Tightening a newish drum?

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

I have had my djembe for approx 5 weeks in which time it has been played a lot by myself and other folks. It has travelled to the beach and back and I have noticed a slight drop in pitch. Is it usual for a new drum to need adjusting after a month or so of playing. I like the bass to be nice and rich and low so I'm ok with that but on the slap end, this as also gone down in pitch. I would rather have the bass end come up slightly in pitch if I can get the nice treble slap back.

When the drum arrived it had 4 rows of knots and I am wondering whether to tie an extra row on top of these to raise the pitch slightly. Is this the correct thing to do, I'm thinking the skin may have stretched a little so would adding more knots help I'm wondering.

Thanks for any advice, Gordon.

[Rhythm House Drums]

If the skin was fresh, it's actually normal to lose a bit of tension after playing hard and transporting around for a month or so. Depending on the thickness of the skin and the size of the drum, even a tightly pulled djembe should still has a good bass. Actually, if you are loosing your slaps... tightening up the drum will make the bass sound nicer and appear louder. A loose drum has a floppy, nasty bass.

If by 4 rows of knots you mean the Mali weave... that's kind of a lot for a new drum. Ghana drum maybe?? Anyhow, with 4 rows of the weave, I'd take them out, tighten up the verticals and start the weave again till you get the sound you are after.

Hope this helps!

[Nodrog]

Thanks for that info. I thought it might be normal for a new skin to give a little at first. I'm no expert but I was told it was an Ivory Coast style drum and it has 3 rings if that makes any difference. The amount of slap sound being lost is very subtle but I will try to tighten it a little.

I was pleased to hear that by getting the skin a little tighter that I would lose no bass. I like that deep bass sound. I was thinking that by tightening the skin, the bass pitch would go higher as well as the slap sound. As you can tell, this is all pretty new to me but very interesting.

Thanks, again, Gordon.

[michi]

I was thinking that by tightening the skin, the bass pitch would go higher as well as the slap sound. As you can tell, this is all pretty new to me but very interesting.

When you increase the tension on a djembe, the frequency of the bass remains constant. The reason is that the bass frequency is fixed by the resonant frequency of the shell, which depends on the shape and size of the shell, not on the amount of tension on the skin. However, the tones do change pitch and get higher as you tighten the skin. That's because tones are produced by a nodal circle vibration; the resonant frequency of that vibration depends on the tension of the skin, not on the shape of the shell.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

Thanks for that explanation on why the bass remains a constant whilst the higher frequencies change in pitch with the tension of the skin.

I've been reading through some of the tuning threads and eventually I might get the confidence to add a few more rows. It really was a subtle change and this occured when I took it down to sea level. Would air pressure have an effect on pitch or maybe it was less humid down on the coast, (or more humid?) Anyways, it's still sounding good to me so I'll just leave it be for now.

Thanks for the info though, Gordon.

[michi]

Air pressure won't noticeably affect the sound, but changing humidity will. In high humidity, the skin stretches and drops in pitch. When it dries out, it contracts and increases in pitch.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I did! My soccer team back in Britain, Burnley, just beat Everton 1-0 so that was ace. Thanks Michi for the info. I found a spare hour this weekend and decided to try just one extra row. Wow, blisters on my finger from pulling the rope down but it has made a worthwhile difference in the sound. As was explained, the bass has kept it's depth but is a little cleaner. At the top end the slaps are now a little higher in pitch but really crisp and a whole lot louder. I can now get a sound like a timbale by hitting with one finger really fast almost on the rim. This is great for jamming to Reggae and African style guitar stuff.

Love it, Gordon.

[Dennis103]

Burnley? Ha, my wife's brother is a supporter, they're both from Lea / Preston It's a small world...

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

Dennis, the world is indeed seeming to get smaller but as Steve Wright said, " I still wouldn't want to paint it". Ha, ha... Our eldest daughter and her family live at Whittle-le-Woods Just outside Preston.
Burnley also just beat Man Utd. Come on you Clarets... Next - Chelsea....

Ahem, back to subject. I'm really glad I took the plunge and tied that extra row in there. The overall impression is that it is now cleaner and more crisp sounding, well worth doing.

Gordon.