Finding a “Good” Doumbek Drum…(On a Budget!)

Most of us have a djembe, but another fun, and very versatile drum to consider getting is a doumbek. The goblet shaped doumbek is a beautiful sounding drum, with lots of range, and delicate sound nuances to it. Even after playing one for over 20 years, I am still discovering new sounds in mine.

For those of you that might be new to this kind of drum, the body is usually made of ceramic pottery, machined aluminum, or copper. Some are even made of wood Aside from the sound, I like the portability of them. They are smaller than most djembes, pack a good punch for their size, and can easily fit in a gym bag.

Most of the drum heads are synthetic, so it can withstand all kinds of extreme weather conditions, and they are very durable. Even here in Florida’s heat and humidity, I can just leave my doumbek in the trunk of my car with no worries. You never know when you might run into a drum circle emergency! I hate it when I stumble onto a circle, and don’t have a drum with me to play. It’s even handy if a text goes out for flash drummers. It’s possible, right?

In my opinion, one of the best models that gives the most bang for the buck is the Alexandria doumbek. They are pretty easy to spot, they usually have it clearly marked in blue under the clear drum head. And they are usually rather plain looking – just a rough looking textured heavy cast aluminum. Most of them are a solid anodized color, or just unfinished aluminum. (Notice the bronze colored one in the photo.)

There are many fancier models out there that have beautiful etchings, designs, and so on. It costs a lot more for those, and practically speaking, you can’t see it when you are actually playing the drum. But they are so tempting because of their sheer beauty, and the artwork on them. They do look mighty good just sitting around on display in your home. Sound, quality, and performance are what really matters to me, so I tend to lean in that direction. If you look around, you can probably find a very good Alexandria doumbek for just over $80 brand new. Most new ones come with a carrying case, tuning wrench, and a spare drum head.

As far as tuning a doumbek is concerned, it’s really no big. Most of them have 8 lugs like a regular kit drum has. So they are very easy to tune, a couple turns with an allen wrench, and that’s it. When you are done, you just lightly tap your finger about an inch from each lug, and make sure they all have the same sound, (or are tuned to the same pitch). Once you tune the drum head to where you like it, you can pretty much just forget it, play on it, indoors or outside, and never need to tune it again.

Generally speaking, even with doumbeks, I like to play a drum first before I buy it. I want to hear it, feel it, and see if it talks to me before I buy it. The exception is buying one online, because you pretty much know what it’s going to sound like, but for a few important differences. The quality of the drum shell thickness, and construction. The older ones were made much more solidly. So, the older, the better. As the saying goes…”They don’t make them like they used to.” That applies to a lot of things these days doesn’t it?

For my “kit” of facilitating drum circle drums, I like to use the polymer/PVC/synthetic body drums, such as the Remo or Toca djembes, or the like, and lots of aluminum doumbeks with the groups I teach and work with for many reasons. If you plan to acquire a kit of drums and facilitate a group drum circle on a regular basis, you need good sounding, durable, and lightweight drums that are easy for non drummers to be able to play right away. They also need to stay in tune in our constantly changing climates. Aluminum drums, with synthetic drum heads are also easier to clean, and disinfect after use, with anti-bacterial wipes. An important consideration for at risk groups, children, elders, and special needs groups.

The weight issue is another big factor when hauling them around, so I don’t knock myself out before I start the drum circle. Most wooden body drums are heavy, especially if you have 45 of them to move. Add to that, the extra fuel usage during transporting them.

A pretty good way to get a first drum if you are a little short on cash, is buying a used drum that someone got tired of and/or traded in for something else. I’m a firm believer in buying used drums and giving them another musical life. Especially if you ever run across something that’s vintage. I like to support local business whenever possible, or at least in the state I live in.

