Sewing on a head

[bops]

There was a question awhile back about how to sew a cow skin onto a bass jembe. I took some pictures while reheading my kenkeni this week. Since it is essentially the same process, I figured I would share:

First, you'll need to make 2 rope hoops that fit snugly around the rim of the drum. You can fuse the ends together with a lighter or torch.

1. Fit the rope hoop

1 Rope ring.jpg (84.98 KiB) Viewed 1304 times

Feed your rope through the skin, around the bottom hoop, and back through the skin. The top hoop is hidden by the skin.

2. Feed the rope through and around

2 Loop.jpg (106.89 KiB) Viewed 1304 times

Here is the interior view:

3. Interior view

3 Interior view.jpg (93.2 KiB) Viewed 1307 times

[bops]

Here's the last picture. This is what it will look like when you finish up the weave:

4. Finishing the weave

4 Finishing the weave.jpg (106.6 KiB) Viewed 1313 times

Of course, you still need to tighten and trim everything up nicely. I know these aren't very detailed instructions, but let me know if you have any specific questions.

[bubudi]

nice pics. there are other ways to do the rings though. a single piece of rope with the ends fused together is not very strong. anyone know another way?

[James]

Nice one for the pics dude. I'm sure I'll re-visit this when the time comes

[Paul]

Thanks bops, never did that before.
Will find a dustbin to convert..

[BobF]

I did a dununba using the same method and tied square knots on the "ring" ropes ala Serge Blanc's book African Percussion.

[Rhythm House Drums]

Thanks for the post. I've not tried that before, but here are my .02. I've fused rope like that before to put on top of the top ring of a djembe when I do hair over. It's actually pretty strong. Looking at the photos and trying to figure out where the pressure will be applied, it seems you don't need the rope to be super strong. It looks to be more of a base to wrap the other rope through the skin. Even if the "ring" broke in a few places, I looks like that technique of heading will hold anyways. I could be wrong.. never tried it, but in my mind it makes since

[bops]

It looks to be more of a base to wrap the other rope through the skin. Even if the "ring" broke in a few places, I looks like that technique of heading will hold anyways. I could be wrong.. never tried it, but in my mind it makes since

You're right. The rope "hoop" actually bears very little pressure. The interior rope bears zero pressure once the skin is dry. The cowskin takes all the weight. On the lower hoop, most of the pressure is right at the point of contact between the verticals and the threaded rope, so these two carry most of the weight.

There is, however, another way to do it that works well also, especially for dununbas. Cut the rope so that the two ends overlap by about 2-3 inches when the hoop is formed. You can sew these two together, then reinforce using a strong but thin thread (twine works). If you place this "seam" right where the verticals meet the threaded rope, you'll reinforce the seam even more, making the hoop pretty much indestructible. mwa ha ha ha... I'll upload a picture of this when I get a chance.

If you're using a fatty rope, a square knot won't hold at all.

[bubudi]

i've used a combination of tying off the ends of the rope, then taking a lighter to the knot and flattening it a bit. it's pretty much as strong as rope rings get. these days i make braided wire rings which are super strong, a little bit flexible and able to be made very tight to the shell if need be (for less of those metalic overtones).

bops & duga, do you routinely drill holes in dunun or leave them as is? do you do the same for kenkeni, sangban and dununba?

[BobF]

Bops, how'd you get those holes that you feed the rope through so nice? A leather punch or something similiar? When I did the dununba I just cut small slits but it didn't look quite as nice.

[bops]

bops & duga, do you routinely drill holes in dunun or leave them as is? do you do the same for kenkeni, sangban and dununba?

I'm assuming you mean to reduce overtones/ringing? Yeah, I've done this with some of my dununba and sangban. It may depend on the dimensions; my dununba and sangban are pretty tall (ballet-style set). The air hole helped quite a bit to bring out the deep bass. I didn't drill the kenkeni because I didn't think it needed it.

Other dununs - shorter ones - don't need the hole.

Bops, how'd you get those holes that you feed the rope through so nice? A leather punch or something similiar? When I did the dununba I just cut small slits but it didn't look quite as nice.

I use a utility knife (basically a razor blade w/a handle) to cut the slit, then use an awl to thread the rope through. You just have to be careful. And patient. Take your time, and make small cuts.

[bubudi]

Bops, how'd you get those holes that you feed the rope through so nice? A leather punch or something similiar? When I did the dununba I just cut small slits but it didn't look quite as nice.

a hole punch will give you nice results and eliminate error. get a good one that will do reasonably thick cow skin. other people use nails and other sharp, round, thin metal objects. if you use a utility knife you would still want to cut a roundish hole to prevent the skin tearing along the slit. due to the toughness of the skin, you need a fair bit of pressure which makes it a little difficult to do with care.

[bubudi]

The air hole helped quite a bit to bring out the deep bass. I didn't drill the kenkeni because I didn't think it needed it.

yea i've witnessed the difference an air hole can make in a large dununba. i've had them in pretty much every dunun i've owned, but i gotta admit i never heard any before/after difference in any of the kenkenis... except this one kenkeni which had a lot more punch after i drilled a hole in it. a little extra sustain on a dunun can be a good thing.

[bops]

hmm... I might have to try it on the kenkeni. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Rhythm House Drums]

I thought of this yesterday as I was finishing up a banner with rivets.... we use these large rivets with a punch that punches out the banner material in the center of the rivet (I'd guess about a 1/4") The rivets look nice and are solid and smooth on the inside(have to hold a banner over a freeway) Probably not an option for everyone, but might be fun to play around with... maybe too modern looking. I like the old-school frayed rope twine / animal hair tuned drums.

Just a thought... and totally don't want to hijack this thread.. but... do the metal rings really cause the "ring"? I mean, Everyone says that the rings are the cause, I've even said it, but I don't think I believe it... the rings are wrapped with fabric, which should minimize any vibration.. then rope knots are tied around one... which will for sure dampen the ringing.. AND a skin is snug up against the other AND... a shit load of tension is put on them at about every inch or so, how much ring can you get from an inch of steel that is wrapped in fabric and hide. I don't see that these rings are going to vibrate enough to cause any type of ring... I think its a fun theory... but I just don't think it's the cause... My main Lenke shell is headed with the rings about 1.5" down from the bearing edge, and the rings are a bit loose (they don't snug up against the shell at any point) but that thing don't ring... it pops like a mofo.