Drum Strap

[Ed Miller]

And a long time lurker crawls out of the depths haha. So basically I got started in leather some years back and have done lots of small peices of the years. Everything from gear for my ren/pirate costuming to sheridan style and all points in between.

ANYWAY about 4 months ago I started playing drum in the band I am in. The Musical Blades - pirates, tradition irish, sea songs, originals... etc. So I need a strap to hold the drum where I prefer to play it. Technically the drum is a Djembe but I am more comfortable in the side position more common to the Dumbek.... for awhile I literally just used a old bag strap I had laying around. Just something to hold it on.

So I started trying to figure out how I could get a more piratey looking strap. So I cut out some basic pieces and tacked together the rig. No dye no nothing just bare leather to test the design. Played the drum with it for a few weeks to determine that yea the design was mostly solid but needed some adjustments. Mainly for adjustable length and angle of hang on the drum. I unfortunatly don;t have any pics of my temporary rig.

So about three weeks ago I decided it was time to put together version one of the final rig. I had all I needed I was pretty sure. Big buckle, some nice looking smaller brass buckles, leather.... but the drum has no mountings and I did not want to drill the shell.

About three weeks ago now I cut the first peices at lunch then that night(the night before hitting the road mind you haha ) I got it all dyed, assembled etc.

Consists of two straps around the drum one on the shell stem and one just under the head that runs underneath the tuning ropes.

and here is a pic of the rig in context ie.. on stage

Last night I went back and increased the thickness of the straps that hold the drum itself. I was having lots of problems with the leather stretching.

Basically the bottom strap around the shell is now 8 maybe 9 oz leather secured with 6 chicago screws as opposed to the twine I used originally. The strap with the brass buckle is 4 oz. Wanted a bit heavier but didn't have anything long enough to secure it to the main strap at that thickness

The strap that goes under the drum head and under the tuning ropes is about 4 to 5 oz leather. Secured with 5 chicago screws with another buckle strap to attach it to the main over the shoulder strap.

The over shoulder portion is about 4 oz leather and 3 inched wide. The big buckle is iron. Which really does a number on the leather but it looks really good in context.

I can lengthen the strap a bit via the secondary straps if need be depending on much other gear I have on that day.

Whole thing is dyed with good ol Febings dark brown and has a very weather look already. Probably because it took all of about 5 minutes to sweat thru three layers of sealing haha.

I have the leather cut to redo the main strap. Want to clean up the edges a bit more than on this one.

[Samalan]

Nice job!