By DrumGoon - Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:56 pm
- Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:56 pm
#38790
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Hi everyone.
This is my first post – and a bit of a megapost – so please bear with me. For Christmas, my Mrs. bought me a little Djembe – 8”- from a specialist percussion shop.
I really enjoy playing the little thing. I’m a guitarist/bassist/synth guy, and I have always thought I might be a frustrated drummer (I’m always tapping, finger drumming, and use a lot of polyrhythms and polymeters in my music).
Anyhow, about 7 weeks after I got the (cheap, softwood) drum, I found a full blown hardwood Djembe shell on my street – 12 ¾” head. The skin was torn, and the rope worse for wear.
Needless to say, I grabbed it and began nourishing it with some sanding and beeswax. Here’s the story, and I’d like to get your thoughts on what I do next with the final steps. The info on this forum has been INVALUABLE in helping me along. You guys are awesome!
The first step required me to round-off the top. As it stood, the rim was very flat, and according to photos I’d seen on interwebz, it had to have a nice taper. I used a spokeshave to get a nice gradual curve in there. Then I sanded the whole thing with 400 to 800 grit, and waxed it. For the bearing edge, I went down to 1500 and then put extra wax on there to aid the movement in the tuning process. I also glued some cracks with wood glue. Then I bought a bunch of 5mm polyester yachting rope, and used one of my African wax print cloth re-wrap the rings (using the diagonal of the cloth). Then I got the loops in – I could only manage 26 – I would have like 28 or even 30, but from research on this forum I gather it’s not a big deal.
Then the scary part: soaking the goatskin hide. I left it about 4 hours, gave it good twist massage for 15mins, and tried stringing it up to get the tension out. Placing it on the drum was harder than I thought and I eventually abandoned the rope-pull so I could position it better. I think I got it on OK in the end, but wasn’t quite sure how to place it on before the wet pull (guidance on here says the rope ring just below the bearing edge?). Schools of thought differ on the wet pull – so I went ‘fairly tight’, i.e. 3 or 4 rounds of pulling so that if I pressed in the middle, I got about 5-7mm play. I cut the excess skin and chose not to braid-wrap the little excess. I’m hoping it will tidy itself in the longer term.
So, while I wait the next few days for the dry pull, here are my questions!
I’ve (day after) now got about 2-3mm play in the centre of the drum. How tight should I go on the dry pull? All the way so that 1.I get basically no movement at all? 1mm of movement? Is this too much for the first dry pull?
2. When do I start adding the diamonds? After the first dry pull gets me about 1mm play? Or should I wait a few weeks and do another dry pull?
3. I don’t think the rope ring is low enough. Will it stretch further over time? It varies, but its about 8-12mm at this point. It’s not perfectly even – but I don’t think there is much I can do about that now unfortunately. For a first go, I think it’s OK though?
4. How do people deal with the little excess skin sticking up? I dare not try lower it too much in case of slippage.
5. Anyone have a sense on what type of wood it is? It has this zigzag zebra striping in it – a bit like Wenge?
6. Do you guys tie-off the vertical pull and lead it to the diamonds, or have the vertical rope weave directly to the diamonds without being tied-off?
7. What grit sandpaper should I use on the skin – 400 to 800 then stop? Should it feel super smooth? Like 1200, or does that affect sound adversely?
very curious to hear your thoughts, and looking forward to further discussions!
This is my first post – and a bit of a megapost – so please bear with me. For Christmas, my Mrs. bought me a little Djembe – 8”- from a specialist percussion shop.
I really enjoy playing the little thing. I’m a guitarist/bassist/synth guy, and I have always thought I might be a frustrated drummer (I’m always tapping, finger drumming, and use a lot of polyrhythms and polymeters in my music).
Anyhow, about 7 weeks after I got the (cheap, softwood) drum, I found a full blown hardwood Djembe shell on my street – 12 ¾” head. The skin was torn, and the rope worse for wear.
Needless to say, I grabbed it and began nourishing it with some sanding and beeswax. Here’s the story, and I’d like to get your thoughts on what I do next with the final steps. The info on this forum has been INVALUABLE in helping me along. You guys are awesome!
The first step required me to round-off the top. As it stood, the rim was very flat, and according to photos I’d seen on interwebz, it had to have a nice taper. I used a spokeshave to get a nice gradual curve in there. Then I sanded the whole thing with 400 to 800 grit, and waxed it. For the bearing edge, I went down to 1500 and then put extra wax on there to aid the movement in the tuning process. I also glued some cracks with wood glue. Then I bought a bunch of 5mm polyester yachting rope, and used one of my African wax print cloth re-wrap the rings (using the diagonal of the cloth). Then I got the loops in – I could only manage 26 – I would have like 28 or even 30, but from research on this forum I gather it’s not a big deal.
Then the scary part: soaking the goatskin hide. I left it about 4 hours, gave it good twist massage for 15mins, and tried stringing it up to get the tension out. Placing it on the drum was harder than I thought and I eventually abandoned the rope-pull so I could position it better. I think I got it on OK in the end, but wasn’t quite sure how to place it on before the wet pull (guidance on here says the rope ring just below the bearing edge?). Schools of thought differ on the wet pull – so I went ‘fairly tight’, i.e. 3 or 4 rounds of pulling so that if I pressed in the middle, I got about 5-7mm play. I cut the excess skin and chose not to braid-wrap the little excess. I’m hoping it will tidy itself in the longer term.
So, while I wait the next few days for the dry pull, here are my questions!
I’ve (day after) now got about 2-3mm play in the centre of the drum. How tight should I go on the dry pull? All the way so that 1.I get basically no movement at all? 1mm of movement? Is this too much for the first dry pull?
2. When do I start adding the diamonds? After the first dry pull gets me about 1mm play? Or should I wait a few weeks and do another dry pull?
3. I don’t think the rope ring is low enough. Will it stretch further over time? It varies, but its about 8-12mm at this point. It’s not perfectly even – but I don’t think there is much I can do about that now unfortunately. For a first go, I think it’s OK though?
4. How do people deal with the little excess skin sticking up? I dare not try lower it too much in case of slippage.
5. Anyone have a sense on what type of wood it is? It has this zigzag zebra striping in it – a bit like Wenge?
6. Do you guys tie-off the vertical pull and lead it to the diamonds, or have the vertical rope weave directly to the diamonds without being tied-off?
7. What grit sandpaper should I use on the skin – 400 to 800 then stop? Should it feel super smooth? Like 1200, or does that affect sound adversely?
very curious to hear your thoughts, and looking forward to further discussions!