How to build a Hand Drum.

[SLimm]

love it or hate it, you have anew guy who just joined the forum, and used his first post, not to reply to an existing thread or idea, but to ask a question.

as i am a long standing member of other forums i know this can be extremely annoying unless its done right, so here goes.

i am new to hand drumming, Native American spiritual drumming, and islander, African styles.
i participate in various meet-ups for hand drummers, and well? most of the folks have very expensive hand made drums they've gotten in various countries, and don't know how they are made.

and im poor, not broke, not "in a rough spot" ppooooorrrr.
i cant afford to pay attention im so poor.

so i want to make my own hand drum, and was hoping that a drumming forum would have enough hardware purists to put me in my place proper.

i know i'm going to need a log about 3 feet tall or so, and some patience.
i can get those for free, no problem.
about heads.
this will have to be an animal skin head, do they come in specific sizes?
i actually planned on sourcing some hide from a hunting friend, and doing it rite.
but if there is a specific size standardization, id like to adhere to standards so i can use a commercially made head if i have to later on down the road.

so yeah, there's my story. any ideas, advice on standards, materials, techniques, etc?
wanna just talk trash cause i seem new and naive?
by all means do so, i need to be educated...

[SLimm]

oh well.
worth a shot i suppose...
thanks anyway.

[PASHA]

SLimm, your post was not answered not because you are new, just give it some more time...

We welcome any drummers new or old on this forum without any "behind thoughts" about any of the members!

I wish I could be of more help, but I know very little about hand drums myself...

[Carthage]

Hi,

     What's a hand drum?  Do you mean bongos, congas, tonbaks, doumbeks, bougarabous, .................?  There are thousands of different types of hand drums.　　you can get a big coffee can and play that.  Cut out one end and pound on the other.  You could get different tones by getting different sized cans.

       Or maybe something like this:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/oLl2eBGZlF0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/oLl2eBGZlF0&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

You don't need skins.

Don

[KenSanders]

SLimm, like PASHA has indicated, we're not versed in this particular subject.  However, check out these links and see if they provide any guidelines.  http://www.aaanativearts.com/article378.html

http://www.aaanativearts.com/article378.html

http://www.catanna.com/drumcircles.htm

http://www.aaanativearts.com/article378.html

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QVkSDmlCLDU&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/QVkSDmlCLDU&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

[SLimm]

i apologize for my previous assumption, and thank you for the responses.
i was thinking of going more towards an ashiko

or a djembe.

again im not any good at any of this, but i was thinking they have to have similarities in materials.
im thinking i may need to look for a harder wood like oak, teak, or cedar to carve this out of.
im not sure. are there any production drums still made with single pieces or are they all  laminates?

[KenSanders]

Okay, now that we have narrowed it down..............try this link.
http://pdgood.us/handdrum/ashiko.html

[SLimm]

wow, i was originally thinking a djembe, but this looks a whole lot easier then finding i 3 foot log that i can carve.
thanks.

[KenSanders]

Let us know how this project turns out and send a picture.