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!

Lifelong Learning

I recently began taking mandolin lessons after years of playing by ear and with the aid of some Indigo Girls songbooks. I'm learning some specific old time bluegrass tunes, but I'm also figuring out some things about myself.

1. It is a huge challenge to learn in a new way. I had an insane amount of resistance to teaching myself a previously unknown (to me) song by reading tabulature instead of listening to a recording or having someone show me how to play it. Two weeks went by, with me glaring at the written music every so often and saying, "No! I can't learn this way!!" Well, it turns out I can. It's just harder than I would like it to be.

2. I will probably never be one of those people who thinks they are too old to learn something new. I can't imagine running out of things I'd love to learn more about. This sometimes makes setting a specific goal a challenge. What about all the other things I want to pursue? What about all the other songs in this folder??

3. I often forget about the resources that are out there. I don't have to do it all alone.

4. It is much more fun to learn (and PLAY) with company. :)