way, I have a friend with a terrible drum that sounds good. It is a stave built djembe shell that came in two pieces that she glued together at a drum building workshop. The thing has a terrible shape, but I am telling you, it sounds pretty good! You just never know.

[Michel]

Ok, if everyone is sharing their horrorstories about reskinning, here's mine:
Brought two bush-antelope skins from Wassoulou, not proud of it later on because I heard it was a protected animal.... But since I got it through customs I had to use it! Last tuesday, all prepared, one skin soaked, headed the drum, saw already the difference in thickness: one (the side of the right foreleg) side it was nice and thick, the other side was almost paper-thin.... But I brought it all the way from Mali, so had to try it.... You all understand it: with shaving I only needed to touch the thin side and.... I shaved a hole in it.... And I gave the other skin, which is probably better, to my teacher who didn't use it up to now. I'm so curious about how this traditional skin sounds! And well, put another goat on my drum I guess.

[davidognomo]

what a tragic story, michel

thanks for the advise, rachel.

and you enjoy your drum.

[rachelnguyen]

I did the first dry pull this morning before I went to work. I am getting very excited about how this drum is going to sound. Even without fully tuning it, it is already starting to sound sweet.

The thing is, this drum is very meaningful to me. It belonged to Mazé Kouyaté, one of the dearest men I have ever known. He unexpectedly passed away soon after I came home from my first trip to Mali. All weekend long I have been thinking about him. This morning I dusted off a recording of him playing the solos for Maraka on this very drum and spent the morning practicing them. I hope that wherever he is, he is pleased with what I have done with our drum.

It is amazing what a primal and physical experience reheading a drum is. I am sore all over, even with using a pulling bar. But damn, it is a good kind of sore.

[alifaa]

Note to people skinning with limed calfskin for the first time.......

the SMOOTH side is the playing surface!!!

I did a limed calfskin last night and I couldn't tell which was supposed to be the outside of the beast, and which is the inside.

My first instinct was that the really smooth side was the outside, but I removed a dirty great thorn from the rough side, and figured that this was the outside, as thorns will pretty much go from the outside to the inside of the animal!!

I also compared the texture of the offcuts from the goat I did yesterday, smooth was the inside, and I compared some of my cowskin duns, and the inside is pretty smooth.

Thanks to some timely advice from Michi and Drumskull, I tried re-heading it tonight - the absolute quickest soak and re-string I have ever done!!

Was going well until I noticed a small line on the smooth playing surface - looked like a scratch, but I hadn't had anything sharp anywhere near that side or in that position.

F@#$ing hole!!!!

IMG_1470.JPG (713.27 KiB) Viewed 169 times

So, note to newbies who have never seen a limed skin before - the smooth side goes on the outside!!!!

Oh well, an expensive lesson, I will just have to put a goat skin on Alifaa now......bugger

[rachelnguyen]

Argh... that is terrible! What a bummer to get through all that work and have it open up like that.

[michi]

I've had the same thing happen to me. Sometimes you have small scar or weak spot in the skin, and it can open up like that during the wet pull. In a way, be glad: if the skin had held during the wet pull, it would almost certainly have broken later, during the dry pull or shortly after. This way, you've spent less work than you would have otherwise.

Just one of those things you have to put up with if you want to play natural skins. Of course, there are always Remo Nuskyn heads...

Cheers,

Michi.

[rachelnguyen]

You are right, Michi, that it is better to happen earlier rather than later. But using natural skin is worth the risk.

The other day a student asked what I thought of key tuned djembes. I very gently explained that I didn't see the point of buying an imitation djembe.. especially when there are so many nice African ones to pick from. (----->Open can of worms here<------)

Rachel

[michi]

The other day a student asked what I thought of key tuned djembes. I very gently explained that I didn't see the point of buying an imitation djembe..

What, you didn't sing the praises of how much easier it is to tune a drum with a key? Or how an artificial skin is so much better because it won't react to changes in temperature and humidity, and will last much longer? Or how a fibreglass drum is much lighter and more durable than a wooden one, and that it won't have problems with splits, won't require oiling, and won't grow mould or fungi on the surface?

I'm sorely disappointed that you so blatantly withheld the facts and provided such biased advice to the poor student

especially when there are so many nice African ones to pick from. (----->Open can of worms here<------)

What, you mean those hand-carved ones, made from non-sustainable wood, with no ISO-9000 quality control process, no logo, and no 12-month warranty? I wouldn't recommend those. Most of them are heavy, they never are perfectly round, they can get infected by termites and borers, their skins don't last, they need new rope every few skins, they require constant attention, and their manufacture doesn't provide jobs for Americans.

Tsk, tsk...

Michi

[rachelnguyen]

I forgot to extol the virtues of bug free fiberglass drums with plastic heads. Crap... and the ease with which you can tune a drum with a little wrench. (My whole freaking body is sore right now from pulling two drums in the last two days, LOL.)

12 month warranties are awesome too. And while they are at it, they could get a sweet metal djembe stand so they don't have to worry about having to balance the thing when they play it.