Choosing a Djembe Drum

Video Transcript

" Welcome back, lesson #2. On behalf on Expert Village I am Scott Swearingen at rythmpig.com. I have been playing with different groups around Austin, Texas for years and years and the newest project is called Dr. Scott Swearingen Sessions. One of the Swearingen session will be here later in further lesson to show you to play polyrhythms. So right now let’s look different kinds of Djembes, different kinds, styles and sizes. I will tell you about choosing one, what is the right drum for you. Well this here, handmade from Africa probably made West Coast imported by the a guy that lives here in town who plays and you can see the handmade marks on it, pluses are they are gorgeous in your room, a room like this with wooden floor, that look beautiful, they sound great. Minuses, they are real expensive, if this drumhead pops, you don’t have to put a drumhead on, you got to find somebody who well. That will cost you 100 bucks maybe. So other option David Reno is brand Djembe here manufactured. It is made of plastic essentially hard plastic. The drumhead is simply screwed on with the drum screw, so if this thing breaks it will cost you I think $35-50 from your head that you screw it on. The wooden drum has a deeper, more earthy tone. The manufactured drum has a more twine sound… You can pick up these sets you know sometimes in toy shops. I think this is a $75 toy drum but you can play these guys. I take this back packing with me that is what it is hooked up for. We are going back packing to whenever we go backpacking and take the drums with you, these you can either play this way… holding it in your knees like that… or you play more at the Dumbe. Okay, just got another drum in here to show you about the third way. I was talking about the manufactured drum here, well here is another Remo, just a different size, you notice how the drum is tilted in the mouth, that is because when I get this drum sitting here, now I have to lower it with my legs it is done for me like that."