Please tell me what´s important "breaking in" a new Djembe

[freefeet]

Waxed? With what?

Wax

[michi]

Waxed? With what?

Wax

Be careful about what you use, and how much. See this post for some bad effects.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

another tip, if you store your drum in a case, make sure you crack the zipper.

That one is new to me. Why do that? Only if the drum is new, or always?

Cheers,

Michi.

always no matter what...especially in the summer and/or after a session where your sweat gets on the drums or if it's extra humid either outside or in a hot, sweaty studio.

I do this to let fresh air circulate around the drum. the last thing you want is to have a bunch of hot air and/or moisture stuck inside your drum in your case. i've popped a skin or two that way.

[michi]

always no matter what...especially in the summer and/or after a session where your sweat gets on the drums or if it's extra humid either outside or in a hot, sweaty studio.

I do this to let fresh air circulate around the drum. the last thing you want is to have a bunch of hot air and/or moisture stuck inside your drum in your case. i've popped a skin or two that way.

Yes, I can see how that makes sense. Trapping moisture inside the bag is almost certainly a bad idea.

BTW, check out http://www.drumdry.com. It doesn't look like you can actually buy these at the moment though. I sent email to the guy a few years ago and never received a reply, and it looks like the website hasn't been updated since 2007. But making one of these yourself wouldn't be too difficult. No need for a shock cord sleeve—all that's really necessary is a round flat cloth bag with a zipper and small mesh section so you can check the color. The bag can sit on top of the skin inside the drum bag. You can buy a kilogram of the stuff for $36, so it's not that expensive. To regenerate the gel once it has absorbed moisture, put it in an oven at 120°C (250°F) for an hour and a half.

Cheers,

Michi.

[freefeet]

Waxed? With what?

Wax

Be careful about what you use, and how much. See this post for some bad effects.

Cheers,

Michi.

Very good point Michi, thanks for mentioning. I only ever use natural products and tend to forget that others might not.

Also, i wasn't saying that you should cover the bearing edge in a layer of wax, just wax the wood, rub with your bare hand to melt the wax into the wood and then buff hard with a soft cloth to remove any surface traces.

[michi]

edit: Michi, you wrote, the skin doesn´t stretch the same amount everywhere... which I find logical, since skin is a natural product... what about that: at times I see Djembes with rings that are not ..uh... even? I mean you can see the rings going down a little further on one side than on the other side.
Is that a problem? Bad for the skin or the sound?

Generally not a problem, unless the tilt is severe. Sometimes the skin slips a little between the rings, causing the tilt, or the rings may not have been fitted perfectly level to start with. Usually, it doesn't affect sound. (I've heard quite a few djembes, especially in Africa, with tilted rings that sounded awesome.)

If the tilt is severe, it can become a problem when it comes to tuning. On the side where the rings are lowest, the verticals are shorter by the amount of tilt. Therefore, every time you pull a diamond, that diamond shortens the verticals a little more than a diamond on the opposite side, where the rings are highest. So, over time, the uneven tension gets worse.

You can check whether the skin is tensioned evenly by tapping lightly near the rim of the drum all around the perimeter. Ideally, pitch will be the same around the entire circumference, with a slight rise where the spine crosses over the bearing edge, and a slight drop at 90° to the spine. If you have higher pitch where the rings are lowest, that's an indication that the tilt is affecting sound. Depending on where the tilt is, you may end up with tones of slightly different pitch.

As a rule, I would just put up with tilted rings and play the drum. The skin will probably break a little sooner than it would have otherwise. But it's not worth pulling the drum apart and fit a new skin for what is mostly a cosmetic issue.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Sdready]

Thank you so much for all the info I appreciate this!
Now I really can´t wait for the drum to get here...

Have a good day!
Sdready

[Sdready]

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I´ts here
*happy*

[freefeet]

Have fun!!!!!!