IROKO wood qualities

[atam]

Hey ! That design is gonna be on djembe red carpet next year wait and watch.

Yes, I have absolutely no doubt about that !

[atam]

I like the sound of Iroko at the lower (non-insane) tensions. I just have a problem with tuning my drum too tightly. C

In general, I also prefer non-insane tensions on iroko, but I think you can surely find iroko shells that play excellent even if the skin is rock-hard (I dont think Fode Bangoura would play with lower tension !). It is always about the right combination of a shell and a suitable skin. And yes, some shells will sound better with lower tensions for sure.

Me personally, I use a 14,2 inch (quite lightweight) iroko with thick goat skin as my prime djembe currently and believe me it sounds excellent with high tension, especially with sesse.

[Djembe-nerd]

Me personally, I use a 14,2 inch (quite lightweight) iroko with thick goat skin as my prime djembe currently and believe me it sounds excellent with high tension, especially with sesse.

Mine is 13.75" with thick goat skin too, and sound great at good tension. There is a trend here with biggers dia and thick goat skin, other variables non-considering.

[Rhythm House Drums]

I like Iroko with cowhide. Nice warm mellow sound. I recently headed up a smaller 12.5" Iroko with a medium to medium thin skin... sounded really good. Doesn't have the tonal qualities that a thick skin has, but for playing quick this thing is crackin'!

I've found that the bearing edge on Iroko is very important to it's sound... I've seen a lot of nice Iroko shells with a crap bearing edge that makes them never get to their potential. Not sure why I only notice this on the Irokos... Especially if the wood is a bit thicker, a bad bearing edge is going to ruin the sound of the drum. I like Iroko for inside events... it's quick and tight and doesn't project quite as much as other harder woods.

[atam]

I've found that the bearing edge on Iroko is very important to it's sound... I've seen a lot of nice Iroko shells with a crap bearing edge that makes them never get to their potential. Not sure why I only notice this on the Irokos... Especially if the wood is a bit thicker, a bad bearing edge is going to ruin the sound of the drum. I like Iroko for inside events... it's quick and tight and doesn't project quite as much as other harder woods.

The thing you say about the bearing edge s very interesting - I think except real proffesionals most drummers are not completely aware of its influence..

I think warm sound with less projection could be the most truthful characteristics of iroko in general. And if people want to use very high-tension tuning, they should use thick skins, because with thinner ones the high tension in combination with lower projection causes the cut-off sound effect (that somebody mentioned here) - perhaps this especially applies for thicker shells that tend to be less rezonant.