Drum Repair Histories
We proudly present the fruit of our labor. Explore with us the process by which djembes, frame drums, balafons, tablas, dholaks, bodhrans, riqs, doumbeks, zarbs and other hand drums and instruments from around the world are made whole again.
Click on any of the thumbnail images for a better look.
If your instrument has been silent for too long, fill out a contact form, call or text us at +1 (831) 428-6626 or email us at DrTom@DrumDr.com, and we guarantee you can expect the kind of results you see on this page.
African Drumming Ensemble
Dan is the Music Equipment Tech for CSU East Bay Music Department. As such, he is tasked with maintaining the department's musical instruments in top working order, including the instruments used by the African Drumming Ensemble.
Among these instruments are djembes, dununs and bougarabous. A few of these needed repair, including two dundunbas and one kenkeni.
These all needed fresh cow skins.
The djembe and bougarabou also needed their drum heads replaced.
We mounted fresh cow skins on the dundunbas, and when we got to the kenkeni found that both heads needed to be replaced. The damage on the second drum head wasn't obvious until we took a closer look.
Once the cow skins dried we gave the drums a good tuning and they were ready to go.
The djembe and bougarabou were mounted with fresh goat skins, and they responded very well to treatment.
Family Portrait
This was a really fun project. First because we don't repair many dununs or bougarabous, but also because it involved a group of drums that make music together - they are intimately related. We found it very rewarding, especially when Dan let us know how happy he was with the results.
Hey Tom:
The drums look and sound great! I look forward to a long relationship.
Thx much!
Danny Howdeshell (CSU East Bay)
Djembek Head Replacement
A djembek is a tunable doumkek. The ceramic shell is exactly the size and shape of a typical doumbek. What is not typical is that the skin is not glued onto the shell - it is mounted onto the shell with the rope and ring system used on djembes.
Renees djembek is a fine example of such a drum. The only problem is that the skin has ripped.
The repair process for a djembek is very similar to that of a djembe, though much care must be taken with the ceramic shell. It may sound like a contradiction, but these shells a quite strong but fragile.
We replaced the damaged skin with an African goat skin that we may have used on a djembe - considerably thicker than most doumbeks would use.
Since the drum is tunable, this drum can be tightened at will so as to raise the pitch to suit one's needs. Renee is a happy drummer!
Powwow Drum Restored
Traci sent us these boards and asked us to transform them into a double sided 38" octagon medicine drum.
The skin and lacing had ripped and the frame had come apart, so she sent us just the disassebled remains for ease of shipping.
The first thing we had to do was to remove the old glue and staples that had once held the frame together. This alone took more time and effort than any other part of the process, but it was crucial if we wanted the reconstructed frame to hold.
We noticed along the way that some of the boards had warped and some had cracked.
These cracks were mostly superficial, but here's one the ran through the board.
There wasn't much we could do about the warping, but these cracks needed to be sealed and, if appropriate, reinforced somehow.
So we thoroughly removed the old adhesive and staples to provide a clean surface for the fresh glue and sealed and reinforced all the cracks.
In the meantime, we had ordered and received two buffalo hides with which we planned to skin the drum shell we were diligently reconstructing - thick, fresh and beautiful hides. We couldn't wait to hear them sing!
The next challenge was to figure out the order in which all the pieces fit together. The boards had been numbered when disassembled, but the numbers were hard to read and didn't make sense. The obvious thing to have done would have been to number them one through eight, but this was not the case. In the end we just tried different combinations and went with the one that seemed best.
Once the eight-sided shell was back together and sturdy enough the withstand the tremendous pressure the thick buffalo hides would exert, we mounted the skins.
We used strong, durable and low-stretch rope rather than rawhide as lacing because it's more reliable than rawhide and won't be affected by its environment like rahide will. Oh, and because this style of lacing renders the powwow drum tunable.
Yes, this is a tunable drum.
OK, you might say, so it's a tuneable drum. But how does the medicine drum sound?
<-- Click on the image to hear it thunder.
Traci had put a great deal of trust in The Drum Doctor. The expense for the parts and labor, the shipping - boy was it ever a challenge to get that magnificent drum safely back in her hands once it was whole again. Remember, this is a large and heavy drum. But once the drum was home again she knew immediately that it was all worth it.
