Forums > Help! > Drum restoring

Posted: 27th Jul 2005
while we're at it i got a small african drum which needs re-skinning as well and would likewise be grateful if anyone could help with information as to where to get it done!

It is our fantasies that make us real. Without our fantasies we're just a blank monkey' - Terry Pratchett

Posted: 27th Jul 2005
if you want repairs done pro then have a look HERE

If you want to have a go yourselves I believe you can get skins HERE and HERE

Hope that helps

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!

Posted: 27th Jul 2005
I'd suggest goatskins.com

The FAQ is good for most things including skinning a drum.
https://djembelfaq.drums.org/

https://www.skintoskin.co.uk/
https://home.tiscali.be/djembeboom/

Can be hard work but recommended if you ask me.

I live in a world of infinite possibilities.

Posted: 27th Jul 2005
It's worth putting some investment into having drums properly skinned and tuned up. Replacing leather straps with pre-stretched rope etc. A flat/dead sounding djembe (or other large drum) thumping away, drowning out everything else is one of the nastiest sounds in the music/spinning/jamming world!!



It actually is quite a lengthy and skillful process to skin and tune a drum, so the price quoted on "Scully's" site is quite reasonable.

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....

Posted: 5th Aug 2005
Good advice and fair enough if you want to get someone else to do it.

I recently reheaded mine for the first time and it took me about an hour and a half (to put the skin on and get it dry)... I am not a handy man by any stretch and I had no problems at alll....

Admittedly pulling the verticles is a bigger job but I wouldn't call it hard...

I just followed the instructions here

One on the main reasons I recommended it is because you get a better appeciation that a tree and a goat died to make your drum and I feel like I've bonded with mine a lot more.

I live in a world of infinite possibilities.

Posted: 10th Aug 2005
It takes a few days/ on and off to really get a drum tuned. Getting the verticals done is just the beginning, and that's hard enough for most people! Esepcially if they are doing it without the tricky little tools that people who do it a lot have acquired/developed. Beyond that is the actual tuning, and most people who skin their own never really get them sharp/ well pitched, and don;t even know that they sound bad... They make a sound but... it's like playing an out of tune violin really... makes a sound but not one that contributes to world peace!



Sorry to be picky but this is a bit of a bug of mine, cos djembes are so damned loud and over a decade or so of festivals and jams I have been subjected to sooooo much of this! So not just the tree and goat died, but everyone who has to listen for the next x years! (I play middle eastern instruments that are more subtle.. what often happens is that once there is more than a coule of djembes around everyone else just gives up... and if they are not sweet sounding, the percussion jam turns into djembe soup)



Having said that, I just participated in a mass outdoor drumming event called Goodwill drumming with 185 drums.. about 150 djembes.. and it rocked!



Having said this, your drum is probably not a djembe, Gelfling.. , seeing it is metal.. but like most drums there will probalby be an optimum tightness to bring out the best resonance... and it could likely be tighter than hand tightened verticals alone will establish...even with prestretched cord. Peeps often use chocks or horizontal tightening cords to get the right sound...



Probably the best thing you can possibly do is both pay an esperienced person to do it, AND go help them, so you learn literally the ropes, and get a feel of how a nice drum sounds... I mean, these are things that traditional peeps took seriously.. learning skills and tuning the ear as well as the instrument...



good luck! and yeah, go the drum bonding,DSS!

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....

Posted: 10th Aug 2005
Indeed I don't know if this is helping Gelfing sorry if this is off topic at all....

After pulling verticles for an hour for the 3rd time last night I’ll agree it’s no snap of the fingers. All of the information needed to do this is readily available from friends and the internet.

I agree that people should be aware of what they are contributing or taking away from the group by playing. This is caused by ignorance of the sound of their drum or the way it’s being played. Getting someone else to service your drum will only lead to more ignorance. Ignorance comes in many forms beyond the sound a drum makes too…

If a person gets it tuned by someone else how long will it keep its pitch before it needs some attention. Should the person then take it back to the person and pay again every few weeks or months? This reminds me of that book Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintainance. 