If you ask them, most music stores will keep your name on file and give you a call when something that might be of interest to you comes in to be sold on consignment. Another alternative to check out is the pawn shops periodically, but you don't get the same kind of knowledge, service, and usually the person is anxious to talk you into buying a drum and a power chair. If you have any Arabic stores in your area, many of them have a few excellent quality Alexandria doumbeks. I’ve even bought a few nice ones in some Arabic convenience stores. Keep an eye out for those in your travels hidden high up on the shelves. I was shocked to find some imported beautifully constructed, great sounding doumbeks worth well over $150 for only 60 bucks each! And they were happy to sell them, and share some of their culture.

If you visit drum circles in your area regularly, you will probably run into a few people who might want to sell their drum for about half price of retail. I see that happen a lot. I’ve also gotten a few nice drums at local newsgroup online sites, like Craig’s List, for example.

If you look at the online auction sites like Ebay, and put in the keywords doumbek drum, you get 1000’s of results. Try going to the advanced search area, where there is a box to put in key words to be “excluded” from your search results. Put in words such as “new” or “free”, and your price range, etc, to exclude most of the dealers, and that narrows the results to mostly just individual people selling one nice doumbek. Sometimes you can find a real bargain, and get a really nice drum that way. Many drums just get lost in all the myriad of search results

Many consider the doumbek to be a bellydancing drum, and call it a doumbek. So if you search, try the different spellings of the drum when looking for one. Depending on the region or culture it can be called a Doumbek, Dumbek, or Dumbec, depending on who you talk to and where they are from. They might use a Dohbeck on The Simpsons. I just use the term Doumbek. I think it is the most common spelling of it over here. They come in a few different sizes. Try to get one with the drum head that is 8 – 10 inches across. Playable size, in other words, the actual size of the head, not the drum size from edge to edge. For me, the best head size is 8 inches or 8.5 inches.

Unfortunately with the ceramic ones, they tend to break pretty easily. Once it falls, and tips over, it’s over. I was at one drum circle where somebody was walking by, they accidentally bumped it, it fell, and shattered into dozens of pieces. Luckily, the portion near the drum head didn’t break, and later a buddy of mine gorilla glued it back together. It still played okay, but I was pretty heartbroken. But oh, those ceramic drums sound so clean and crisp, and some do have beautiful artwork on them.

I go with the aluminum, stainless steel, or copper tunable lug doumbeks mostly. Since they are metal, they also have a beautiful sort of metallic sound to them when you play them. I’ve gotten to where I love that sound, they are loads of fun, comfortable to jam on, and as I mentioned, much easier to just toss in a gym bag and carry it along with you. It’s the perfect “commuter” drum. And it’s easily cleanable, since it is all constructed of synthetic, and aluminum materials.

I used to play a doumbek during the early 1980’s with the break dancers on the streets of New York City. It was easy to transport, and got out pretty good for a smaller drum. Everyone seemed to be fascinated with this strange looking, and unique sounding silver metal drum. Since they are aluminum they usually weigh under 8 pounds. So, it’s very handy to take with you on vacation, or for letting other people to play it at drum circles.

The real good ones to look for are made of thicker cast aluminum - like 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. They are the professional sounding ones, that have the nice full resonant Doums (bass notes) and Teks (tones) I like the range of the 8 or 10 inch playable size drum head. A lot of them out there are 6 inch, and that’s a bit small. There is much more beautiful range of sound, and longer resonation in these drums if they are made of the thicker cast spun aluminum, or copper, and have a larger drum head.

One of the most beautiful and sought after goblet style drums is the GAWHARET EL FAN mosaic cast aluminum doumbek. (It deserves to be in caps.) These have superior sound, and intricate tile work that is unbelievably beautiful. Try a search and look at one, if you have never seen one before. The only problem with them is, they are around $300 or more, and heavy as heck because of all the inlaid tile work and mortar around them. I do see them at online auctions for around $200, but it’s hard to know if they are authentic. There are lots of knock-off copies and fakes of these drums out there, so finding a reputable dealer that has the genuine item is hard to do.