Greetings Dr. Tom!
Yes, the drum arrived safely and it is absolutely beautiful and powerful. I was brought to tears when we opened it. . .
Much gratitude and blessings,
Traci Ireland (Ketchum, ID)
African Talking Drum Restoration
Larry borrowed this African talking drum from a good friend, and enjoyed it so much that he kept it for years. So many years that the strap became brittle and eventually began to fall apart.
Obviously, he couldn't return it in such a state, so he asked The Drum Doctor to restore it to its original condition.
We actually made the strap to replace the old one. While the color didn't precisely match the original the result is really quite authentic.
And the drum sound as good as new. It's talking up a storm!
Another Talking Drum Restoration
Alan had promised his son that he would get this talking drum repaired.
Both drum heads were torn. The rope is in decent shape, but since we're going to replace both skins, we're going to replace everything but the shell. We're even going to change how the skin is mounted.
The skins are strong and durable African goat skins. The rope should last a lifetime.
Dr Drum,
I got the drum back. Looks great.
Thank you,
Alan Ashenberner (Portland, OR)
African Peg Drum Restoration
Bill's mother spent a lot of time in East Africa as a professional photographer and collector of artifacts in the early 1970s. When she picked up this drum, it was already a vintage instrument.
When Bill asked DrumDrTom to restore the drum, we suggested that the drum could be converted into a tunable drum with a system of rings and rope similar to an ashiko, and it would sound better. On top of that, the skin would be easier to replace when the need arose.
But Bill wanted to retain the drum's authenticity, so we got to work.
One of the first things that stood out about this drum is the skin underlying the actual drum head. What could be its purpose? Is it strictly decorative?
Another unusual thing about our new friend is the metal plate attached to the base of the drum. Unlike the second layer of skin, the purpose of this plate is obvious: it's a patch. There's a piece of drum shell missing, and the plate is used to patch up shell.
Not surprisingly, this old veteran also has its share of cracks. Here's the largest of them.
As we looked closer, we noticed that the skin had been mounted over some of the pegs and that some pegs were either missing altogether or broken.
There was one large section which had most of the pegs either broken, missing or buried. We would have to whittle some replacement pegs.
Once we removed the damaged drum head, we understood the purpose of the underlying skin: it was a bandage. You see, some of the cracks on the shell were quite severe. Here's a look at a couple of the worst ones. You can see that the one we looked at earlier from the outside was bound with wire in an effort to keep the shell intact.
Somewhere along the line, someone mounting a fresh skin on this drum simply cut out the playing surface of the previous drum head and left skin around the side of the drum as a bandage.
We decided this bandage was not necessary and removed it. In doing so, we learned more of this vintage drum's history. There was a set of peg holes beneath the current set of peg holes, but they had been sealed up. What could be the story behind this? We'll probably never know.
Some of the cracks ran through the shell, and once all the skin had been removed, the shell felt rather flimsy. We fixed that using three different types of glue.
Once we were done, the shell was solid and strong - good for a couple more centuries.
We cleaned and thoroughly oiled the drum shell and hand whittled some pegs to replace the missing and damaged pegs. You can see that we made them a bit larger than the originals. We could always reduce the size, but there would be no way to enlarge them.
We would need a large skin to cover the 14 inches of the drum head, plus several inches all the way around the side of the shell. And we would need some skin beyond that to grab and stretch the skin into place. Here is our large goat skin.
All the preliminary work was done. It was time to mount the skin.
This project was a lot of work. But it was worth it.
Remember the large crack we looked at earlier? It's hardly noticeable now.
Qilaut: Repair Of Inuit Wind Drum
The qilaut is a ceremonial drum of the Inuit people. It is a large frame drum with a handle that recently has been more appreciated for it's musical qualities as well as for it's role in ceremony.
Only the skin of this qilaut is damaged. The frame is sturdy, well built and in fine shape.
As with all cultures, the Inuit traditionally built their drums using materials immediately available in their environment. The Inuit hunted caribou for sustenance, and used caribou skin to make their qilauts. Today, any type of skin may be used, including goat, which is what our client has chosen. This will keep the costs down but present a challenge.
