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 The drums are built in the traditional way, as they have been built for hundreds of years, using the traditional types of African wood. The tradition and knowledge of djembe building has been passed down through the generations. These djembes are authentic, superb, quality musical instruments, not tourist quality djembes one would find in a west African market and not wall hangers as are so many djembes imported into the US and Europe.  The process of djembe making has different stages and a different artisan is resposible for each stage, from the whittling of the log into a djembe shape to the carving of the designs and the heading of the djembe.   With the mass distribution of low end, manufactured and mass produced djembe copies from the Far East by coporations and the imporation of cheap, low end djembes from Africa, the true descendants of the creators of the djembe find themseleves and their skills being edged out. I am proud to support these great artisans and people of the djembe. You may want to watch the clip on djembe making in Burkina Faso in my 'Youtube Gallery' to see how djembes and drums are traditionally made by hand. Does anybody really think plastic djembes or wood djembes made on a lathe in Thailand or Indonesia for a corporation will sound any good? |
 After the drums shells are dried for an extended period, each drum is carefully examined to guarantee the high quality of wood and the integrity of the shell. The rough chip marks are whittled away and the master carvers start their task and a design is beginning to take shape. |
