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Buying
a djembe
* What to look for?
Buying
a djembe may be difficult, especially if you don't have much
experience yet. The best options are to bring your teacher along,
or someone else who knows djembe's. Or to rent a djembe first,
with the option to buy it if you like it, or an option to trade
it in if you want another one after all. And in some cases the
shop assistant may be more interested in helping than in a quick
sale! Failing all that, here are some tips.
 The
wood shell
When you
take a first look at the djembe, look at the wood,
at the shell. The skin will have to be replaced after some years,
the ropes may need replacing at some point, but the wood shell
is the most important element. So your "first glance"
should go to the wood, nothing else.
If you are new to buying
a djembe, go somewhere where they have a decent choice! There
is nothing to choose if you can only buy one djembe! Secondly,
don't look at the price! Saving 50 bucks in order to buy yourself
a "second choice djembe" is just not worth it. Go
for the best you can find - you will thank yourself for years
to come! (Or curse yourself for saving a silly 50 bucks now!)
 Craftsmanship
A djembe is a beautiful instrument, lovingly carved
by hand out of a single log from a tree. Keep this in mind when
you look around. What do you see when you look at a djembe?
Do you see the love of the maker there, to get the best out
of the tree? Has he spent time and care doing everything properly?
Here
are some pointers to judge this. Look at the outside finish
of the wood. Is it roughly and quickly cut, or is it neatly
finished? Can you see if there has been time spent on finishing
the outside of the djembe shell?
Look at the inside. Is it
irregular, thick and full of splinters? Or is it fairly thin,
smooth and evenly done? Put your hand inside the bowl and feel
around, carefully. Any splinters? The inside will be rough,
not sanded or smooth, but it should be even and fairly well
finished.
Look at the carving, if there is any. Good djembe's
usually have a minimal band of decorative (non-figurative) carving
at the bottom, and no pictures of Africa or lions or giraffes.
Djembe's with lots of decorative carving are usually made for
tourists, and the emphasis during production has been on the
outside, not the playing qualities of the instrument. Exceptions
exist of course in the very expensive range!
Look at the
wood finish. Is the wood plain or lightly oiled? Or is it thickly coated in high-gloss varnish? Varnish
is another pointer towards a tourist instrument.
Look at
the floor where the djembe's are standing. Do you see any sawdust
whatsoever? This may indicate bugs in the wood, calling for
fumigation at least. Better to find another shop first!!
Finally,
knock on the wood. Does it ring? Or does is sound dead like
a cup with a crack in it? In that case, leave it alone! By the
way, small holes, or little cracks in the stem
which have been repaired neatly are no problem. But if there
are through-and-through cracks in the stem or any sort of cracks
in the bowl, give it a miss.
 Symmetry
and beauty
People have an innate sense of "beauty"
and beauty (also in people's faces and bodies!!) has been
shown to follow mathematical laws such as the Golden Rule and
symmetry. So you are quite safe when you judge an instrument
on its symmetry and beauty of the overall shape. The more "beautiful"
an instrument is in its proportions, and the more symmetrical,
the better the sound quality will be, everything else being
equal, because sound waves too are subject to the Golden Rule.
Look at the instrument from
all sides. Is it symmetrical or lopsided or skewed? Is the top
round or oval? Is the bottom round or oval or egg shaped? Is
the bowl nicely curved, and the stem nicely curved or straight
widening which are both OK? Is the top edge, where the skin
rests on the wood, level or irregular? Is the overall shape
angular and masculine, or curved and feminine? Check the inside
of the instrument to verify that the wood is uniform in thickness
- it is the internal symmetry that will add to
the sound quality.
Size
and shape
Go for a normal sized djembe, not a children's size.
Height about 63 cm, skin diameter about 31 cm. Ladies may want
a slightly smaller one, solo players too may want a slightly
smaller skin diameter because a smaller skin will give you a
higher pitch. The stem and bowl are roughly half of the total
height each. The stem widens towards the bottom. It can either
flare out like a trumpet (Mali type djembe's), or widen in a
straight way (Guinee type djembe's), but the stem should not
be cylindrical, i.e. straight without widening at all. The widening
of the stem determines the bass volume. Go for a flare-type
stem if you want a loud bass, go for a straight stem if you
want a normal bass.
The bowl should be curved and approach
a hyperbolic shape.
When you are looking at size and shape,
pick up some djembe's to feel their weight. Some can be extremely
heavy, others can be reasonable in weight. There are also light
weight djembes made of light wood such as palm wood. These usually
have quite thick white wood but are still very light. These
are OK, although professional players prefer hard wood. There
are professional djembes from dark red hard wood which are carved
properly and fairly thin, and still have a reasonable weight.
If you plan to carry the djembe anywhere, or even stand with
the djembe to play it, you want to go for as little weight as
possible!
Playing
the djembe
By now you may have a short list of 3 or 4 djembe's
that you like. Ask if you can play them, and ask if someone
can tune them. Don't be surprised if the shop assistant doesn't
know how to tune them or seems unwilling to do so - tuning is
hard work and they should be un-tuned afterwards, so unless
a sale is a definitive prospect they may not be happy about
doing a lot of work for you. Ask if it is OK for you to tune
it. With a bit of luck they may realise that a tuned instrument
has better prospects of getting sold...
