Hand Drums

If their are any hand drummers in the house i'm thinking of getting a Djembe. Not sure what to get. Having never played one what should i look for in one? My thoughts are the bigger the better for the lowness. Any words of wise-dome for a drummer wanting to explore the world of hand-drumming?

Man, I wish the search function was operable, but here you go.

My favorite Djembes have been African, Hardwood, Heavy, and w/ at least a 12" head.

Bali makes some pretty nice Djembes too.

The non-wood shells are much lighter and do sound OK, but are not my preferred choice, I like wooden shells.

You can certainly play a bleached head, but a furred head will sound more authentic.

Also look at the four other usual suspects:

Ashikos - I think I know a guy

Doumbeks - Ceramic is nice but it breaks, Alexandria make good drums

Bongos -Make sure they're tunable, also get a stand

Congas - Expensive and heavy but worth it if you do lots of Latin

Whatever you get make sure it's tunable.

lfol2012, you do realize you got a reply from one of the finest hand drum makers in the country don't you? I've played on one of Slap Happy's drums, it was unbelieveable quality and workmanship.

i can confirm that.

Aww shucks, can't wait to show you guys what I'm up to.

Let me make that endorsement a little clearer.

I have played drums for over 50 years. I know my way around a drumset (check my youtubes). I have owned at one time or another an African talking drum, Indian tabla and baya, congas and bongos. I have played/recorded on hand drums from at least 30 different manufacturers, some big, some small.

I am doing something totally different in my drumming world right now. If I wanted to get a new hand drum of any kind, maybe for a special project or something, and truly needed the best I could get, there is only one place I would look.

Does that make it any clearer?

hey slap happy, do you make djembe's??

I was looking at this http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Remo-Designer-Series-Keytuned-Djembe?sku=500741 good?

We don't build Djembes, I cannot compete w/ Africa and Bali, so I choose not to. Ashikos are slightly less powerful, but much more sensitive, I build Ashikos.

Djembes.

this would be better, it smells a lot like a Bali Djembe, which aren't bad http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Toca-Vuur-Djembe?sku=447042

this would be even better http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Toca-Freestyle-Cannon-Djembe-with-Bag?sku=449859

This is the way I'd roll if I wanted I djembe over the net and had $$$

http://www.africanrhythmtraders.com/masterseries/index.html

http://www.africanrhythmtraders.com/html/djembe.html

the same quality drum could be found for much cheaper if you can hook up with the right Africans, the closer to the builder the better the drum and the better the price.