Thread: Djembe build

The top and bottom rings have rope loops created.

The the tuning ropes are partially threaded through the loops on both rings.
It is amazing how many mistakes you can make creating these loops. I think I had to redo the ropes about three times???
There is about 25m of 4mm low stretch poly core rope.

The dry goat skin was left in a water bath overnight to become pliable.

No turning back now.

The wet skin is positioned over the drum rim and the flesh ring forced over the top. All pinched areas were pulled out.
The excess skin was pulled up over the ring.
Then the roped retaining ring fitted over the doubled skin.

The ropes were threaded around the rest of the rings and gentle tension pulled into the ropes.
Now the rings were tapped down and tried to be kept even on the rim.

More tension hand pulled into the ropes.
The top ring was sitting too high. The tape, rope loops and the two thicknesses of goat skin meant the ring was too tight.
I had gone too far to pull it to pieces and take more width from the drum rim.
I resorted to a rubber mallet and bashed the ring down just enough.
Rubber mallets are a favourite with djembe drummers. Now I know why.

The ropes were further tightened by working around the drum. I made up a pipe rope puller. It was pretty rough but made a big difference getting tension into the ropes.

The assembled drum was left in the cool shed to dry for a day.

Then I trimmed the excess skin and pulled some more tension.

Finally two rows of "Mali weave" were threaded through the verticle ropes. This adds more tension to the skin.
I need to let it come to rest for a few days and add more weave to get it up to playing tension.

The next one should be easier.

The skin dried even on the shell.

But it wasn't tight enough so I have redone the verticle ropes.

I foolishly showed some of the drumming class the djembe. So I have the old drum shell to cleanup.
It was a smaller drum and looked like it had been turned on a lathe.

I sanded the old damaged estapol finish and removed some of the rough turning grooves.
It came up fairly good with a good cover of coconut oil.
Surprisingly it doesn't smell strongly and dries to a smooth finish.

Pics might be helpful.

The djembe rim is about 25cm diameter.

The African builders do amazing jobs with the tools at hand, dont they? Couldn't even imagine carving something like this with an adz, or even a draw knife. Good to see they wear the steel-caps like we're supposed to, too
You mustn't be able to put anything down at your place Scally without it going bboooiiinnnggg!!!

I am thinking seroiously about building a cajon now that I have seen your work, most excellent stuff!

really like the look of all of your work, i just never have anything much to say about it as i dont know enough about them to say anything intelligent. i do really like the look of them though.

Thanks fellas.
No worries Black_Labb. I am just trying to apply my basic wood working knowledge and skill to whatever I decide to try to make.
I wouldn't have much to say if it had to be intelligent.

You lot have a musical understanding that I don't. You suggestions and opinions are more helpful than you might expect.

You're right Mongrel, the place is looking a bit like a musos lost property office.
There are a few cabinets that need finishing. I have a couple of slide out blackwood shelves that I have to keep planing narrower since I left dry Tamworth.

You should have a go at a Cajon. They are becoming very popular these days.
One of the good things is that you can make it as simple or complicated as you like. I saw one with a kick pedal in it the other day.
They all sound good.

The Cajon seems perfect for what I need. I give guitar lessons every now and then and you want the pupil to roll with a certain groove. At the mo I have a drum machine in my laptop, but I really suck at translating my mental rhythms to a computer. I reckon I could find some looping software (actually I own a copy of Acid loops SOMEWHERE around here) and plug the cajon into the laptop and sample and loop it. Also, its another seat that I could make the right height for guitar playing!

Where abouts in Tamworth were you Scally?

That sounds like a good idea.

How will you record the cajon? Will you use a microphone or put a pick up inside the box?
I would like to try putting it through an amp but wouldn't know where to start.

One of the girls at drumming wanted a cushion on a cajon. I thought about using some high density foam, like the camping mats. Then covering it with a piece of tapestry material using upholstery tacks. It would make it more comfortable if you were sitting on it for a while.
This pic is a box with a skin on one side. It is an African drum called a Gome.

I lived over near the Longyard. The office was the Lands building , near the Post Office.
I worked at Quirindi for most of the '80s. A great place to live with a young family.

I still get to Tamworth a bit so I will bring a cajon next time and give you a call.

Im not real sure about the recording. I dont know what sort of air displacement were talking about here. I kno that mic-ing drum kits is a pain in the rear cause of the massive air displacement, so you need a special mic. I was going to build and run a couple of piezo transducers into the unit at various spots. The other thing was a mic pointing srtaight up, the mic will be at 90 deg to the main air wave, so it should get the resonance without the speaker killing THUMP.
Because I can't leave anything alone I was thinking about trying a cabinet that's about 500 high (seat height) and routing a big dome in the back of the face board and two smaller ones up the top, as if tuning them, to allow for the thinnest board against the strength of a dome, if you get my drift.

If my butt gets sore sitting on a ply box I'll screw the top half of an office chair on it if it'll work!

Anyhow, I still got heaps to go before I start another project
I only live up near hillview road and willburtree street.

Small world, ain't it!

I was talking to a drummer at Billy Hyde's today.
His cajon has a piezo inside but he intends to add a small mic a few inches outside the sound hole.
This is as I have seen it done too.

I am not sure what you were trying to explain with the domes in the back of the face board.
Are you trying to get different sounds from different parts of the face board?

I was in Morilla Street so I probably drove past your place every day.

Originally Posted by Scally

I was talking to a drummer at Billy Hyde's today.
His cajon has a piezo inside but he intends to add a small mic a few inches outside the sound hole.
This is as I have seen it done too.

I am not sure what you were trying to explain with the domes in the back of the face board.
Are you trying to get different sounds from different parts of the face board?

I was in Morilla Street so I probably drove past your place every day.

Yeah, I didn't explain that very well did I?
Basically, what I was thinking of was to use say a 16mm front plate and route out a circular dish on the inside of the face plate, that way, I would guess, the pitch and volume would change as you got closer or further away from the center. As I said before, I can't leave anything alone, I havent even built one and I am redesigning it.

I live a bit further up the hill in McRae street. If you used to see a place whose lawn always needs mowing, that'd be me

That is a really interesting instrument. Quite different from the Indian drums that a lot of eastern flavoured music uses.

Just a thought but wouldn't a peizo loose a lot of the subtleties of playing? I would have thought a proper mic would be needed.

Tim, we got a bit sidetracked and started talking about a cajon so I am not sure which drums you mean. Sorry about that.

The jembe has a great booming bass and good sharp slaps. Good players can wind up a lot of speed.

The cajon is completely different. Much sharper notes. You can get a lot of different sounds by slapping different parts of the face, even the sides of the box.
In my tinkering I have tried to get as deep a bass as possible.
At the end of the day they are quite different drums so they should sound different.

We were talking about a piezo or mic for the cajon.
My feeling is that you are right about the mic being better.
People just like sticking things in holes. It seems a bit strange putting an electric pickup into a wooden box?

When Mongrel builds his cajon he can give us a review on the pluses and minuses.
Or maybe I could go drown to the drum shop and annoy them some more.

The "norm" for micing a Cajon is to use two mics and best results are usually obtained from a dynamic at or near the soundhole and a condenser at the front. Specific choices depend a lot on the instrument itself and the players technique..........for the soundhole an AKG D112 or Shure SM57 (58), for the front either a large or small diaphram condenser positioned so that it's not in the way. The most important thing is mic placement as this will make or break a recording.

Or maybe I could go drown to the drum shop and annoy them some more

Did you mean Hydes or the real "Drum Shop"..............