Rick Brady on tue 9 dec 97
I have been asked make a Ceramic Drum for a friend and I'm looking for
some help with some basic information. I've seen several similar drums
at music stores in the San Francisco Bay Area in various sizes (and
cost's) and materials.
Is there any standard proportion between the diameter at the top and the
overall height? Should the drum neck down to a specific dimension?
What type of clay body should be used? Would glaze have an effect on
sound or tone? If so, should I not glaze on the inside and glaze on
the outside only? How thick should the walls be? Do the walls need to
be uniform in thickness?
What is the best type of hide to use for the drum? I have heard that
goat skin is preferred but I don't have a clue where to find it - any
ideas? Is there any other material which could be used other than goat
hide? How would the hide be attached?
I have been unable to locate a book on the subject. If anyone out there
has any references I would appreciate the help. Thanks!!
Rick Brady
Pleasanton, CA
510.484.1768
Hawkdancing Studio on wed 10 dec 97
Hi Rick
I've been making ceramic drums for five years and there aren't simple
answers. Each choice makes for a different sound. The most important
factors are the shape and the hide type and tightness.
Curl in top lip for playing comfort. "throat" diameter should be half or
less of playing diameter. Bottom should flair slightly ( the "trumpet").
Height at least 1 1/2 times playing diameter. Look at a venturi burner. I
throw small drums (<10" high) upside down. This info is for doumbeks, the
mideastern type drum.
The easiest way to attach skins is by gluing. Use a med.-light goat or
fish (best sound), soaked for an hour in water and pressed in newsprint to
get excess water out. Apply water resistant wood glue to drum (playing edge
to flat vertical spot left at widest circumference) and lay hide on top.
Purchase hide at least four inches larger than circumference. Clamp with
large radiator type clamp and tighten clamp, pull hide tight, tighten
clamp, pull hide tight, tighten clamp, pull hide tight. Leave clamp on two
full days. Trim excess hide and add a decorative ribbon or cloth strip to
cover hide edge.
High fire clay has more "ring" to the sound, glue sticks better to glaze
on low fire drums. Thickness is optional for weight, sturdiness of clay
type and ability. the bottom edge of trumpet is most easily broken so a
thickened edge is called for.
Talk to Mideast Mfg for hides (407)952-1080.
Email privately for more help.
See you clayarters at ACC Charlotte booth #1509 this weekend!
Nels hawkdanc@spacestar.net
**********************************************************
Magic is the art of changing nothing into something.
----------
> From: Rick Brady
>
> Is there any standard proportion between the diameter at the top and the
> overall height? Should the drum neck down to a specific dimension?
>
> What type of clay body should be used? Would glaze have an effect on
> sound or tone? If so, should I not glaze on the inside and glaze on
> the outside only? How thick should the walls be? Do the walls need to
> be uniform in thickness?
>
> What is the best type of hide to use for the drum? I have heard that
> goat skin is preferred but I don't have a clue where to find it - any
> ideas? Is there any other material which could be used other than goat
> hide? How would the hide be attached?
>
> I have been unable to locate a book on the subject. If anyone out there
> has any references I would appreciate the help. Thanks!!
>
> Rick Brady
> Pleasanton, CA
> 510.484.1768
Rosemary Bridges on wed 10 dec 97
You can find goat rawhide sides from Tandy Leather Co. Look in the
yellow pages. we have been making drums all semester in ceramics and
have found that drums with wide heads and slender bodies make the best
sound. These middle eastern drums are called dum-becks. You must
stretch the head after soaking in cool water a little while very
tight. You must round punch the head around about every three quarters
inch and string a rawhide lace. then lace this to a ring of rawhide
tied very tightly to the body. A high fire body is best. These are fun
to do because of all the decor possabilities. We used interesting
glazes and did some primitive hunting scenes. have fun
Rick Brady wrote:
> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> I have been asked make a Ceramic Drum for a friend and I'm looking for
>
> some help with some basic information. I've seen several similar
> drums
> at music stores in the San Francisco Bay Area in various sizes (and
> cost's) and materials.
>
> Is there any standard proportion between the diameter at the top and
> the
> overall height? Should the drum neck down to a specific dimension?
>
> What type of clay body should be used? Would glaze have an effect on
> sound or tone? If so, should I not glaze on the inside and glaze on
> the outside only? How thick should the walls be? Do the walls need
> to
> be uniform in thickness?
>
> What is the best type of hide to use for the drum? I have heard that
> goat skin is preferred but I don't have a clue where to find it - any
> ideas? Is there any other material which could be used other than
> goat
> hide? How would the hide be attached?
>
> I have been unable to locate a book on the subject. If anyone out
> there
> has any references I would appreciate the help. Thanks!!
>
> Rick Brady
> Pleasanton, CA
> 510.484.1768
CaroleER on wed 10 dec 97
Rick,
First of all, you need to have some idea what kind of drum you're making. The
African lead drum is usually the djembe. It's made from a hollowed out tree
trunk, however, I guess there's no law that says they can't be made from clay.
