About eighteen months ago, I have started a serious study of drums and percussion to compliment my knowledge of fretted instruments, hoping to become a better, more well-rounded musician as a result. However, my only experience with djembes was picking them and shipping them when I used to work for Musician’s Friend. Actually, I don’t have very much experience with hand drums at all, let alone this unique instrument shaped like a huge salad bowl mounted atop a short, wide megaphone.
After posting a review article for Gretsch’s Catalina Maple Drumset, my new friend and most excelent poetess Kady Burney commented that her and husband Tony played Djembes. I saw this as not only an opportunity to fill a need, but also to broaden my scope as a musician and a writer, reviewing a musical instrument that is unfamiliar to me.
A djembe (pronounced JEN-bay) is an African drum of the Mandinka people, dating back to the Mali Empire of the 12th century. Djembes have become extremely popular and sought after in the West. Traditionally, they have heads made of animal hides (usually goats), but many modern djembes have synthetic heads that come very close to the sound of actual animal skin (Like the Remo FiberSkyn 3’s found on their djembes). Once only made regionally and imported, many drum makers from around the world now manufacture djembes.
Modern djembes are tuned one of three ways. The traditional way employs ropes to maintain head tension, but others use key tuning like orchestral drums. The third kind of djembe cannot be tuned at all, but come pre-tuned from the factory. These are usually the cheapest kind, since the heads generally cannot be replaced when they break, wear out, or lose their tone. I decided to try out one of Remo’s djembes, since I have experience with their various lines of drum heads. Additionally, I am tempering my hands-on experience with the feedback and opinions of knowledgeable djembe players.
First, I had to learn how to make the basic sounds; Bass (made by softly but firmly slapping the drum near the center with the whole hand soft and flat, fingers together), Tone (arm straight, fingers together, the fingertips striking THROUGH the head sharply, just inside the rim), Slap (fingertips slightly spread, striking the rim one at a time (pinky, ring, middle, and index in quick succession) in a glancing manner), and Muffled slap (same as Slap, but with the other hand deftly and silently muting the head before the playing hand strikes it). All strokes must rebound as if having touched a hot stove, so the full tone of the drum may sing out. The preceeding paragraph is but a quick summary of these techniques; for more thorough information, go to www.larryswanson.com.
Next, I went to the local Guitar Center to play an actual Remo key-tuned djembe. I set it up next to two other brands (Latin Percussion, and Pearl) so I could have an actual basis for comparison.
The Remo djembe is very attractive, 14 inches in diameter and 25 inches tall, finished in Black Earth. It is fitted with Remo’s new SKYNDEEP Black Fiberskyn Mondo drumhead. The bass sound is very toney; a fat, round sound you can feel down to your bones. The “tone” sound (which could be quite accurately known as the “default” sound of the drum), is very high, round, and sharp, much like a higher pitched conga drum. Its slap sounds are sharp and clicky, a great percussive accent to any rhythm.
After the drummers at Guitar Center had their cheap laugh over my imitation of a spastic drumming monkey, a couple were cool enough to come show me what a real djembe rhythm sounds like. I was totally entranced by the quick, rhythmic tattoo the clerk beat out on this thing. This was one of the most musical rhythms I have ever heard made on just one drum! That was when I finally understood the Burneys’ fascination with the djembe!
Now, after playing the Remo for me, he proceded to explain why Remo’s djembe would be the last on his wish list. He went to play the LP model, key tuned with a genuine 12 1/2″ goatskin head, and it did have a much more natural sound; a whole lot less “plastic”, for lack of a better phrase. The bass was much more resonant, yet controlled, and the high notes had a much more pleasing woody sound.
He then tapped out a rhythm on the Pearl djembe, and it, too, had a more natural-sounding goatskin head installed, but didn’t throw the bass as well as either the Remo or the LP (possible due to the smaller 12″ diameter head). I think the Remo’s shell material (a synthetic polymer called Acousticon™) has something to do with its comparitively artificial sound.
As far as cost goes, the Remo is definitely the least expensive ($180.99-$349.00), especially compared to the Latin Percussion djembe ($489.99-$749.00), and the Pearl ($339.00-$559.00). The Acousticon™ shell costs less to make, is lighter, and does not react to extremes in humidity and temperature the way a wood shell does, but in the end, the truw, natural wood sound is really what true-blue, traditional players desire, even if it costs two to three times as much!
All in all, this is a great first djembe for an aspiring player, or for the enthusiast or participants of drum circles. I would own the thing in a minute, though, because for me, the tone is good enough, even if it is a little on the plastic side. Most importantly, the price is right, and it can withstand the abuse and enviornmental extremes that the more expensive, better sounding djembes cannot!