This drum's hoop has a diameter of 26 inches, so we'll need a skin that's at least 36 inches wide. Finding a goat skin this large is not easily done, but we have many sources and will hunt one down.
The goat skin large enough for this drum we were able to find was with hair. We trimmed the hair short and mounted the skin with the hair still on. Once the skin was mounted securely in place, we shaved the playing surface and allowed the skin to dry.
Paul's sacred wind drum will sing again.
OK ... Thank you Dr Tom our drum arrived . . . and we are very happy with it . . . Thank you again for our drum's fast recovery..
Paul D. (Baltimore, MD)
Dholak Rope Replacement
The rope on this dholak has seen better days. The slack on the drum needs to be pulled, but the rope is so damaged we might as well replace it and tune the drum in the process.
We suggested using alpine rope similar to that used on most djembes these days, but our client chose to stick to the traditional cotton rope.
The customer is always right!
And here's another dholak that needed its rope replaced. The rope we used for this one is a bit different, but it's also the traditional cotton tuning rope.
And yet another dholak that needed its rope replaced. Oh my God! It's an epidemic!
Fortunately, we've developed a cure at DrumDrTom.
Antique Bass Drum Restoration
Eric reenacts brass bands of the 1840's - 1910's using authentic music, uniforms and instruments. He has a large pre civil war bass drum that needs to be restored.
The heads on this 1850's Porter Blanchard Bass Drum are 27" wide and the drum stands 24" tall. The calfskin heads, rope, and pig ear tugs will need to be replaced, and who know what we'll find once the drum is disassembled. Let's have a look.
Now that we can take a good look at the bare shell we see that it's begun to cave in from being squeezed by the rope. The shell has begun to buckle. We'll have to address this or it'll be pointless to reassemble this drum with all new parts.
The shell has almas on both ends. These are meant to fortify the shell where most of the pressure from tightening the skins is sustained. We're going to add slats running from alma to alma that will serve as support beams for the shell.
Things never seem to be as easy as you wish. The almas are tapered along the edge where we plan to wedge the slats. We'll have to cut slots into the almas for the slats to fit into or the slats might just slip off once pressure is applied.
Our strategy worked well. We actually managed to straighten out most of the warping on the shell as we forced the slats into place. We also sealed some cracks on the shell while we were at it. The shell is much stronger now and ready to take on the new calfskins.
We've had the calfskins soaking so they're ready to be tucked onto the flesh hoops. Once that's done (not a trivial task) we can mount them on the newly restored shell.
Would you believe this bass drum has been around since the 1850s?
One day you may be watching a movie who's story occurs in the mid 19th century and includes a marching band. Perhaps a movie touching on the American Civil War. Look closely and you might just spot our bass drum marching along.
BTW, I love the bass drum!
Eric (Concord, CA)
Gusle Repair
Not all our repairs are of drums. We occasionally repair koras, balafons, harmoniums, banjos and even gusles.
What is a gusle?
A gusle is a single-stringed fiddle, a folk instrument native to the Balkans. David purchased one from Serbia and it arrived damaged.
While the gusle is not a drum, the repair is very much similar to the repair of many drums. The idea is to replace the damaged skin with a similar skin that is intact.
We can certainly do that.
We've replaced the damaged skin with a very similar and flawless skin. David could not wait to try out his new fiddle.
David Sings -->
Hippie Drum Restoration
Abraham has an old, one of a kind drum made from a hollowed out tree fork. His drum has a long history full of memories dear to him, says it's an old hippie drum - an obvious term of endearment. :)
The problem is that the skins on this drum have run their course and need to be replaced.
This is a good sized tree trunk standing about the perfect height for someone to stand before it and play it just above waist level. The heads are about ten and twelve inches each, which is perfect for mounting a thicker skin on the larger side in order to have a treble and bass, such as you would on a set of congas or bongos.
Because the skins will be stretched by hand and tacked on, we cannot hope to use really thick skins, such as congas might use. There won't be any hardware or rope system to help with the tuning. After consulting with Abraham we decided to go with thick elk skin on the bass side and medium thickness elk skin for the treble.