It's a cone shape for the top half or third and the head is about 10" or so in
diameter. The bottom half is a cylinder to a slight cone shape. The head is
made from goat. You can get skins at Tandy Leather. I throw the drum in two
pieces cuz I'm a weakling, but they could probably be thrown in one piece.
Another type is the Middle Eastern dumbek. It looks like a large goblet with
a bowl shaped top and a slight cone shaped bottom. The diameter of the top
would be the width of your hand with your fingers streched. The height of the
bowl part would be the same and the height of the cone part - the same.
Again, use goat skin.
It's best to mount the skin on steel rings - the rings must be larger than the
largest diameter of the drum. Then string it with marine cord rather than the
hide. These type of drums must have the skin stretched tightly or they won't
sound right. If you use the hide to string the head on, it'll stretch all the
time and the head will be too loose. The goat skin is used because it's thin.
Deer skin might also work.
Check out drums on the web. One address is
www.ninestones.com/burntearth.shtml. Also, many of the community colleges
offer classes in African drumming. Ya might check there to see if there are
any books or instruction.
Carole Rishel
Bastrop, TX
CaroleER@aol.com
Kris Griffith on wed 10 dec 97
------------------
Rick, I am working on several drum pieces myself right now. I do not in any=
way
claim to know much of what I am talking about other than what I know taken =
from
personal experience. The drum thickness is about 1/4 inch, just slightly
thicker than you would throw normally. I throw a tall necked in cylindar =
with a
thined and slightly flared top so that I can attach the bowl. I then throw =
the
bowl seporately, bring the rim of the bowl shape in and round it so that the
skin will rest on a wide rounded rim. I make what I call a goblet shaped =
drum.
I have a friend who is putting the hide on the drums. He is using deer =
hide. I
was talking to another drum maker today who said that elk hide was very nice=
for
stretching. The hide is then streched and anchored to itself around the =
bowl of
the drum. Each drum I make is different, the width and depth of the bowl, =
the
length of the base, the diameter of neck opening as it relates to the base
opening all make a difference in the type of sound the drum produces. I =
have
also played with a low fire vitrious clay as oposed to a high fire cone 9-10
clay. I have seen then unglazed on the outside, slip decorated and glazed. =
You
will just have to experiment to see what application you like best. I hope =
this
helps.
K. Griffith
----------
From: Rick Brady=5BSMTP:RickB=40netro-corp.com=5D
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 1997 7:01 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list CLAYART
Subject: African or Other Ethnic Drums
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I have been asked make a Ceramic Drum for a friend and I'm looking for
some help with some basic information. I've seen several similar drums
at music stores in the San Francisco Bay Area in various sizes (and
cost's) and materials.
Is there any standard proportion between the diameter at the top and the
overall height? Should the drum neck down to a specific dimension?
What type of clay body should be used? Would glaze have an effect on
sound or tone? If so, should I not glaze on the inside and glaze on
the outside only? How thick should the walls be? Do the walls need to
be uniform in thickness?
What is the best type of hide to use for the drum? I have heard that
goat skin is preferred but I don't have a clue where to find it - any
ideas? Is there any other material which could be used other than goat
hide? How would the hide be attached?
I have been unable to locate a book on the subject. If anyone out there
has any references I would appreciate the help. Thanks=21=21
Rick Brady
Pleasanton, CA
510.484.1768
PearlJo446 on thu 11 dec 97
Dear Rick;
Many years ago I went to a drum workshop where we hand built round (kind of
fat pitcher shape) all ceramic drum. It waas 9 or 10 inches in diameter. It
had a short neck, about an inch or inch and a half high. We cut an inch
opening in the upper part of the body, and added a handle about 90 degrees
around the cirumference from the hole at the same level. We decorated them
with simple lines and repetative stamping. We used terra sig, then burnished,
low fire bisqued first, and finally smoked them. They are played by cradling
them on your lap, holding the handle with one hand and hitting the hole with
the other. The sound is sort of a glub, glub sound; something like pouring
water rapidly out of a gallon jug. We also made a circular stand out of a rope
sewed into a circle with colored string or raffia around it in a blanket
stitch. If the drum didn't have a stand it would roll around as the bottom was
curved too.
If you make this kind of drum you don' have to worry about goat hide ! (G)
Pearl in White Plains, NY
barbara lund on fri 12 dec 97
At 07:01 AM 12/9/97 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I have been asked make a Ceramic Drum for a friend and I'm looking for
>some help with some basic information. I've seen several similar drums
>at music stores in the San Francisco Bay Area in various sizes (and
>cost's) and materials.
>
>Is there any standard proportion between the diameter at the top and the
>overall height? Should the drum neck down to a specific dimension?