Some cheaper doumbeks are almost as thin as tin cans, and will dent very easily. I stay away from those. I have one that I was holding and I lightly bumped it against a kitchen counter, and it left a big dent in it. (See the photo of the drum with the dent.) I barely even bumped the thing! And, I also don’t want anything without lugs that isn’t tunable. Some of them have the drum heads that are just glued on. You can’t even tune those babies. Some have fish, or goat skin heads. Most doumbeks are usually 18 inches tall with 8 inch playable size clear synthetic drum heads. A related style of drum is an aluminum tunable Darbuka. Some even have tambourines mounted inside them underneath the drum head. Those with “jingles” in them are lots of fun, it adds another dimension of sound to your playing. Get a Darbuka with jingles. Two cool sounds for the price of one.

The best way to start looking for the best drum for you, is to first find out what kinds and sizes you like, either at a music store, or simply by trying somebody else’s drum out at a drum circle, and then buying it brand new at major music store, or an online retailer. Buying a drum is an important decision, and you want to get the one that’s best for you and your body. Most musicians are very supportive, and will let you play their drum if you treat it with respect. Remember that they are expensive, and to ask permission first before you touch anyone else’s drum at public drum circles.

With most drum retailers now, the drum market is so very competitive that all you have to do is locate the best online price, and most of them will match or beat it, to get your business and probably will ship it free, to boot. As a general rule of thumb, most of the bigger music stores and online music stores will negotiate on the list prices with you. They just don’t advertise that. I can often negotiate at least 10 - 15% off the list price. Even more if I offer to by a couple of drums.

Goblet drums go back 100’s of years and have a rich history in various cultures. Goblet drums are one of the broadest classes of drums. They’re played heavily across Asia, North Africa, The Middle East and Eastern Europe. They have many similar names, and similarities in use. Most of these names are derived from two names, the Pahlavi (The Middle Persian language used by Persians during the Sasanid period). Also the dombalak, and the Arabic name darbouka.

As near as I can tell, the doumbek originated in the Middle East. It's traditionally played by holding the drum in your lap under your left arm and striking it with the fingers of both hands. The heavy down beats in Middle Eastern, and bellydancing rhythms are usually played on the right (dominant) hand and the other hand is used for fill beats and other accents. If you've heard bellydancing music, you've heard a doumbek. Being smaller and lighter than the Djembe, this is the style of drum I travel around with the most.

I suspect that the modern classical Arabic style of playing the doumbek, (the under the arm, one hand dominant), is a direct descendant of frame drum technique. Classical frame drum technique relies heavily on the dominant hand. The second hand usually holds it, and adds a couple of fingers to add fill, snaps, pops, or muffle the back by pressing against it.

But at drum circles, I see a lot people playing a doumbek like a djembe, between their legs. If that’s more comfortable for you, try it. It is a comfortable drum to play, sort of ergonomically designed for the comfort of the hands with it‘s curved bearing edge. It’s your drum, and the beauty of drumming, is that you can play it however you want to. You might invent a new way to play it that’s better for you. You might create new sounds nobody else has before.

They even sell these “Commuter Doumbeks” now. It has a heavier padded carrying case, a long carrying strap for over the shoulder, and a zippered sleeve on top, of the other top to hold a spare head and tuning wrench. So now I’ve got a laptop on one shoulder, and a doumbek on the other. Many have simply beautiful carvings, inlaid mother of pearl tile work, or magnificent etchings on them. Some of the most beautiful drums I have are playable art doumbeks.

Many drummers at drum circles play a goat-skinned djembe drum which gives out great bass tones, and high slap tones. A doumbek may seem dwarfed by the size of a djembe, but played properly, it can cut right through and be heard in a sea of djembes. So it is a very versatile drum, and the good ones still yield a rich bass tone. The thinner models…not so much

Drum heads can get damaged, (which is not easy to do, but it happens.) One time, I had this outdoor firespinning gig, with 5 poi firespinners, and 2 other drummers. It was quite a dynamic and fun 4th of July show. But half way through it, a little bit of flaming fluid came flying over and landed right on the drum head. I was 15 feet away from it, but a small blob came flying my way. I wiped it off real quick as I was playing. It of course melted a big hole in it. Amazingly, the drum still did play even with a ½ hole in it. I continued playing it, and got through the job okay. Fortunately the heads are pretty easy to replace, and only cost about $12 if you need to buy one.

