Identify this African Djembe please.

Jay- · 7th November 2009

The person said he paid $350 in Seattle wa and said its authentic.Back when we used to play real high dollar drums had no crappy art work and no carvings at all. Now with a flood of teak and counterfeits going around a real pro drum is hard to get unless you pay $400 from a pro shop.Ok, this drum has no skin and no roap but I can string them.Any way, He wants $50 and the back has a tree carving please any pro African drummers tell me is this real or counterfeit and whats the leather snaps and carvings all about?

its 14 inches by 25! Thats a BIG drum. Not a MASSIVE one but its large.He said its from Senega.

drumzealot · 14th November 2009

Define counterfeit.
When it comes to hand made drums like this there is no such thing as counterfeit. If you are wondering if the drum is good you'll have to rope and head it, play it and decide. Handmade drums are so individually distinct they can only be assessed by playing them. Of course, if you know how to do that then you've already got more rope drum expertise than most. Making a head from raw hide and a metal hoop, and then weaving the rope is a skill only obtained from lots of practice.

Jay- · 14th November 2009

Yes, the market is flooded with counterfeit mass factory and tourist grade factory produced Bali drums and Didgeridoo. These knock offs are designed to defraud the native African and Australian Aboriginals of their only trade. Most of these cheaper fakes suffer from "Crackers" where the bottoms dry out and crack.

I did buy it and at first look it was authentic Senegal craftsmanship.
I also got an authentic African goat skin (less fat content = more tone)

Iv actually just spent the entire past two days getting dug in local.

Now comes the hard part, paying the drum maker $70 to assemble it.

By the way the drum is ~DENCE~ HEAVY African hardwood called Egyptian ebony (Dalbergia melanoxylon)

In other words SCORE!!!!! Its a Big daddy!

Total cost is $50 plus $40 for skin plus $70 labor.
I am a very happy happy.

turtlejon · 30th December 2010

that looks very authentic. i have played djembe for 18 years now, seen 'em all, played 'em all. 70 is way too much for a head replacement. i usually charge 60, and that includes a skin. the reason african goat skins are better too, is that they can't afford barbed wire to contain them, and as a result, there are far fewer scars on the top of the back. cause the middle east goat skins are just as low fat... domestic goats are usually a pretty poor choice, unless you can get it fresh, or freshly frozen. then they just sing... nothing like a fresh raw hide with the fat smell still on it to make your instrument really sing, ya know...

joeq · 30th December 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumzealot

Define counterfeit.
When it comes to hand made drums like this there is no such thing as counterfeit.

The only meaningful definition would be "inauthentic" i.e. not made by the appropriate culture. Many of the 'fakes' are still hand-made, only in Pakistan or Indonesia or whatever. Doesn't necessarily mean they are bad-sounding drums. But they aren't West African Jembes.

Quote:

If you are wondering if the drum is good you'll have to rope and head it, play it and decide. Handmade drums are so individually distinct they can only be assessed by playing them..

Exactly. As a used drum being re-sold in the US, the original Senegalese craftsmen are either already compensated or already defrauded - one way or the other.

If this is the concern, the drummer should seek out a reputable importer and support native craftsmen directly - by buying a new drum.

If the concern is whether the drum is worth 50 bucks, it's hard to tell from just a photo, but I would say it probably is.

cyrano · 31st December 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeq

The only meaningful definition would be "inauthentic" i.e. not made by the appropriate culture. Many of the 'fakes' are still hand-made, only in Pakistan or Indonesia or whatever. Doesn't necessarily mean they are bad-sounding drums. But they aren't West African Jembes.

Glad you pointed that out. I'm not a djembe player, so I couldn't tell you anything about authenticity or sound. What I do know is that there's hardly a Dalbergia melanoxylon left in Senegal. Tanzania, yes, Senegal, no.

turtlejon · 31st December 2010

i hear a lot of unfortunate things about how many trees are being cut down to make cheap djembes...
all of the drums that have been around since before the 90's are somewhat different than the typical "street" djembe one can buy nowadays...
denser, harder, wood. tighter rings, with way less overtones, and a more refined shape, usually with wider top and much larger cone.
the bearing edge says it all. i could tell the difference between a good african djembe, a cheap one, and a bali/ indonesian one, just by feeling the bearing edge. the bali ones are usually lathed and feel too perfect, the cheaper ones aren't sanded as well, and the good ones are sanded to at least, like, 400 grit, or something, and feel like glass, but there's always a few imperfections.
usually the better ones will last a lot longer before the wood starts to crack, too, much better trees...
i guess if someone is cutting trees down, instrument construction is probably the best possible excuse.

7th November 2009	#1
Jay- Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 1,955 Thread Starter 1 Review written	Identify this African Djembe please. The person said he paid $350 in Seattle wa and said its authentic.Back when we used to play real high dollar drums had no crappy art work and no carvings at all. Now with a flood of teak and counterfeits going around a real pro drum is hard to get unless you pay $400 from a pro shop.Ok, this drum has no skin and no roap but I can string them.Any way, He wants $50 and the back has a tree carving please any pro African drummers tell me is this real or counterfeit and whats the leather snaps and carvings all about? its 14 inches by 25! Thats a BIG drum. Not a MASSIVE one but its large.He said its from Senega. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Cell phone free dating back to 1992! Canned Fart spray will never smell like real farts.

14th November 2009	#2
drumzealot Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 834	Define counterfeit. When it comes to hand made drums like this there is no such thing as counterfeit. If you are wondering if the drum is good you'll have to rope and head it, play it and decide. Handmade drums are so individually distinct they can only be assessed by playing them. Of course, if you know how to do that then you've already got more rope drum expertise than most. Making a head from raw hide and a metal hoop, and then weaving the rope is a skill only obtained from lots of practice. __________________ "The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion." -Henry Steele Commager

30th December 2010	#4
turtlejon Gear addict Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: traveliving Posts: 386	that looks very authentic. i have played djembe for 18 years now, seen 'em all, played 'em all. 70 is way too much for a head replacement. i usually charge 60, and that includes a skin. the reason african goat skins are better too, is that they can't afford barbed wire to contain them, and as a result, there are far fewer scars on the top of the back. cause the middle east goat skins are just as low fat... domestic goats are usually a pretty poor choice, unless you can get it fresh, or freshly frozen. then they just sing... nothing like a fresh raw hide with the fat smell still on it to make your instrument really sing, ya know... __________________ http://turtlejon.com/OtherworldMusic.html

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31st December 2010	#7
turtlejon Gear addict Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: traveliving Posts: 386	i hear a lot of unfortunate things about how many trees are being cut down to make cheap djembes... all of the drums that have been around since before the 90's are somewhat different than the typical "street" djembe one can buy nowadays... denser, harder, wood. tighter rings, with way less overtones, and a more refined shape, usually with wider top and much larger cone. the bearing edge says it all. i could tell the difference between a good african djembe, a cheap one, and a bali/ indonesian one, just by feeling the bearing edge. the bali ones are usually lathed and feel too perfect, the cheaper ones aren't sanded as well, and the good ones are sanded to at least, like, 400 grit, or something, and feel like glass, but there's always a few imperfections. usually the better ones will last a lot longer before the wood starts to crack, too, much better trees... i guess if someone is cutting trees down, instrument construction is probably the best possible excuse.