This drum is truly one of a kind and one of our very favorites ever. Think of it. Someone came upon a tree trunk and thought to make a drum. And it turned out to be a great drum.
Abraham thinks that was a great idea.
He sent us a picture of his beautiful drum in its natural environment (out in the sticks in Big Sur) along with a message.
"Thank you sir, for another day free. Thank you Big Sur, for taking care of me"
This is the prayer that has been said, countless times, over this old one. I felt it appropriate that I share it with you. Truly, with heart, and in fullness,I thank you for bringing this back so it may once more speak to the hills. Your work on this instrument is fantastic!
Abraham (Big Sur, CA)
Ceremonial Drum Restoration
Harold is Keeper of the Drum and takes his responsibilities ver seriously. When the ceremonial drum he's entrusted with began to come apart at the seams, he brought the drum to Dr. Tom for an evaluation.
The drum heads are intact. Often, these Native American style drums tear at the eyelets through which the lacing is threaded. The skin is quite thick and strong, though, and the eyelets are punched well beyond the edge of the skin, so they all have held. It's only the lacing that has broken at several places and must be replaced.
This is good. The repair should be fairly easy and the drum should recover completely.
We've replaced the old lacing with much thicker and sturdier rawhide that should endure for the life of this drum. Harold won't have to worry about the lacing giving out again.
Conga Head Replacement
We don't skin too many congas. Congas have been popular in the US for many years so are plentiful. So are replacemet conga heads. It's easy to purchase a replacement drum head for a conga and mount it, so there's no need to hire a drum maker for the task.
Except for when the conga is not of a standard size and the available replacement heads won't fit. Another exception is when a drummer prefers a hand mounted skin or wants a type of skin not typically used to make replacement conga heads.
Gary preferred a hand mouted skin for his conga.
Gary wanted a hand mounted skin, but he also wanted to keeps costs reasonable, so we went with a buffalo skin.
Elegant drum, don't you think?
Nagara Restoration
A nagara (drum) is an ancient kettledrum of various sizes and applications. The Ranjit (victorious) Nagara can have a diameter of up to 5 feet. These are the war drums you may have seen in movies straddled on horses, camels or elephants. Their thunder heralded impending bloodshed.
This old war drum has begun to fall apart.
Rawhide lacing tends to be the weak link on a drum and is often the first to break beacuse of age and stress. Because it's the lacing that pulls the drumhead taut, the drumhead loses tension once the lacing breaks.
The drumhead is old, but the skin is very thick and durable. We should be able to replace the lacing and pull the drumhead taut again to restore this old drum's voice.
The thick buffalo hide held up fine.
This type of repair would normally be fairly easy, but because the drum is so large and the skin so thick, it took a lot of pulling with a great deal of force to get the drum tuned up.
We used strong, durable rope to replace the rawhide lacing. You can be sure this lacing won't break, and as an added bonus it makes the drum tunable.
How to Build a Tabla Baladi
What do you do with a large, rather ragged-looking, cylindrical wooden shell with a 25 inch diameter and stands about as tall?
How about let's start by making two sets of cold steel rings for it. These might serve nicely as crowns. Of course, you can't make the crowns without rope and you'll need rope to attach the crowns as well.
Of course, this would all be pointless without some kind of skin to give this thing a voice. How about one thick piece and one not so thick piece to give the voice some range.
This is a tunable drum. Maybe we could take some of the left over rope and tie rings around the verticles that can be pulled up the verticals for for some quick tuning.
An there it is! A tunable, two headed drum with a treble and bass head. Very reminiscent of a tabla baladi. Played with a thin stick on the treble side and a stout stick on the bass, the range on this drum is tremendous.
And isn't she lovely?
Another Djembe Restoration
We recently had the privilege of restoring a djembe built by Mamadou Kone, a musical prodigy fulfilling his heritage of instrument building and music making.
As you can see, DrumDrTom was provided with most of the parts of this beautiful instrument, and was entrusted with restoring it to its former glory.
We cleaned and oiled the shell thoroughly, and sealed some minor cracks before we even thought of mounting a fresh skin.
