How to reskin a Kpanlogo

[sakuntuquaye]

I recently reskinned several Kpanlogos for a friend of mine and wanted to check my "self taught" knowledge to make sure i was doing it right. I went to the internet to compare techniqiues with other folks online. However, I had a difficult time finding any tutorials on how to rehead Ghanaian peg drums the traditional "sewn in" way. Nowadays many drum makers are useing the counterhoop flesh hoop system similar to a djembe. (And i couldn;t find any for that way either...) So i decided to share my progress with you in order to get something out there, as well as get any feedback from more experienced drum builders. I value and welcome any feedback.
Here is my friends shell. I had just oiled it with Linseed oil and mineral spirits ala Shorty Its a drum made by David Amoo. (The drum maker for the Ghanaian National Dance Company)

The shell

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The traditional skin for Kpanlogos is antelope. African antelope runns scarce in upstate NY So i used white tailed deer obtained from a hunter friend.

Skin

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[sakuntuquaye]

Next I needed a flesh hoop. You can use metal, but most traditioanlly headed kpanlogos use a small twig or cane glued and tied together. I went out to woods and found a nice straight, thin sapling and bent it around the drum while still green clamping it to hold it in place. I left it there for about a week to dry out and form to the shape of the drum. Then i glued and taped it together with electrical tape.

Flesh hoop

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From there I began sewing on the head.

1.Using an awl, fold the wet skin over the flesh hoop and poke a hole through both layers of skin directly above a peg in the shell. Then string your rope downward through the hole in both layers, loop around the peg and back up through the same hole.
2. Continue folding the skin over the flesh hoop and poke another hole through both layers of skin to the right of the first hole (a space of about 2 or 3 fingers -depending on your drum size). Take your rope that just came up the first hole and string downward through the second hole. Loop this around the peg and then back up through the second hole.
3. Again, Folding the skin over the felsh hoop poke a 3rd hole throught both skin layers to the right of the second. (again 2 to 3 fingers width). Take the rope that just came up the second hole and string that down the third hole-however this time loop around the next peg to the right and back up throught the third hole.
4. Now you should be ready to poke a new hole directly above the peg you just looped your rope around. Follow the procedure and continue sewing around the whole flesh hoop until you get back to where you started. Your last loop of rope around a peg should be on the peg you started with in step 1.

Sewing

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[rachelnguyen]

Hey sakuntuquaye,

This is interesting. I hope you post the rest of the process. I have a friend that is thinking of using the peg technique for a drum he is building and this thread might very well help him.

I do want to ask if you can try reducing your picture size next time. Any photo editing software can do it and it will make the images easier to see and understand.

Great thread. Thanks!
Rachel

[sakuntuquaye]

For the sewing the hardest part is poking the holes. They should be big enough for you to get the rope through and thats all. To help the ropes go through i use small bent needle nose pliers like in the below picture.

Sewing dry head 2.jpg (1.85 MiB) Viewed 138 times

Sometimes i'll poke the hole with the awl and have to get a flat head screw driver to stretch out the hole in order to get 2 widths of rope through.

After sewing i pull the slack out of the ropes and gently tap the pegs down with my hands (not too far...just until the flesh hoop sits level with the playing surface) Then I fold over the flap of skin -put some holes along the edges and tie it down so it will dry that way.

Setting skin flap

Pulling down Flap.jpg (1.78 MiB) Viewed 138 times

After that just let it dry for a good week. When throughly dry, Take some scissors and cut the flap down to size. Should look like this:

All dry and groomed

Finished up close.jpg (1.66 MiB) Viewed 138 times

[sakuntuquaye]

Now to Tune:

Don't use a metal hammer- it'll mash up your pegs...Gently tap around the drum with a rubber mallet or piece of wood etc... after tapping the pegs around the drum gently tap the flesh ring. The skin will stretch with time expect it to come down in pitch as you play and over time. It takes a while like a djembe does before it finally settles in.

Another way you can tune it is pull out all the peggs as soon as the head is dry. then twist the loops together and re insert the peg. This in a sense shortens your rope so you can get more "room" to tune. Heres a shot of what that looks like:

twisted loops

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[sakuntuquaye]

So thats how I do it....Again, self taught...This is what seemed "right" to me. Please feel free to correct, critique etc...I have learned so much from this forum and i look forward to learning more. Just wanted to contribute what i could...

[sakuntuquaye]

OH NO! Sorry about the pics!!!...Just saw Rachels Post... DOH! If theres something you really need to see send me a PM and I can email the pix to you. By the way Happy New Year to everyone!

[michi]

Thanks for posting these instructions, I'm sure that a lot of people will greatly appreciate them!

Rachel, if you right-click on an image and select to open in a new window, the image will scale nicely.

Cheers,

Michi.

[rachelnguyen]

sakuntuquaye, really great series explaining your process!

No worries about the pics, I used Michi's method to view them and it works just fine.