How to Build an African Djembe Hand Drum

An assembled djembe drum

The djembe hand drum embodies the essence of African music, representing the strong rhythmic drive and deep, woody timbres common to this style of music. Since the djembe persists as the single most pervasive instrument in African drumming, interest in learning to create these drums at home has increased. The dejmbe consists of an animal skin membrane (or drum head) stretched over the wooden frame of a drum shell. Creating your own dejembe involves choosing the shell and attaching the drum head to the shell, and the materials can easily be purchased from a retailer, such as African Rhythm Traders.

Things You'll Need

• 14 inch diameter djembe drum shell
• 16 inch diameter djembe drum head
• 14 inch diameter metal ring
• Djembe ropes
• Hammer
• Wood glue

Instructions

1. Apply a 1 inch circular strip of glue along the top edge of the drum shell.

2. Grasp the drum head on opposite ends and pull with your hands. Pull enough to stretch the head out and be careful not to break it. This stretching allows the natural fibers to become acclimated to the tension exerted on them during use on the drum shell.

3. Pull the edges of the drum head over the glued rim of the drum. The head sits taut over the drum shell, with about 2 inches of drum head hanging over each side.

4. Place the metal ring over the drum head. It stations loosely over the side of the drum, with the edge of the drum head between the ring and the shell.

5. Lace djembe rope between the metal ring and the drum head, creating a crisscross pattern from top to bottom of the drum shell. This rope provides additional pressure on the metal ring and drum head, securing both firmly to the drum shell.

6. Hammer the metal ring into the drum shell to tighten its grip on the drum head. This ring and the glue on the drum rim insure that your drum head can take the pressure of use when your drum is complete.

Tips & Warnings

• Try using different types of drum heads on your drum shell. Synthetic heads are durable and weather resistant, while animal skin heads offer superior tone and resonance.

• Stretching the drum head tighter will produce a short, high pitched sound. Letting the drum head slacken results in a deeper, more resonant sound.

• Avoid storing your djembe in a humid area or place with extreme climate, since the moisture will deteriorate the glue on your drum. Rapid changes in temperature will cause your drum head to expand and contract, causing cracks to form.

References

• African Rhythm Traders

Resources

• Kingymensah Djembe Production