Because of the size of this drum (12" head), we went with a medium-thick skin and pulled it as tight as we dared.
The results of our efforts were more than satisfying. The voice of this drum is divine. Perfectly defined tones and wake-the-dead slaps, yet receptive to the lightest touch.
This is not the biggest djembe to be found, but the clarity and flawless articulation of each note it produces is submlime.
Dr. Tom could not be more pleased.
Balafon (Balaphon) Restoration
If you click on these images and take a close look, you'll get a sense for the age of this venerable instrument.
My client spent some time in Cameroon while in the Peace Corps and made some good friends there. One such friend learned of his fondness for the music of the balafon and presented him with this antique, which his grandfather had made. On his return to the States, my client disassembled the instrument for transport, and it sat in his garage in that state for years. My client estimates that the instrument is a hundred years old, and he tasked The Drum Doctor with its restoration.
My goal was to restore the balafon to its original state, using the original parts.
The keys were cleaned and reconditioned. The re-usable fabric was washed and re-used. The only thing that had to be replaced was the binding that attached the keys to the frame (it was just too old and brittle), some of the membrane covering the hole of the gourd resonators, and the strap, which had been missing altogether.
Notice that, unlike most balafons, this is a legless instrument, meant to be played on foot, strapped to the shoulders or waist.
Many of the gourd resonators were cracked and missing the vibrating membrane, and I considered replacing them, but I was able to honor my client's wishes and managed to repair and reuse them.
As you can see, a little TLC from The Drum Doctor can go a long way.
Dholak Restoration
Here's a dholak that needs a lot of help. The leather straps that hold the heads in place and tune them are broken, and the body has 3 wood knots that leak through. This leakage is a serious compromise to this drum. Two of the knots can be seen in the second image, while the first image is a closeup of the third and biggest knot.
As you can see, both drum heads have split; both the treble and the bass heads need replacing.
Rather than replace the leather strap with another leather strap or cotton rope (now more commonly used), we went with double braided polyester with a low-stretch core - the flat kind. This rope is often used for the crowns of djembes because of its strength, durability and low stretch. As far as we know, we're the only ones to use this innovation. We filled in the knot holes and some hairline cracks along the rims of the hand drum to restore its integrity and re-stained the drum shell.
We fashioned a handle with the extra rope...et voila! This drum is better than new!
Moroccan Bongos Repair
Don sent us a tabla set to be repaired. We repair many tablas on a regular basis, so there's nothing unusual about that. But he also sent us a set of Moroccan bongos to be repaired. That is unusual. We don't often get a chance to work on these types of drums, even though they're actually very common in other parts of the world.
We're going to replace both skins on the set, even though only the bass side is obviously damaged.
The shell on the treble side has a break on the bottom, that might explain the lackluster sound it produces.
Once the old skin is removed we can confirm that the crack is an open wound on the shell. We can see daylight through it.
Once we seal the crack we can mount the new skins. Instead of rawhide for the lacing we use low stetch, strong and durable cord. We think it looks good. Do you agree?
These Moroccan bongos look good and sound good.
Garifuna Drum From Belize Gets New Head
Kelly's Garifuna drum she got from Belize is in great need of care. The hemp rope began to fall apart and eventually so did the drum head.
We think this is a really cool drum as it is completely made of natural materials found in the immediate area where it was made. Even the rings are made of branches.
Once the drum is disassembled, we see that the bearing edge is poorly shaped and rough. We'll have to reshape and smooth the surface which will bear the skin and fill in a large gap that has splintered.
We also whittle some tuning pegs to replace some of the missing ones. The one on the far right is one of the three remaining originals.
Now wer're ready to mount the fresh skin. The rope will be replaced with a non-traditional but stronger and more durable rope.
We repair drums from all over the world, including Belize.
Repair of Mridangam Syahi
Jagan has a beautiful mridangam that is of such fine quality that it was once the drum of choice for a very famous Indian musician.
The problem is that the syahi (the tuning paste also known as soru, satham, karani and gob) on the treble side has deteriorated badly and needs to be replaced.
The bass side is just fine, and the shell and straps are intact, so all we need to do is replace the tuning paste on the treble side.
