These handmade drums are from Ghana, made in conjunction with a Fair Trade organisation. They are traditionally carved from the Tweeneboa tree (African Cedar), and skinned with goat hide. This type of drum is used all over West Africa.
It is well-made and features a big bass and a sharp 'slap'
Available in 9", 11" and 13" sizes
Djembes
The Djembe is a drum whose origins seem to be from the time of the Mali Empire, in our Middle Ages. The empire covered an area which includes parts of the modern-day countries of Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, and Senegal. Traditionally it is carved from a single piece of wood and has a narrow stem which widens into a bowl shape. The head is usually of goatskin and in the traditional form is tensioned by ropes.
The djembe can produce a wide variety of sounds, making it one of the most versatile drums. The drum is very loud, allowing it to be heard clearly as a solo instrument over other instruments and it can produce a wide variety of sounds, from deep resonating bass to high-pitched rim tones, making it a very versatile drum.
These days there are inexpensive versions which have a body made from modern materials such as fibreglass or Acousticon. Although the head is usually very resilient, if it does get damaged, re-stringing a replacement and getting the tuning right is quite an art, so in some circumstances people use the rod- tuned version - not traditional but head replacement is much easier.
Many Djembes these days are made in Thailand - not the traditional home of the drum, but which has developed considerable skill in making them. Genuine African-made instruments are sometimes of variable quality, so we concentrate on Bucara from Ghana and Kambala from the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) which over the years have proved to be consistently good.
