Shamandrums



 D
rummaking
course
 

The
drummaker

Contact
& Agenda

 Rattle & Drum
Shop

Home


Birthing a shamansdrum takes about 20 hours
of loveable and hard work...,
spread over 3 to 4 weeks for giving time to the whole process.

Every shamandrum is unique & one of a kind,
as well as in sound as in appearance.
You can buy a drum from stock or
 ask us to make one for you.

 

You can choose from either a shaman's drum that is
single headed
or
double headed .


Next
you can make your choice between a

FIXED or
 Tune-able
drumhead.

The drumheads are made of natural skin (rawhide).
Because of the fact that skin reacts to warmth & moisture
, the tension of the drumhead will change and therefor also its pitch.
So when there is a lot of damp or moisture in the air, the sound of your drum might temporarily disappear. And when freezing your drumhead will get tensioned a lot. 
When you choose a fixed drumhead you will have to work with the elements. When you choose a tune-able drum, it is easier to keep your drum's voice alive.


 

Single headed

The singleheaded handdrums you can hold easily; they have a good grip at the backside.
A
shamanic handrum is
good to work with during meditation and trancedance.
 

Tradotional style

 

Here the skin has been stretched over the hoop to the backside and is fixed with rawhide lacing. Thicker hides are best used for this type of drum.
 In order to change the tension of the skin, you will have to work with a little water to loosen tension or (carefully!) with fire/heat/hairdryer to increase tension.

          
Tuneable style          
This model is more adapted to thinner skins. The tension of the skin is easy to change at the backside which makes this drum ideal for a climate where the weather changes quickly all the time.

 
 

Double headed

This shaman's drum (also called: gongdrum) has on both sides a skin attached to eachother; both sides have a different pitch, through which you can contact either the lower or upperworld.
Because this drum is completely closed,
 its resonance increases and both skins influence eachother. Through this a doubleheaded shamandrum has a typical characteristic volumnious voice.
 
These drums you hold hanging down in front of you and they are best played standing or sitting a litlle higher.

There is choice here also between a tuneable
or (traditional) fixed
shaman drum.


Special wishes?
(or special for you?)

We love to make your shamanic drum as you've been dreaming it. It's a fascinating journey to make
your shamandrum on special request.

 In case you're not happy with it, just return.

feel free to contact us


When your heart desires a drum, find out about what's best for you:
Maybe there is a special bond with a specific tree or animal that is important to connect with your drum?
Do you like to work with the elements water and fire to keep your drum tuned? Will you be drumming inside or outside most of the time?
What purpose you have using your drum?
What shape or size feels appropriate?
And what sound is it you're hearing?
What else you see as important?
 

Good to know...that

Drumheads  are rawhide made from animal skins
like:           
goat, bison, horse and deer. Skins from these different animalspecies bring forward a different sound wich is hard to explain in words.

      

The sound of the drum will be influenced also by the
thickness of the skin used, the choosen animalspecie the choice of wood, the diameter of the drum and whether there is still hair left on the skin.
Most likely a thick skin will produce a more solid, massive sound, while a thinner hide will produce a more fine and longer resonating sound. A larger drum will give away a lot of different tones far easier than a small one will, just because the size of the playing-field is bigger.
A hairy drum will have a deep voice that is also less clear.

The body, or frame, is usually made from solid wood that is bent under steam to a round or oval-shaped hoop. Woods we use are: oak, elm , beech, hornbeam, larch, asch, red cedar & yellow pine.
For the body of a tuneable doubleheaded shamandrum we use a hollow log or birch layered-wood.
 

 The size of a shaman handdrum usually varies between 40 and 60 centimeters in diameter.


Th
e singleheaded shamandrums are 195-270
A doubleheaded shamandrum starts at 240
depending on size & the wood and skin used.
With every  drum comes a suitable beater covered with leather or fur that is filled with wool or cotton.

Thank you for your visit,

May you walk in rhythm


 

 


AddMe.com, Search Engine Placement