Did we say "all we need to do"? Does anyone out there know how to apply the syahi on the treble side of a mridangam?
The process for applying the syahi to the treble head of a mridangam is a jealously guarded trade secret, and the formula for the paste is about as well known as the recipe for Coca Cola.
Lucky for Jagan, Dr. Tom happens to know the recipe for Coca Cola.
Just one thing left to do. The skins are way out of tune and have to be pulled. It took three rounds of pulling, but we got the drum tuned up and sounding better than ever.
Stave Djembe Restoration
And now we're going to show you the process of re-heading a stave djembe. The shell of a stave djembe is constructed by gluing together shaped wooden boards(staves), rather than by carving out a log - very similar to the construction of congas, bongos and many ashikos.
As you can see, the head on this djembe has split and needs to be replaced. The goatskin split because the drum had been left in a hot closet for too long, causing the skin to shrink and over-tighten. The djembe is vitually new, so the rope, rings and shell are in perfect condition.
We're going with a hairy cow skin. Here, you can see how we've cut away much of the excess skin after it's been soaked. This makes it much easier to handle the skin. We leave only enough to wrap around and between the rings and still be able to pull on it with the hands so as to go get out the folds and slack. You can see the results in the next shot.
At this point, there's considerable tension applied, but not nearly as much as there will be once the skin thoroughly dries and a 'dry pull' is applied.
The extra skin has served its purpose, so we can now remove it.
You see here the 'circumcised' djeme.
Also, you get a good look at the thickness of the skin. Compare this cow skin to the original goat skin head above. (Reminder: You can always click on the thumbnails to get a better look). The skin is still a bit bloated with water, but we'll give you another look after it dries, and you'll see that it really is quite thick.
We shave the skin and give it week to thoroughly dry.
Here's a look at the shaved head after it's been pulled really tight. At a certain point in the tuning process (the 'dry pull') this baby sounded remarkably like a conga. It had the booming bass of a djembe, but the tones and slaps sounded just like a conga. I actually played the tumbao on it - couldn't resist.
I don't know how much the construction of the shell of this drum had to do with this. It is, after all, constructed of staves, just like a conga, but it's MUCH smaller and does have the goblet shape. I do know that a thick skin tends to create a 'rounder' more mellow sound.
Here's another close up of the skin after it's had a chance to dry. As you can see, It's easily three times as thick as the original goat skin.
As much as we love a good conga at The Drum Doctor, we want a djembe to sound like a djembe. We tightened the skin past the conga stage and kept cranking 'til we reached the djembe stage. When we were done, this relatively small drum (11'" head, 20" tall, under 10 lbs.) had a HUGE voice.
This a great traveling drum because it's small and light and so easy to carry around. At the same time, it plays like a MUCH bigger drum. It's very responsive to a light, gentle touch, yet if you're in a drum circle and want to be heard - YOU WILL BE HEARD!
This beatiful drum has been sold!.
Tonbak Head Replacement
Steve is a musician that's fallen in love with the tonbak. Also known as a tombak, tompak or even zarb, this Persian hand dum is relatively unknown in the Western world.
Steve bought a tonbak, but is not happy with his purchase.
There appears to be nothing whatsoever wrong with the drum. The shell is intact as is the skin. What could be the problem?
The problem is the voice of the drum. It just doesn't sound right, and Steve asked DrumDrTom to make it right.
It didn't take long to figure out that there was not enough tension on the skin. The drum was poorly tuned, and, since this is a pretuned zarb, there was nothing to do but to replace the skin.
We mounted a thick skin (thicker than on most djembes) at a good high tension. The zarb looks much the same but sounds much, much better.
Indian Dhol Gets New Drumhead
The dhol is a folk drum popular in much of South Asia. It is a two headed, barrel shaped, sometimes cylindrical drum that has one head with a high pitch and the other with a lower pitch. The skin of the drum head can be natural or synthetic.
The synthetic head on Roopa's dhol has torn.
These drums can be bolt tuned, but you can see that this dhol is rope tuned.
We find a replacement head of the proper size and punch the necessary holes for the rope to run through. These holes must be placed as close to the edge as possible, or the skin will tear when rope is pulled tight and presses against it. The rope must press against the metal ring of the drumhead.