The critical thing when replacing a doumbek head, is that you put the drum rim back on EXACTLY the same way it came off. In other words, the drum should be reassembled the same way it came apart. Each lug hole back where it was, and each lug back in the hole it came from. This is really important, because aluminum screw holes can strip out very easily. Most of these drums have lots of machining defects or nuances, and are made such that they have to be reassembled the same way they come apart. You might say that I learned this one the hard way. And I’ve seen it happen to many other drums. You get a stripped lug hole, and it can’t ever be properly tuned again. Unless the hole is machined out, which costs more than a new drum.

When replacing the drum rim, take extra care to tighten the lugs equally. First, slide the rim back and forth to seat it properly, and locate the exact same place it came apart. Then equally hand tighten all the lugs. Then with the allen wrench, equally tighten all the lugs in a back and forth criss cross pattern, like you would a car rim. This will help you to avoid stripping a lug out. Take your time, and tighten them just a little bit at a time.

The best way to remember about how to put a rim back on exactly the same way it came off, is to put a piece of blue painters tape, above, and below one lug on the drum. Then you can see exactly how and where it goes back together. If you have to buy a drum head somewhere else, the chances are good that it won’t fit as snugly as it did before, and you will have a gap between the rim and body. It doesn’t really affect the performance of the drum, it just looks kind of crappy.

Check out the photos of the drums I posted to get an idea. The dark green one is an Alexandria model. It’s about 40 years old. Very solid, thick cast, beautiful sound. It was $35 on Ebay. It’s kind of beat up, but sounds brilliant. The plain aluminum one is an older model also. It’s very heavy thick machined aluminum like an aircraft part, but notice the gap under the rim. It still sounds fantastic. $50 from Craig’s list. Somebody put a lot of love into this drum. Notice the artwork on the inside, there's an ocean island, with the sun shining above it to the left.

The bronze one is an Alexandria model. It is about 2 years old, and cost about $80 new with a case and spare head. This is a good choice to buy new. It has Superior sound, very solid and thick casting. The other red dented one...well, that sort of speaks for itself. It is one of the cheap thinner ones, and it's covered with dents. The other models shown, have taken years of wear and tear, a few chips, but no dents. You would almost have to use a car, to dent them. In the photo showing the top of the drums, notice the blue Alexandria logo on the drum heads.

You can’t really tell how thick the drum is by just looking at the bottom of it. Most of them have a thicker base on them, and they thin out as you go up the sides. The cheap ones are easy to spot if you just knock on the upper side of it with your knuckle, like you would on a front door. If it goes clink, or clank, it’s a cheap one. If it goes thud, and it hurts a little, that’s a sign of a good one. Another way to test, is reach your hand up ¾ of the way up the inside, to where the drum body widens out. And with your other hand tap it in the same spot on the outside. Try to feel how thick the cast aluminum is where it matters, by holding one hand in, and the other hand out, in the same spot. You can get an idea how thick the metal is. Test it about 6 inches down from the top.

I have bought a few nice doumbeks at mid-east.com here in Florida. Their regular prices are pretty good, and their seconds, and blemished area on the site often has some very good deals, but they go fast, and quality does vary. They do sell the Alexandria models.

The cheaper doumbeks are generally in the $50 – 80 range, and the good ones with the thicker casting are $80 - $120. (Unless you get into the high end decorated tile ones, like the El Fal, etc. I mentioned). The one’s with all the decorative tile are magnificent works of art, the problem beyond the cost, is the practicality of them. With all the grout that holds the tile in place, comparatively speaking, they are very heavy drums. I’ve had a few, and liked to use them for high end stage gigs, because they look so beautiful under the stage lighting. But, if they happen to fall over, or get bumped against something, you can break some of the tiles out.

