Frame Drums: not the new kid on the block

A frame drum is a shallow drum; its width is greater than its depth. It is generally made from a hoop of wood. The head of the drum can be made from a synthetic material or from an animal hide, such as deerskin or calf. The drum may have one head or two, and it may have metal jangles on the hoop. Some animal skin drums have a metal tuning system; others have a rope that is attached to the skin that may be pulled tighter. Some frame drums are made to be played with mallets or sticks, and others are played with the fingers. Different cultures have different names for their frame drums. It's a bodhran in Ireland, a tar in Africa, a riq in Arabic countries, and a tambourine in the USA and Europe.


This type of drum has been around for a long time. A priestess playing a frame drum is featured in a painting found in modern day Turkey that dates back to 5600 B.C. Frame drums were played mainly by women in the ancient Middle East, Rome and Greece. To learn more about the fascinating history of frame drums and the women who played them, check out the book When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm, by Layne Redmond. These drums are still used frequently in shamanic ritual, as they are great for creating a trancelike energy.



If you'd like to see two guys having fun with a totally different type of frame drumming, check out this video.

Wow!

I found this photo by trolling around Creative Commons per Sarah Easley's suggestion. Just wait til we talk about taiko drums! :)

Doumbek, Darbuka, or Darabuka, the drum sounds the same

Like our previously featured drum, the djembe, the doumbek is a drum that is very likely to turn up at a drum circle. This is also the drum you'll see at bellydance performances. Doumbeks hail from the Middle East. They are goblet shaped, similar to the djembe, but they are much smaller. The body of the drum is either metal or ceramic. A metal drum typically has a mylar head, making for a rugged drum that can stand up to all weather conditions and seldom needs tuning. A ceramic drum generally has a skin head, made from goat, calf, or fish.


Doumbeks are played differently than djembes. Both drums are played with the hands, but a doumbek player uses mostly the fingertips rather than the entire palm.


To complicate your drum identification a little further, some folks call doumbeks "darbukas" (or darabukas). As far as I can tell, these names are used pretty interchangeably, and I've run across several drum dealers that have made it clear that they are referring to the same type of drum no matter which name they choose to use. If you know more about this, let me know!

Drum of the Week

Too frequently, I've read local journalists' reports of drum circles or other community gatherings that included drumming, and the writer reports that the drummers were banging on bongos. Maybe the alliteration is supposed to be clever, but this makes me cringe. So I'm taking it upon myself to do a little drum education.

Bongos are not the only type of hand drums out there. In fact, bongos are a pretty rare sight at drum circles. So each week, I'll feature a different type of drum that is likely to show up at a community drum gathering. Bongos will be included eventually. :P Take the drum challenge and read on, and you'll astonish your friends next time you pass a group of drummers at the park and you can point out all of the different types of drums by name!



It seems just and right to feature the DJEMBE first, as this truly is the drum most frequently seen at drum gatherings. The djembe is a goblet shaped drum that originated in Africa. The drum's body is sometimes made of synthetic materials, but traditional djembes have a wooden shell. The type of wood varies according to where the drum is made. The drumhead is typically made of goatskin, but a drum with a synthetic body will most likely have a synthetic head as well. It's the goatskin that gives the drum its characteristic firey sound.



Synthetic drums may have metal clamps for tuning (as in the tiny djembe photo above), or there may be no tuning option at all. Traditional wooden djembes use a rope tuning system. There are metal rings that hold the drumskin in place, and these rings are pulled down by tightening the ropes. This pulls the skin tighter and raises the pitch of the djembe's sound. If you'd like to see how it's done, check out this video my girlfriend produced...



Drums are my passion, so I could go on and on. If you have any djembe questions, just let me know! And stay tuned for the next Drum of the Week!