>
>What type of clay body should be used? Would glaze have an effect on
>sound or tone? If so, should I not glaze on the inside and glaze on
>the outside only? How thick should the walls be? Do the walls need to
>be uniform in thickness?
>
>What is the best type of hide to use for the drum? I have heard that
>goat skin is preferred but I don't have a clue where to find it - any
>ideas? Is there any other material which could be used other than goat
>hide? How would the hide be attached?
>
>I have been unable to locate a book on the subject. If anyone out there
>has any references I would appreciate the help. Thanks!!
>
>Rick Brady
>Pleasanton, CA
>510.484.1768
>
>Howdy, I've been making clay doumbeks for about 10 years now. The
proportions I use for these goblet shaped drums are that the "tower" is
about the same height as the "bowl" is wide. the seem to look fairly
proportioned that way. I throw mine in 2 peices and join them when leather
hard, cutting out a hole in the bottom of the bowl that matches the inside
of the smaller end of the tower. when I glaze them , I leave the top 1/2
inch unglazed so that the heads will glue on better. I don't lace them but
glue them and clamp them til the head is dry. I use light to medium
goatskin ordered from Mid-east MFG in Melbourne, Fla, but they only
wholesale. Perhaps they could tell you if someone in your area carries
their drum heads. I have used porcelain, white stoneware and medium brown
stoneware for these and frankly I can't hear much of a tonal difference
between the three. They are fired at cone 6 in oxidation. The walls are
about 1/4-3/8 inch thick and I think it is nice if they are perfectly even
though they aren't always. I have glazed them both inside and out or just
on the outside and I don't see (hear) any difference. One thing to remember
is not to make them too heavy. 8 lbs for 14" finished drum is about the
heaviest you want- or people won't carry it around.
Monica Leeke Dix, Daniel Dix on fri 12 dec 97
Rick,
I have only made a few drums, but I have a way of attaching the head that I
haven't read about here. I learned it from a high school student when I was
interning at the Manchester Craftsmens' Guild in Pittsburgh.
Anyway, when I am making the head of the drum, and the clay is still wet, or
leather hard, I attach tapered pegs that are an inch or so in length. The
pegs point down and have a sort of chisel edge (sharp, but not so delicate
that they'll break). I use six or eight pegs on a 6-inch diameter drum
head. They are attached a little below the rim (think of the drummer's
hands). Then, when I am ready to attach the skin, after an overnight soaking
(I use rawhide), I poke holes with a nail punch at the appropriate points on
the skin. A paper pattern makes a good guide. Using my hands, I pull the
skin over the head, inserting a peg into each hole. I might use pliers for
the last ones. Then I trim the skin, since it was cut large so I could get
a grip on it. The skin, when dry, will dry very taut. Once, it even broke
some too-thin pegs on an earthenware drum!
A disadvantage about this method though, is that if you want to tighten the
head, you would have to restretch it (making new holes), or replace the
skin. Also, would it sound different than a glued head?
An advantage over gluing is that you can change the head to try different
materials.
E-mail and I'll send a sketch in case my written description was vague!
Monica Leeke Dix
A Mano Arts
Wooster, Ohio
P.S. Anyone know about any exhibitions, etc. of clay drums?
At 07:01 AM 12/9/97 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I have been asked make a Ceramic Drum for a friend and I'm looking for
>some help with some basic information. I've seen several similar drums
>at music stores in the San Francisco Bay Area in various sizes (and
>cost's) and materials.
>
>Is there any standard proportion between the diameter at the top and the
>overall height? Should the drum neck down to a specific dimension?
>
>What type of clay body should be used? Would glaze have an effect on
>sound or tone? If so, should I not glaze on the inside and glaze on
>the outside only? How thick should the walls be? Do the walls need to
>be uniform in thickness?
>
>What is the best type of hide to use for the drum? I have heard that
>goat skin is preferred but I don't have a clue where to find it - any
>ideas? Is there any other material which could be used other than goat
>hide? How would the hide be attached?
>
>I have been unable to locate a book on the subject. If anyone out there
>has any references I would appreciate the help. Thanks!!
>
>Rick Brady
>Pleasanton, CA
>510.484.1768
>
>
Sandra Dwiggins on fri 12 dec 97
It might be helpful to go to your local ethnic music store, or music store in
general, and ask the drum specialist there what makes a good drum
sound and how the different ones are produced. For example, a dumbek
sounds different from a djembe-type drum and different shapes of bowls
produce different pitches of drums. Some drums are also played with a
hand in the long tunnel in the bottom to change the sound, etc.
There are also aftrican drums with NO skins on them. They are large
round pots with holes in the sides and the size of the hole and its
placement determines the sound.
Many possitibilites...I even saw a drum recently that didn't have an air
opening at all. It was a bowl totally enclosed on the top with a skin--had
a fantastic sound!
Sandy, who took up drumming a few years ago, but found that ceramic
drums require very careful handling, and I break things too easily.
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