For the price difference, I would go for a better quality, plain, yet thick cast aluminum one. If it’s cared for, a good doumbek will last practically forever, and your grand kids can inherit it. The thicker the casting, the deeper and more rich the bass sound is with these. They tend to have a thicker gauge drum head on them also, which gives you fuller sound, and even more range. Look for the ones that have the “Alexandria” name on the drum head. (Like in the photo) Those tend to be real nice drums that are imported from Egypt. And with everything that’s been going on over there in the last year, Alexandria doumbeks are getting a lot harder to get, and much more expensive. That tell tale blue logo is something to look for.

Another quality of construction indicator to look for is how snugly the drum rim, (or bearing edge) fits against the drum body. If it is tight, with little or no gap, that’s a good sign. Some have as much as a ¼ inch gap between them. If you see a gap, it’s a sign that it’s not as well made, or somebody put a new drum head on it. With most doumbeks they are not made to particular specs. A lot of the older ones were made one at a time, so the tolerances are different from drum to drum. They might be the correct diameter, but where it seats often varies in height. So a new drum head might be too shallow, or worse, not deep enough to fit and tune properly. Fortunately, most new doumbeks come with a spare head that was made for that particular drum, and it fits properly.

I have also bought a few new doumbeks, and even djembe drums from music123.com and musiciansfriend.com and been pleased. Although both are out of state companies, they will usually meet any advertised price, and I believe still ship free if you spend over $100. They both also have a clearance area like mid-east does with some good deals.

I hope some of this helps to get a good drum, at a good price, and that you find the drum you love!

If you are new to doumbek drums, check some of my other blog posts. There are a few with lists of drum rhythm notations, as well as various ways to read, understand, and play them.

Shannon
drumcircles.net

Copyright © Shannon Ratigan All Rights Reserved.

Tuning A Lug Tunable Djembe, Marking It, & Head Replacement

Lug tuned djembes, doumbeks, ashikos, and congas. My favorite drum is a lug tuned LP Giovanni djembe with a goatskin head. Here's a few thoughts on tuning up a lug tunable hand drum, a little about replacing a drum head, and some different ways to put an identifying mark on your drum.

For the most part, lug tuned djembes are less expensive, and more readily available at music stores, and online, so they are becoming more popular, especially with those that are newer to drumming. With a synthetic head, once it’s tuned, it’s basically tuned for life. You can pretty much forget about it, once you have it sounding the way you like.

Goatskin drum heads are a completely different matter, lug tuned or roped. Going from the heat, into air conditioning can pop a drum head if it’s tuned a little too high. Very cold air has less moisture, and the drum heads get dryer and tighten up. I make it a habit to detune a half crank or two each lug after a gig. I go from outdoors to inside a lot. 5 years ago I discovered a broken head when I took it out of the bag for a gig. lol, not good, so I make it a point to take the time, even though I am too tired to do it…before it goes back into the djembe bag, I detune each lug a little after each use. ¾ of a full crank seems to work fine in most cases. The advantage with this kind of djembe, is you can quickly tune, or detune it in minutes, unlike with a rope tuned drum.

Having said that, to me, there is nothing that really compares to an authentic handcrafted djembe. The sound is unmatched, but they are also very expensive. Another problem is that there is a lot of “knock offs” being sold out there as “an authentic indigenous drum”, and many of them are not. You almost need to know someone reliable, or travel.

