Monday 30 March 2015

Re-skinning a Djembe

Re-skinning a drum isn't rocket science, but neither is it easy to do a professional job. I've been re-skinning djembes for about 12 years now and it's only in the last few years that I've managed to do what I'd call 'professional' quality work. This is down to mastery of several distinct stages, each of which needs to be done perfectly if one is to achieve a professional standard...

For the first few years I achieved a reasonable standard, but I could never understand how some drum builders managed to get so much tension on the skin without having to put in several rows of 'diamonds'. Indeed my first 50 or so drums needed about 5 or 6 rows of diamonds to get anywhere near adequate tension in the skin, and even then the skin tended to slip through the rings as I added more and more diamonds, limiting the amount of tension I could ultimately get. I had seen some people in Guinea lacing the skin to the 'flesh ring' but it wasn't until a friend showed me the technique that I realize its importance. I have come to realize that this is an absolutely crucial step in getting a djembe to solo pitch without putting in row upon row of diamonds...

The trick is to lay the wet skin (which has been soaked in water for at least a couple of hours) on the floor, fur side up, place the flesh ring in the centre, cut eye-holes in a full circle equidistant from the ring (about 3 inches), then thread rope through the eye-holes and gradually pull it tight so it wraps around the metal ring. I use a knotted piece of rope to mark off the points around the ring, and a stanley blade extended half-way out to make the cut. This is because if you have the blade fully extended then the slit will be too wide and will tear with tension.

Stage 1:

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Stage 2:

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Stage 3:

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Stage 4:

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Stage 5:

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Creating a 'wrap' like this will mean that the skin cannot slip through the rings in the next stage, allowing an incredible amount of tension to build up way before we get to the pulling stage..this is probably the single most important trick in getting a djembe to solo pitch.
Prior to this I usually prepare the djembe, which means removing the old skin, pulling the rope through to leave a couple of inches slack on each vertical so the other ring can be lifted a couple of inches above the rim of the shell, and removing the verticals from a third to a half of the crown ring (the one that isn't wrapped up in the skin). Arranging the rope like this will allow you to place the skin + flesh ring wrap on the shell and slide the crown ring over it:


Stage 6:

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Next you re-thread the rope, taking care not to put any tension on the rope. This is absolutely critical and I have learned this the hard way. If you put tension on the rope too early you end up with problems later on that can mean, at worst, having to undo all the rope and start again. When you have re-threaded all the rope the rum should look something like this:


Stage 7:

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Now can start adding a bit of tension. You need to be very careful here and only add the tiniest amount of tension, by hand, on the first pass, otherwise the ring will descend too far on one side making it impossible to get it even later on...

It takes me several rounds before the rings begin to descend past the bearing edge of the drum. Once you get to this point you can start to be a bit more firm and I usually use a stick, or a long Stanley screwdriver at this stage. You need to be very delicate at this stage though, as it is all too easy to put too much tension in here (the stick / screwdriver method creates an enormous amount of torque).


Stage 8:

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I sometimes use mole grips to stop the rope slipping back after each pull but if you do this, be careful not to let them damage the wet skin. Remember to keep checking how far the rings are descending on each pull to ensure that the rings descend evenly. Once the rings are level with, or slightly below the bearing edge of the djembe, then I remove the rope from the skin wrap and unfold the skin. Whether the rings should be level with, slightly above, or slightly below the bearing edge of the djembe is highly debated amongst drum builders and ultimately depends on the amount of tension that you have created. I know one very good drum builder who gets so much tension at the wet pull stage that he lets the ring descend a couple of centimetres...almost to its final depth. Other builders will tell you categorically that the rings should be no lower than level with the bearing edge at this stage. Personally I set them just below...


Stage 9:

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At this point I have enough tension that the skin will already resonate an a rudimentary bass, tone and slap can be achieved even while the skin is still wet.

Next comes, arguably, one of the most important stages of the entire process if one is to achieve a professional build. For years I could not fathom how professional drum builders manage to get a skin wrap with no creases that appeared almost 'shrink-wrapped' around the drum head. The trick is to stretch the skin down while wrapping rope tightly round and round the drum. When I say stretch I mean really stretch...using as much force as you can...this process takes a lot out of me and I end up sweating with the rope burning into my hands from the friction. You have to work on a few inches at a time, stretching the skin down and pulling a section of rope over that section until it grips...then turning the drum a fraction and repeating the process over an over until the rope is tightly bound around the stretched skin.


Stage 10:

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Lastly I use a razor blade on the top surface of the skin, in order to remove the top layer of skin to leave a smooth, lighter coloured, playing surface.

Then it's time for a cold beer and a rest! The drum now needs to dry completely. The amount of time this takes depends on the climate. Personally I give it 7 full days in a centrally heated house in the winter and the same outside in the summer in the UK.

When you remove the rope you get to see, for the first time, whether you have achieved a good finish. If you have done a good job the skin should be smooth all the way round with no creases. I don't have a picture of the same drum at this stage but here is another I did around the same time:


Stage 11:

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Next I cut the skin down to around 1 cm longer than its final length. This is because in the process of dry pulling the skin can become slightly bent and stretched. Thus I leave the final cut until I have finished pulling completely.

The dry pull is simply a matter of making several rounds, adding a bit more tension each time. I usually do this over the course of a few days, to give it chance to settle in between each round of pulling.

Here are a couple of finished drums...


Stage 12:

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That's it! Like I said at the beginning: It's not rocket science...it's just a matter of carefully completing a series of stages, making sure you get each stage perfect. Why not try it yourself?


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