Birthing a shaman's drum 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 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.
Traditional 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.
A
special model is
this Siberian shaman drum.
Tuneable Version
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.
  
Left: the skin is being
hold between two iron rings. Drumhead and rings are being pulled
to tension with (artificial or natural) rope.
The iron makes the drum more heavy
Right:
A lighter
construction &
more natural way
is to sew a willowbranche into the hide
and to
pull the whole with
rawhidelacing
or rope to
the gemstonehandle at the back (Middle) .
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 animal species bring forward a different
sound which is hard to explain in words.
The
sound
of the drum will be influenced also
by the
thickness of the skin used,
the choosen
animal specie,
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: asch,
beech, elm,
hornbeam, larch, oak, pine &
red cedar.
For the body of a tuneable doubleheaded shamandrum we
use a hollow log or birch layered-wood.
We rarely work with an ("any-number
-you-choose") angled drumframe ( a
larger variety of wood is available for these).
The
size of a
shamanic handdrum usually varies between 40 and 50
centimeters in diameter.
€uro
The singleheaded
shamandrums are 195-300 €
A doubleheaded shamandrum starts at
240 €
depending on size and choice of the wood and skin used.
Prices do not include
VAT
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
|
Shamandrums
