I haven't been on Steemit this week very much because I have been in a woodworking shop nestled by Beaver Lake in the Ozark Mountains making tunable drums with a master drum maker. These instruments are playable art - no two ways about it. Doug Powell started building these drums back in 1992, and this week he took the time and patience to let me apprentice in his shop and learn how to craft these very playable pieces of art.
A handcrafted, tunable Ashiko drum that I made this week
I had my first contact with these drums in November of 2013. I've been a drummer for most of my life, and when we found out there were handmade drums in the town where we eloped, we had to find out more while we were visiting for our anniversary. We had no idea the level of craftsmanship we would witness. During that visit I bought one of Doug's drums. A year later we came back another anniversary visit and I bought another one. I guess you could call me a believer in the product. I definitely had no idea I would be actually in the shop making these drums a little over a year after moving to Eureka Springs.
The egg--shaped pieces you see on the strings are the tuners. Sliding the tuners up down toward the bottom of the drum cinches the animal-skin head tighter, raising the pitch. These ashikos can be played from the stand (which is also fabricated in the shop) or held by a strap (yup. that's made in-house too) for playing while standing.
A glued and sanded drum shell
Our process started on Monday by cutting the staves for the drums out of multi-ply birch and gluing them together. Once the joints were set it was time for sanding. A lot of sanding. Once the drum shells were sanded down, we finish sanded them. Did I mention there was a LOT of sanding? Once all rounds of sanding were done the drums were finished. We left some natural, like the first picture, while we dyed the shells of others.
The amount of variation that Doug has created in this product is astounding. His techniques enable him to make drums with a multitude of colors and finishes, with shells that allow the carving of designs and details that really make the drums pop (pun intended). The combinations of the different types of skin heads, the finishes that can be applied to the drums, the color combinations between shell and tuners makes each drum, even though it may be the same size as the previous, to be a unique creation by a master craftsman.
Once the drums had their finishes applied we made the heads. Some heads we left natural, while other heads received dyes, including tie dyes.
A tie dyed head The skins were soaked to soften them, then fed through a series of metal rings to create a point of retention until the head dried and held it's shape better. The heads were secured to the shells using the rings (also fabricated in the shop) and a series of knots and lacing to serve as the tension for the head itself. It was not uncommon for too much tension to be exerted one side of the drum, and the rings would pop off, releasing the skin, and we would have to start over. Most of these occurrences were my fault, and I still praise Doug's patience in teaching me how this works. Dozens of feet of line are used to lace the drum in a pattern that took me a couple of days to become comfortable with.
Doug pulling a drum to the correct tension
Once we had laced the drums and the head had plenty of time to dry so as to not pull out when applying the tension necessary for the proper sound, we pulled the lacing tight with a series of pulleys, removing the slack and tuning the drums up to playing tension, tested the sound (my favorite part), then tied off the rest of the line with a technique known as the "Mali Weave". When the tuning is done the drum is placed in a three-legged stand and it's strap is attached, then it is assigned a number and the inside of the shell is signed, numbered and dated. From there they are shipped to customers all around the country.
The red drum pictured was actually sent in by a customer to be re-headed after something punctured the original head, rendering it useless.
I didn't know where this week was going to lead, other than the endgame of a finished product. Over the course of the last 5 days I found out how the drums that I fell in love with made, actually did the making, and was honored to have been tutored by the inventor himself. My hope was to go in, learn some things, hopefully not break too much stuff, and not make Doug upset with my woodworking incompetence. However, I guess I did better than expected, because there are already plans for me to return to the drum shop for further tutelage.
It is experiences like this that make life awesome.
The two drums that started it all
If you like these drums, I encourage you to visit
New World Drums on the interwebs. You can see more versions of these works of art, and call order your very own.
Part 2 of Handcrafting Drums in the Ozark Mountains is now available.
If you liked this post bebop on over to my blog and check out my other posts. Keep on steemin!
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These drums are beautiful, must be wonderful to create it with your own hand and see + share the results. Awesome!🎵
How interesting! I love Eureka Springs. My mom and dad lived in Bella Vista for 15 years after they retired and they often took us out around Beaver Lake when we visited. I miss having a reason to go to NW Arkansas.
This is nice... I play hand crafted musical instruments too... How can I get this?
Thanks! You can go to www.newworlddrums.com for more information on how to order.
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Nice
So cool my man!
Thank you! This experience was amazing, and im looking forward to more!
Those are super cool!
I hope you also make a bodhran:)
There are several frame drums crafted in this shop, all tunable. I havent personally made one yet, but thats coming up soon. Thanks for reading!
Wow incredible. I always wondered how the heads were made. Great post.