 Play the djembe's
anyway, tuned or not, because even untuned you can judge the bass sound! Listen very carefully for rattles
and buzzes from the instrument. These are signs of splinters
or an unevenly mounted skin or loose bits on the underside of
the skin. Give such an instrument a miss if you can - finding
out what rattles can be a nightmare!
Play some tones and slaps if you can. Some
instruments will sound "ringy" with a lot of sing-song
in them, others will sound dry and crisp, which is basically
what you want. Tuning them will increase the dryness and crispness
of the sound.
Look at the skin itself. No holes, tears or
deep scratches from shaving? A pin-sized hole is no problem,
anything else is reason not to buy the instrument, or to get a
substantial discount for having to replace the skin soon. It is OK if you see large shaving streaks
where the top brown layer of the skin has been shaved away too
- you can sand the skin later to give it a uniform white colour.
Is the skin nicely mounted, not too uneven? Is the central stripe
of the animal's back centrally mounted on the djembe? Is the
skin really smooth? Playing on rough skin like a 5 o'clock beard
stubble is not nice - you will need to sand the skin with sandpaper,
and this will increase the "ring" in the instrument,
i.e. make it sound less "dead" because effectively
you are making the skin thinner so it will allow more high tones
to sound.
Don't make the mistake of selecting a less nice wooden shell
just because the skin is tuned better at this stage!! Ask again
if you are allowed to tune this djembe.
Gently tap the skin
all around the edge. Does the note vary in pitch? Then it is
not tuned evenly. This should be corrected at some point, for
now you can simply mentally note it down.
 Final
considerations
Finally, have a look at the ropes. Again, has
care been taken to do them nicely? No knots that shouldn't be
there? Not frayed anywhere? Is there enough spare rope wrapped
around the stem to tune the djembe? Carefully judge how much
work you need to put into the skin and ropes (if any) to get
the instrument up to your own standard, before making your final
choice. Carefully look at your choice again, check the wood
once more for holes, cracks and quality of workmanship. Check
the skin and ropes again, make a mental note of the work you
may need to do on it.
And then congratulate yourself on having selected
the best djembe you can find! Be happy about spending the extra
bucks, and enjoy a good quality instrument!
This is all quite a lot
of information, so here are the main points again:
- Look at the wood. Look for craftsmanship
and beauty. Avoid cracks and sawdust.
- Look at the skin. Avoid holes, scratches,
very uneven mounting, or get a discount.
- Listen to the sound. Use the bass (play
it loud!!) to avoid instruments with rattles and buzzes.
 Remo
djembe's
There are various makes and types of synthetic djembe's around, with a
fiberglass shell and plastic or artificial skin, often mounted with chrome
plated steel brackets instead of rope. They are interesting instruments
but are not considered djembe's in any traditional meaning. The sound is substantially different and does not mix well with traditional djembe's. I personally dislike the sound. Although a very good player may be able to approach a traditional djembe sound on them, most beginners stand
out like a sore thumb. These instruments are plagued with ringy
high-pitched overtones that are hard to get rid of.
 Djembe
case or djembe hat?
Buy a sturdy case to go with it if you plan to travel
at all. Alternatively you can make a djembe hat
yourself. This is a bit like a toilet seat cover that
will protect the skin only. You can buy a toilet seat cover,
or use some african print cloth and elastic to make a hat that
will go over the skin and the rings only. For transport purposes
it is a good idea to put heavy padding inside such a hat, or
even a cardboard or plywood circle so that sharp objects can
not pierce the skin. It will give you peace of mind. The hat
is used to protect the skin when you are not playing. A hat
also insulates the skin from rapid changes in humidity and temparature.
And it indicates that the djembe is not available for others
to play on, for example during a drum circle when you've stepped
outside to get a drink. A couple of pockets with zips (on the
outside!) are handy to store rings, bracelets and watches when
you play.
Addressen
in Nederland en België
- Auris * Prima selectie djembe's in Zeist, reparaties en verhuur,
wel afspraak maken.
- Djembee.com *
Mooie producten, zeer betaalbaar, en ook Eko-djembe's! Verkrijgbaar in
Soesterberg en Egmond-binnen.
- Anton
Kamp * Goede djembe's, doundouns, materialen, vellen en ook les,
in Utrecht.
- Stiggelbout * Uitstekende selectie djembe's. Winkels in Groningen en
Rotterdam.
- Terramang*
Prima keus, winkel en lessen in Sittard en Maastricht.
Credits
Photograph of a djembe shop: Terramang
Photograph of a djembe builder: Aatmi
djembe
Photograph of the lady doundoun player: Amazones
- Women drummers of Guinee
Photograph of the Eko djembe 'Octopus': Djembee.com
Photograph of Remo djembe's: Remo
percussion
Photograph of djembe hat: Knock
on wood
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Enjoy, and Happy Drumming!