When I do have to unfortunately replace a drum head, at least I can do so quickly. I do it like the crisscross change a tire lug pattern: 12 0’clock – then 6. then 3 & 9. Equally all around, from one side to the other. After I slide the head back and forth to get it seated nicely, I hand tighten all the lugs equally first. Then it’s a few tuning wrench cranks at a time, in the back and forth pattern. I hold my finger on the one I just tightened, so I can go across the head and remember the one I just did, and my pattern. Back and forth, crisscross, equal cranks all around as best as I can. An important thing to do afterward is look across the flat plane edge of the drum head, and see if it looks nice and even around the rim. Sometimes I didn’t seat the drum head properly, or over tightened on one side, and it may be a tiny bit higher than the other, so I correct for that. (Do it over again! lol)

Another tip I learned was that when I do replace a goatskin djembe head, or a cow skin conga head, I take a little bit of powdered flour, rub some on my hands and lightly rub a very thin coat along the bearing edge, (top) of the drum body before I place the drum head back on it. I slide it around a little, and this allows it to “seat” better on the drum.

The most important thing for correctly tuning my djembe, is after I have it as even and tight as I want, I tap my finger on the drum head about an inch from each lug, and do so for each lug as I go around the drum in a circular pattern. That’s how I can tell if the drum is equally tuned near each lug. Or just a light flick of your fingernail near each lug. If any one sounds higher or lower in pitch, I correct it so that they all sound the same. This not only lengthens drum head life, but it sounds better. It reduces unwanted ringing, and unwanted off pitch sounding notes. Different sounding tones on different lugs can lead to a dissonant combination. This is more important with djembe heads, because they have thinner goatskin heads than cow skin conga heads. So the djembe head is much more sensitive to tension and evenness, both with goatskin and with some synthetic heads.

For those of you that have drum sets, you probably know most of this stuff already, so please bear with me for those that are new to tuning drums. Many of my suggestions are from others who taught me, band gigs in sleazy bars, and the rest from trial and error. These may not be the “best” way, or the only way to do things, I am a musician sharing information. If you have a few helpful tips to add, that would be much appreciated.

An easy way to quick tune my quinta and conga, or bongos, is to recall the song, “Here comes The Bride”. I tune them to sound like the notes in it. It makes it very simple to do, even in a dimly lit situation. (If it’s just my djembe I’m tuning, it’s to the “Bride” pitched note. Maybe just a tad higher.

Some lug tuned goatskin and synthetic drum heads can have ringing, or a ping like sound. Many joke about it, and call it the “twang”. Trying to dampen that overtone a little with synthetic heads is a real consideration for many of us. Especially at studio recording sessions. To reduce it, I hang a blue painter’s tape tail in the center underside of the head. (The blue tape doesn't leave a sticky residue like regular masking tape, or duct tape can do over time.) I use a long single piece - so it has about a 6 inch tail that is hanging down in the center, and stretching about 6 " in both directions across the drum head. ( ----V----) The V is to help illustrate, I close the V section to it is stuck together and hanging down in the middle. The tape I use is 1" wide blue painter’s tape.

I set the drum on the floor upside down on carpet, and try to place it in there with one arm, because that’s all that will fit. It can be tricky getting it in there, sometimes I have to try 3 or 4 times to get it in there nice and even and flat, so the 6 inch tail can be hanging down in the center. I’ve seen other ways to do this, using just a flat straight piece of tape across the underside of the head, a flat “X” pattern, a square, or a circle, or even a sqiggley. Experiment, because that’s part of the fun of drumming, and see what works best for your drum. However you get to it, hopefully it’s bye-bye ping.

One other thing about placing in the blue tape, on the underside of some drum heads is that it will not stick at first. With some newer heads, the bottom surface of the head can have a light coat of powder on it. The solution is to take several dry paper towels and gently wipe the powder off until it is clean enough so the tape would stick on any part of it. I guess the blue painter’s tape is designed like that so it is easy to come off. Another similar simple quick fix, or test idea is to try putting a few Post-It notes hanging under there.

I make it a habit to replace the tape every 4 months or so just to avoid any possibility of sticky tape residue on the underside of my drum head.

If you have to replace or remove the drum rim for any reason, be sure to put it back exactly the same way it came apart. Otherwise it may not fit quite properly when you put it back on, or a lug might get stripped. This is especially true with aluminum doumbeks, I make sure the head is seated properly, and tighten the lugs up again in a crisscross pattern, a little bit at a time. What I do to mark the spot is put a small piece of painter’s tape on the rim and just below it on the drum shell near a lug, so I can mark the spot.

