 |
Djembe Drum
by spiritwood
I have a few Djembes ranging from little ones right up to a big monster that I am currently resting my laptop on to type this review....
There are loads of these on the market and most are rubbish to be honest as they are factory made and usually are horrible sounding things. A decent hand crafted Djembe drum should cost a ... LOT more than a £20 ebay job. The cheapie drums also do not possess the deep rumbling bass sound that feels like it is moving in your body so if you are into the idea of owning a Djembe, I would advise that you save up from a proper handcrafted one, preferable made (like mine is) by some Rasta dudes in Ghana :)
HISTORY:
The Djembe is an traditional African instrument which is hugely popular all over Africa but particularly in Ghana where the Djembe and other traditional drums form the rhythmic backbone to much of the African and Hip life music. The typical quality Djembe features a goblet shape, and a hand carved base and top which is carved from a solid piece of African hardwood, often a wood called Lenke. This is a beautiful smooth wood which has a golden and red tone with a very tight grain. A Djembe can range in size from tiny lap drums right up to monsters like mine which can be 18" diameter across the drum head. It is more usual to find Djembe drums in the 12" range.
STRUCTURE:
Djembes are very often decorated with tribal patterns and animals which are relevant to the area from which they are made. Mine was made by a Rasta and features a large moon carving with a star on the other side which are symbolic to the people on the beaches of Accra where this was made. There are two iron or steel rings that hold the goatskin drum top to the drum, one ring slightly inside the other makes the skin very tight. The skin of a Djembe will often have scrape marks on it from where the majority of the goat hair was removed by a blade so don't be deterred if you see this on the drum head. The drum is tuned by adjusting the rope knots which run around the top of the drum but this is unlikely to concern a beginner. The ropes are woven in a repetitive way which serves both practical and decorative purposes. When you have a good look at the construction of the knotwork it is boggling to an outsider but I am assured that it is easy to do when you know how...
The inside of the drum is of course hollow to allow the sound to reverberate and travel around the drum, and the inside is carved in a way that affects tone rather than just haphazardly. A skilled drum maker will intuitively know how much wood to leave and how much to remove for optimum tone quality.
The Djembe is a highly decorative instrument. Mine lives in my kitchen which might sound strange but then my kitchen is also full of violins and has chrome wheel hubs from classic cars hanging on the wall. It is an easy thing to pick up and play but it takes skill to play it well.
PLAYING THE DJEMBE:
Due to the size and weight of the instrument a Djembe is often played whilst seated. There are harnesses available for people to play standing up should you wish to but I could no way do this. The drum is placed between the knees at an angle and the base rests near your feet. There are three sounds produced by a Djembe which are called the bass, the tone and the slap. The hand position is important as it is the way to transfer intonation and pressure to the drum skin.
This drum is a loud drum with lots of presence and reverb. Generally the bigger the drum the bigger the noise and the one I have makes a racket that can be heard all over the house which makes it brilliant for gigs as it can be heard over other acoustic instruments. A group of Djembes playing in rhythm is something to behold....
THE SOUNDS:
The bass: This tone comes from the heart of the drum and the centre of the skin. You use the flat of your palm to hit it. It is very deep and very evocative.
The tone: This tone utilises the steel rings to produce a sound of a different timbre, fuller and sharper than the rest. This is usually used for definition and is usually produced by hitting the skin nearer or on the rim of the drum.
The slap: This is a higher sound than the bass and is played with an relaxed open hand on the drum skin, usually the fingers are used rather than the palm.
It all sounds horribly complicated but once you sit with a Djembe in front of you, the tones produced are easy to find and define as they are all quite different. The bass sound of a Djembe is the one that you can feel right through your body like a heartbeat and it can make my hair stand on end when I hear it played. The sound of the Djembe evokes a tribal vibe and I love it so much that I actually had an Djembe party at my local family centre for my daughter's 2nd birthday party. Led by the Rasta who made my drum, we had 14 mothers and 6 children drumming for over an hour without boredom. The kids loved it.
BUYING A DRUM:
I recommend that if you are looking to buy one of these amazing drums that you look for genuine African made instruments. Ideally you want it to be hand crafted. There are a variety of sellers who import drums from Ghana to sell over here and those are the ones that I would go to. I would avoid Ebay unless you can find a seller who has genuine handcrafted Djembes for sale and has good feedback. A bad drum will not inspire you to play it....
Expect to pay over £130 minimum for a 12" Djembe of quality.
A final thought..
The sound of the Djembe has been used locally (Wales) with severely Autistic children and adults with huge success. The noise, the repetition and the texture of the drum have been very calming to some individuals which has been wonderful to witness. When I worked in a dual diagnosis unit, we ran drum groups that were a massive success and seemed to lull everyone who attended into a state of lulled mellowness.... including the staff! I have also found that babies love the sound too and it seems to hypnotise them.
I recommend this drum to play for the joy of the sound that it creates and the fact that it looks stunning when not being played. The sound is phenomenal in a good one and it is a very sociable instrument that is wonderful for jamming on with friends.