Just like that.
Roopa can again dance to the singing of her dhol.
Bombo Gets A New Drum Head
Edgardo is a professional percussionist so has a great collection of drums. Among his collection is a bombo, a South American drum similar to European military drums.
The problem with Edgardo's bombo is that it's old. The two drum heads have been ravaged by moths and have become brittle, flabby and unplayable. On top of that, the leather strap that serves to tension the two drum heads into tune has snapped.
Now, the bombo is not a hand drum, since it's played by striking the drum heads with two beaters rather than the hands, but we know exactly how to fix this drum.
The drum head is replaced with fresh goat skin (hairy, since these drums are meant to have a deep and muted tone), the strap is sewn together again and the drum is tuned.
Edgardo's bombo only needs Edgardo now!
Gon Bops Tumba Reskinned
We don't skin many congas, because replacement heads are plentiful and easy to get. All one has to do is remove the old skin by loosening some nuts and replacing it with the new skin.
Some congas, though, are not of a standard size. This is especially true of vintage drums.
Hal had been playing his Gon Bops tumba with a synthetic skin and finally decided it was time to change to a natural skin drum head. The problem was he couldn't find a conga head to fit his drum, so he did the next best thing, he purchased a buffalo hide and brought it to us to get it mounted.
Now, mounting a skin on a conga should be a fairly easy and straight forward thing. The elaborate rope or rawhide tuning system that many hand drums have is rarely present in a conga. Most congas are mechanically tuned.
But there's always a catch. Congas use really thick skins. And when these really thick skins are soaked before mounting to make them workable, they swell up and get really, really thick.
Mounting these really, really thick skins has been likened to wresling TWO alligators!
We rolled up our sleeves, wrestled a couple of alligators and made Hal and his Gon Bops tumba very happy.
Djembhiko Rehead
Shyena has a drum that's not exactly a djembe and not exactly an ashiko. It's more of a hybrid of the two. At least that's how it seems to us. Have a look and you can decide for yourselves. If you know something we don't, please feel free to correct us. We're always happy to gain a better understanding of drums.
We thought of calling it a "djembeshiko", "djemshiko", "ashembe", . . but settled on djembhiko. ;)
As you can see the skin needed to be replaced. The process would be exactly as that of a djembe or ashiko. That is to say, hard work. ;) Luckily, we enjoy our hard work and got right to it.
We reproduced the fold over but much neater than the previous version. We know, it looks a bit odd not being a "hairy" fold over. Still, it has its own charm. Don't you think?
As with any djembe or ashiko, we mounted a fine African goat skin on Shyena's djembhiko and got similarly great results.
Valje Conga Repair
Scott has a beautiful vintage Valje conga any drummer would envy. These drums are arguably as fine a conga as can be found.
The problem is that Scott dropped his conga and the shell split completely apart.
Besides the staves coming completely apart at one of the seams, one of the staves suffered a break.
So, you might think, just glue everything back together again and everything'll be all right. It's not that easy.
The old glue must first be removed, and even in the best of circumstaces that's a lot of work. In this particular instance, the glue refuses to come off. The glue is not a typical water based wood glue. Valje uses an adhesive that won't respond to water, heat or any of the other typical methods used to clean off old glue.
Still, we did manage to clean up the surfaces and get them ready to be rejoined. But then we found that the seam would not fully close. There were gaps between the staves, and we needed full contact at the seam so that it didn't come apart again. This old shell had sat around so long the wood had warped. Now what?
We very carefully sanded down the high points, making sure not to alter the angles or round off the edges. Finally! Perfectly matched (nearly) seams, so we could put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
This world class Valje conga shell is drum worthy again!
Mother Drum Restoration
This beautiful 42" Native American two headed drum came to us needing both drum heads replaced. Normally we like to show you before and after pictures of our work, but the before pictures got lost so please take our word for this.
We found some thick and beautiful North American bison skins we thought were perfect for the job, and decided to use rope rather than rawhide to mount the skins.
The rope is strong, reliable and more durable than rawhide lacing and renders the drum tunable - a great advantage. Click on the image for a good look at both sides of this drum.