Drum

[pepin1948]

I've made 2 now, this being the second one, from the parts Tandy sells. I found it very difficult to work with the rawhide drum head and "lace". It had to be soaked in a tub for a long time first, and to put it on the drum frame that way was difficult. Was I doing something wrong?

[joet]

Unless someone else has a better idea, what you did was the standard way to put on a drum head. Some people do tack it down around the edges before lacing, but that leaves holes unless you use the same hole for the lace. I had the honor of making a drum out of a whisky barrel half. Very interesting. Every time the drummer struck the drum with the beater, there was the faint smell of Jack Danniels in the air. The bad thing about the use of the drum; it was used for an Order of the Arrow event in Boy Scouts.

[Howling Wolf Leather]

I love the artwork on your drum, You did everything that is traditionally done in drum making, sometimes the difficulty is in the type of rawhide and rawhide lace you use,

Elk and deer rawhide are common in drum making, Sheep and goat hides also work well, but will produce a higher pitched drum. Cow hide is usually too thick to make a good drum and is hard to work with.

The only advice I can give on drum making is be careful how tight you make the head(s) as you stretch them because if you pull the head(s) too tightly your lacing may rip out the sides of the rawhide head, It may crack the drum rim or you may end up with a flat sounding drum.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful artwork.

Sandi

[pepin1948]

Thanks for the replies. The very first one I made, I trimmed too much off the edges and tacket it down before it was completely dry - hence the wood frame split :angry2: I was still able to sell it though...guess I should attribute that to the design I'd put on it (a different drum than shown). In fact, this one sold too. A "rennie" uses it with her garb and plays it as part of a troupe. It doesn't have great sound, but looks good and works in a crowd. Stretching is such a difficult part of the project - too loose, it sounds bad, too tight and you break something.

I think the Tandy kit, which this is, uses cowhide. It's pretty thick, and I found the second time that sanding it made it look much nicer.

Live and learn and practice, I guess.

[Howling Wolf Leather]

I think the Tandy kit, which this is, uses cowhide. It's pretty thick, and I found the second time that sanding it made it look much nicer.

Live and learn and practice, I guess.

Tandy Discontinued their 4366-00 DRUM KIT

They still carry the other supplies for drums...which can be purchased direct from them or through their Authorized sales centers.

3615-12 WOODEN DRUM FRAME 12in

3616-00 RAWHIDE LACES 3/16in X 54in

3617-15 DRUM TOP LARGE 15in

Other suppliers offer hand drum kits and varying sizes of rims, goat rawhide drum heads and thin cowhide drum heads (no holes in them).

Sandi

[Vwoodard]

I was talking with an old time player and maker of Bodhran's a number of years ago (he also does the large Japanese KOTO War drums. His recommendation for the bodhran's was to use whatever type of hide you want to working with, cut it big enough that when you fold it over the sides that it will extend about 1/2 " past the back.

once it is cut out, punch a series of holes in it around teh edge about 1/2 to 3/4" in from the edge (maybe every 2 inches.

with the head in place, pull the head around the sides, and start loosly lacing the holes across the back thru the holes in the leather.

once you have it loosly laced, you can dampen the leather and tighten up the lacing. you will have to play with it to get a uniform stretch, but it definately makes applying the retaining ring or tacking it down easier.

This can method is also good for doing Dumbek's and the african drums as well from what he said.

Vince

_______________________________________________

Unless someone else has a better idea, what you did was the standard way to put on a drum head. Some people do tack it down around the edges before lacing, but that leaves holes unless you use the same hole for the lace. I had the honor of making a drum out of a whisky barrel half. Very interesting. Every time the drummer struck the drum with the beater, there was the faint smell of Jack Danniels in the air. The bad thing about the use of the drum; it was used for an Order of the Arrow event in Boy Scouts.

[candyleather]

Here you can look at my celtic drum. Sometimes I play the galician pipe. I have one like this and at the first I printed the leather with laser and I finished it carving or embossed the lamb leather very smoothly.

[pepin1948]

That is really nice!

[whinewine]

I've made 2 now, this being the second one, from the parts Tandy sells. I found it very difficult to work with the rawhide drum head and "lace". It had to be soaked in a tub for a long time first, and to put it on the drum frame that way was difficult. Was I doing something wrong?

Holly: How did you apply the design to the bodhran? Did you trace it (and how?) & paint it, and what type of paint (or dye) did you use? I really like it. I'm in the process of making my first bodhran & I'd like to decorate it. Thank you.

Russ

[pepin1948]

I laid the pattern over top and used a stylus to trace it. This made a very faint imprint of the design. Then I used fabric markers to paint on the design itself. I remember it was VERY difficult to trace on the design - hard to see it, that is, when I'd traced it on.

[whinewine]

Thank you. I appreciate this.

Russ

[pepin1948]

Happy to help I remember at the time searching on the 'net for other drum head suppliers and there were quite a few. But since it was my first few tries, I didn't want to wreck something of a nice quality.

[whinewine]

Holly: here is my first attempt at making a bodhran. Just finished it. Thanks for all your aid & assistance. (And yes, you were right about the difficulty of tracing the design on to the rawhide.)

Russ

[pepin1948]

That's GORGEOUS! I really like how you finished off the sides/edges of the drum.

[whinewine]

That's GORGEOUS! I really like how you finished off the sides/edges of the drum.

Thank you.

The edge was pretty simple to do. I just used a strip of leather, glued on, and with upholstery tacks for decoration. The edge design itself was enhanced with Tandy's new eco-flo highlighter, "gold frost".