Me too! I always had an idea, bit never knew the details. Creating the heads was really neat, especially seeing the different ways to dye them.
Drums! I love em, i come from a town in Nigeria where drums are integral part of our culture, "Gangan" (talking drum), "Batá" (mother drum) to mention few...
Awesome! I have a small talking drum, and we had on in the shop, too. There was an older djun djun sitting in finish room. Later today is an event here in town called Drumming in the Park. I'm going to try and get a video, although I may be all up in the middle of it and forget. :) Thanks for reading!
Beautiful work man! You are an artist. Next step, upload a video of you playing the drums.
Thank you! However, I'm not the artist. I've only done this for a week and have a LOT to learn. Doug, the master drum maker, has spent 25 years perfecting the design. I'm honored he has the confidence in me to continue teaching me. And the video of me playing the drums will be coming soon. I thought about that last night after posting, and had almost forgotten. Thanks for the nudge!
Awesome post, interesting
Thank you very much! It was a very interesting week. I can't wait to go back out and learn more!
Super interesting post, I'm not very related with drums but I liked the post!
Great post Sir. :)
This is great!
RightWithin
Excellent post friend thanks for the information, I am new to steemit if you can pass by my blog there I am telling you what happens in my country, I hope your support God bless you
I learned how to skin drums about 15 years ago and it was the photo that grabbed my attention while scrolling. I appreciate the art of craftsmanship. Great share. Upvoted and resteemed.
Thank you very much! Heading these drums was something I only had a faint idea about until this week. It is a really neat process.
Beautiful work! Very sophisticated and yet you can still fell the rawness of the wood. Keep sharing!
Definitely upvoting and following you ;)
Thank you so much! Seeing the raw materials and their transformation into the finished product was something else. The man teaching me is a true master craftsman. He also hand builds some of the most beautiful kayaks i have ever seen.
Looks great good work. Would be good to hear what sounds it produces.
Yes it would! Im going to record a video of it very soon. I played it yesterday at an event and the head is still stretching, but that can all be explained in the video. Plus i have my other two drums that can be demonstrated, as well.
Great I look forward to hearing them :) I followed you.
Part twoI is up. video of the drum built and footage of me playing the drum during an event. https://steemit.com/life/@eurekaj/handcrafting-drums-in-the-ozark-mountains-part-2-video
What fun! I would have been disappointed if we reached the end of the post and you said, "It was a great time. I got what I wanted. And that is that."
Seems to me you've found a new love. ;-)
I know what you mean. Im definitely going back to continue learning this new (to me) craft. Being a drummer and music nerd, this is like a dream come true.
When the knowledge of a craft is held by more than one brain, the craft has a chance at survival. I'm glad Doug and you are improving the chances of these drums!
Very well said. I like that. A lot.
Niice i have an african jambe hand wittled from Tanzania with goat skin shrunk over the top for the beater head. Nothing has ever sounded so good or so bad depending on how its played!
Very cool! The skin on this one is goat, as well!
We had a second larger bongo type drum that my dad brought back im not sure what its called... It has a large 1ft skin on the top and a smaller 6" skin on the bottom.. Sadly, it had some kind of termite in the wood that we had to exterminate and got rid of it :s
gorgeous drums! you captured the process very well
Thank you very much! I have lots of pics from the week, but didn't put them all in the post.
keep posting them man, I love seeing the woodworking techniques of instrument making.
How many hours does it take to make one drum?
When the master drum maker training me was pumping them out his time was about 1.5 hours (not including drying times). Mine took more like 4 or 5. lol. Lots of questions and instruction along the way.
Awesome! I spent a year living in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. It's a magical area. I have a few djembes but would love to learn how to construct a drum someday. My first woodworking goal is to carve a spoon. Baby Steps!
Djembes are great drums! I have three ashikos, a talking drum, full kit, a drum coffee table, cajon, and various noisemakers and auxillary percussion instruments. The one thing that I am missing is a djembe.
Wow, that sounds like quite a collection! Thanks for sharing your experience. My collection is in the ukulele department... Down the instrument rabbit holes we go!
And, as you know with ukes, that rabbit hole is never ending, and much like Alice, it takes us to a whole nother world.
Haha! Never-ending indeed! But I wouldn't have it any other way. :)
100% agree to that!
Wow i like it how can I buy this drum
You can find out more info along with how to purchase at newworlddrums.com. You wont get this drum (cause its mine, muhahaha!), but you can definitely purchase one like it. If one like it isnt in stock at the time of purchase it will be constructed. New world drums ships all over the US.
Beautiful work!!!
Thank you!
Oh wow these are beautiful!
Very impressive!!!