If you’re talking about tuning a drum to a note then I’ll admit my ignorance. Otherwise it’s a matter of compromising the amount of bass you want in order to get your slaps snappy?

The rudest noise I can imagine coming out of a djembe is that horrible ring that can afflict some drums. That aside different pitches of drums is what makes polyrythm beautiful in my opinion.

I don’t think fear of not getting it right first time or laziness at the prospect of the amount of work it takes should scare people away from learning about the instrument they are learning to play.

I don't even know why I'm bothering at the moment since I'm going to Oz in 4 weeks and have to sell the drum when I leave...
Maybe we'll discuss this in person soon NewGabe.

I agree too many of any drums is soupesque!

I live in a world of infinite possibilities.

Posted: 10th Aug 2005

Written by: DeepSoulSheep

---

All of the information needed to do this is readily available from friends and the internet.
... Getting someone else to service your drum will only lead to more ignorance. Ignorance comes in many forms beyond the sound a drum makes too…

If a person gets it tuned by someone else how long will it keep its pitch before it needs some attention.

If you’re talking about tuning a drum to a note then I’ll admit my ignorance. Otherwise it’s a matter of compromising the amount of bass you want in order to get your slaps snappy?
... That aside different pitches of drums is what makes polyrythm beautiful in my opinion.

---

Hey you raise some really good points. Being responsible/capable for maintaining your instrument is really important... I went back to my post and added something along those lines into it... even suggesting actually paying for the skill of the more experienced person AND learning to do it properly yourself...like a traditional apprentice drummer would have had to do!
About retuning... drum that has slack in the cord will go out much quicker than a properly done one... so probably a 'professional' job will last a lot longer.... not that you paid makes the difference, but the strength and eg tools that a peep has.. and just knowing how damned full on gettignt he slack out is! Also peeps have tricks about how to do the cross tuning ropes..
SOmetimes drums are tuned to a note.. eg congas being a 4th apart... but more often it is a question of finding the optimum tightness for a particular drum.. resonance..

Mind you I'm going on about this and I don;t even tune my drums cos I use Remos!!! This climate is a bitch for skin drums... humid/dry/hot/cold

Hey Soul Sheep!
You coming this way! Most welcome!

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....

Posted: 13th Sep 2005
Having just re-skinned my djembe (not fully done yet, but its on and the rings are down, if loose still), i have a couple of queries:

1) many skins i see are a really nice creamy-off white colour. Mine, on the other hand, is mottled black/grey and you can see where the ribs were. Is this a problem?

2) having seen a couple of sites talking about shaving and stuff, i put my skin on with the rougher, slightly gooey when wet side up. I feel that this may be the wrong way round, and that the smooth shiny side should be facing up. Again,true? if so, problem?

3) i cut a little bit off and was playing with it. I realised that if you scrape the daylights out of the gooeyish side, it looks a lot smoother/nicer. Should i have done this before putting it on?

I should (i hope) be able to take the skin off and fix up what i haven't done/have done wrong, given that i've cut only a small triangle off one of the larger overhangs.

Any assistance/answers would rock greatly. Hopefully, i haven't just wasted $50 by doing something dumb..

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie

Posted: 27th Sep 2005
Ok. now that it's done, cut, dry and tightened, i've learned the following:

1)not really, at least not that i've found so far. Also, it seems to be turning a lot paler now that it's stretching.

2) yes, that is inside out. I'm working on sanding it back using really fine (800/1200 grit) wet rub sandpaper.

3)still not sure...

Just a couple of helping hints for anyone brand spanking new to the drum reskinning game

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie

Posted: 11th Oct 2005
Concerning 1 the skin in defo darker when wetter... also don't know if I believe it but I read on the internet that tinner skins are whiter.... I'd imagine it's different colour goats though...

I live in a world of infinite possibilities.