Then I can put it back exactly as it came from the factory. When I remove the lugs, I line them up in a row the way they came off, so I can put them back exactly where they were. Cleaning and twisting them on an old towel, and oiling them is a good idea when you do this. There’s a special lug oil you can get at most drum shops.

Identifying and/or Marking Your Drum(s)

If you have just one prized djembe, or a kit of 50, marking them, or identifying them is a good idea, just in case. Early on, I used a permanent magic marker and would write my name inside the drum body. Later, I painted a bright line across the bottom, or mid-shell. Then when I had a whole bunch of drums, I went to some paper stickers I made on my PC. They left a glue residue, and looked sloppy after a year or so. But it was better than nothing. About 8 years ago I started to use those 4 x 5” vinyl bumper stickers you tend to see many bands use for promoting, publicity, etc. At many of the drum circles I facilitated or hosted, the public was welcome and some would bring their own drums, so things could get a little confusing as people would come and go, and at the end of the gig.

I needed to be able to identify my drums and percussion quickly and easily, sometimes at night in very dim light. I also wanted to deter them from walking away a little bit, that having unfortunately happened one time, but months later, the drum was anonymously returned to me. So I was glad it had that sticker, and/or my name written inside it. The stickers were inexpensive, easy to see, good for promotion, and they looked pretty cool.

If you get the 4” x 5" size stickers with black and white text only. They are about 10 – 50 cents each depending on how many you order. As a bonus you can also hand them out to clients, participants, add to your press pack, etc. But if you start adding logos, colors, or pics, the price goes up on them pretty quickly.

Most all of my kit is synthetic body drums like Remo, Toca, assorted aluminum doumbeks, etc. so slapping a sticker on the side of them was not really a big deal. For groups I prefer synthetic drums because they are easily washable, and can be sanitized. Add to that, they can take more of a beating than goatskin, they do better in humidity, and they cost less to buy. If I needed to remove one of my bumper stickers for some reason, (after a few years there would be a glue residue on there). A product like De-Solv-It takes it off easily. It’s made for removing wallpaper glue.

Obviously you don’t want to put a band sticker on a nice carved wood djembe, but for most of my drums it was fine, and I could easily see from a distance which ones belonged to me. With wood djembes a few ideas are to paint some sort of bright marking on them, or hang those price tags, or luggage tags with a string on them on the ring with a name written on it. Some even carve, or wood burn a name at the bottom of the shell. At least consider writing your name with a permanent marker inside the drum shell. If you have some aluminum, stainless, or nickel doumbeks, carving, or wood burning obviously won’t do, so a sticker or colorful marking of some sort might be the way to go.

About 10 years ago my drum circle facilitating kit was all wood shell djembes. After you schlep 50 drums in and out for an event, (even with some help) they were too heavy to keep track of, let alone haul around. As I mentioned, I prefer the sound and feel of goatskin heads on a wood drum shell, but after a while, it just wasn’t practical. But at least with some kind of bright looking, or obvious mark on them, they’re easier to identify as being yours, especially if you work in public places. As I mentioned, some people bring their own drums. It can get confusing without it.

If you go with that white vinyl band sticker idea, as far as your design is concerned, most of the sticker companies make it pretty easy to do. Most of them will let you design your sticker in a Word doc, you can use most common fonts and sizes, and you email it to them. Make your sticker short and sweet. For my text, I chose my website DRUMSOME.com I made the .com very tiny, (and away at the lower right), so promotion wasn’t so blatantly obvious, and people are less likely to toss them. It’s kind of cool looking, and the .com was so tiny, people would still put them on car bumpers and so on. People would even ask for a sticker to take home all the time, so it was effective publicity for me in the community, and I could easily identify my drums on a budget.

I hope some of this helps you!

Shannon

drumcircles.net (Got a regular meeting drum circle, or looking for one? Please check out the website. Thanks)