Read the complete review |
 |
Meinl Nino15
by blonde_girl774
For those of you that read one of my recent reviews on a Yamaha recorder you will know that I am a massive music fan and take my role as head of the recorder club at school very seriously. After two years perseverance my amazing abilities at teaching children to play the "Three Blind Mice" has finally been recognised and I've ... received a promotion. It's not quite conducting the Halle orchestra yet (I feel that will be around Christmas) but I have been promoted to head of the percussion club. Now you may well mock me but this is quite a responsibility, not only do I get the pleasure of hearing 20 tuneless recorders on a Tuesday lunch time, I also get to throw into the mix a few tambourines, a few triangles and some random wooden blocks that children seem to like to tap to no particular rhythm!
In reality I feel that this "promotion" must be a punishment for something really bad that I did in a previous life, there is no other explanation for it other than that no one else was stupid enough to say yes when offered it. Parents never seem to tire of hearing the percussion club, baring in mind they only hear it once a year at the Christmas concert for a capped time of two minutes (the head said it could never go over two minutes as she couldn't last any longer). When I looked at the rather tired looking tambourines we had I decided we needed to upgrade, my theory was that the more expensive they were then surely the better they'd sound? Apparently not! However we did purchase six Meinl Nino 15 tambourines at the price of £21.99 each from Amazon in the hope they'd be automatically tuneful!
The tambourines look like your typical tambourine in that they're made of a light wood and are circular in shape. The diameter is approximately 10 inches and all around the circumference are the steel plates which, when shaken, result in a noise. The plates are made from nickel silver plated steel which does result in a nicer tinkling sound. They are available in a one row construction with 8 plated steel jingle pairs, or as a two row construction with 16 plated steel jingle pairs which are the ones we bought... I figured we might as well double the sound! They've got a small circular hole which allows you to place several fingers through in order to hold it when playing it. To make a sound you simply need to hold it and beat it against your other hand or leg and the steel jingle pairs will produce a sparkling sound.
The wooden frame is really sturdy, they've withstood being banged and dropped numerous times in the month that we've had them and I'm pretty certain they'd also withstand me hurling them across the room (I'll probably find out next year)! The steel jingle pairs are also held firmly in place, obviously there does need to be some flexibility to allow them to vibrate when you bang the tambourine but they wouldn't be easy to damage or pull out in anyway. Prior to investing in these we had some rather cheap looking plastic tambourines which made quite a harsh sound, these ones actually make quite a nice tinkling sound that's light and nice to listen to. You can alter the intensity and volume or the sound depending on how hard you force the plates to vibrate... we're still working on the quieter option!
If you are in the habit of making music and fancy setting up your own percussion band then I'd fully recommend the Meinl Nino 15 tambourine. They make a nice sound, are easy to use and are sturdy too. I always do wonder who actually buys things like this, apart from schools, so please do enlighten me if you have any ideas or even if you own your own tambourine! As I mentioned they're currently priced at £21.99 on Amazon and this does seem to be the cheapest online price, they also offer a percussion set too if you're serious. So now I have a merry band of about thirty children playing their hearts out on various percussion instruments every week in preparation for our annual two minute concert... all I can say is tune in for the next series of Britain's Got Talent... I'll be there in a strait jacket!
Thanks for reading.
Read the complete review |
 |
Yamaha DD-55
by Steve87
I can't believe I found this....
When I was 12 I decided I wanted to play the drums because let's face it, they're awesome.
Well, Christmas morning comes and wouldn't you know it, I have these sitting there in all their shiny glory. Much to the annoyance of my parents I spent the next 6 months playing these babies ... and they were nothing but good to me, the pads are ULTRA heavy duty, they stand up to anything you throw at them.
On many occasions I dropped these things onto hard floors and they just stood up to it, definitely a Yamaha product.
The sound bank is absolutely huge, and the editing of your pad sounds is as simple as pie, any kind of drum combination you want is right there at the press of a button, and it's very easy to get to know your way around. I have always been into metal music so naturally I want double kick pedals, all I had to do was take a minute to find one out of the many choices to replace my hi-hat pedal sound and BAM!
The sound quality itself is absolutely fantastic, the sounds are crisp and clear and depending on your volume setting they can be very loud, you could always whack in some headphones and stop people getting jealous at how good you're getting, however this doesn't cut out the loud sound of stick on pad.
There is a hand percussion mode which makes the pads more sensitive and allows you to play with your hands, this is kinda cool but tbh I never really remember using it for anything except smashing out some bongos on occasion, which is always fun.
I do however have a criticism, I often found myself getting frustrated as sometimes certain things I did wouldn't register, sometimes I'd hit two things simultaneously and one or both would just cancel and I'd hear nothing at all, this obviously was a major pain in the bum as it just throws everything out of whack.
If you have a certain someone you know or even you yourself would like to learn how to play the drums I would definitely recommend these to get yourself off the ground and get yourself a basic understanding of rhythm.
I found the transition from this set to a real set very easy when it came to making the leap, this is a very cheap and effective way to get yourself going. Very fun.
Read the complete review |
