Old Island Drums

[Zeno]

The simple drum made by "somehow" fixing a skin on a comparatively short wooden barrel more often than not sounds more resonant when the drum sits squarely on the floor closing off the bottom. Tipping it brings out the bass response, but also gives rise to other (undesirable?) overtones.

Inspired by old photos in books, I have, over the years, made at least a couple of dozen basic barrel drums. The wooden soy sauce barrel drums are classics of the beatnik era. These empty teak staved containers with their braided bamboo trim hoops were at one time discarded in the streets of SF Chinatown.

Sometimes closing off the bottom except for a 6" hole helps. Putting a short pvc tube in this port up inside the drum really can make it resonant like a conga and is exactly what Remo discovered with their series of cylindrical fiberglass drums a few years ago. The problem is calculating the correct port diameter and tube length for the given drum dimensions.

What intrigues me now is imagining the specialized "chops" island drummers of old needed to extract unique tones from these simple drums most likely tuned over a fire of some kind or with the most basic of tuning systems. I suspect that even nails for tacking a skin on a barrel would have been an extravagance in many situations.

Zeno



Edited By Zeno on 1138682023

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[Zeno]

The photo below appeared in the 50's book "The Story Of Jazz" by Marshall Stearns. This book also had a chapter on Afro Cuban music as it impacted jazz and there was also a full page photo of Chano Pozo. I was influenced by this book at the time.

Note the rather mysterious system for attaching the cuero.
(nails from the hardware store may not have been a viable option)

Zeno



Edited By Zeno on 1138682168

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[+pablo+]

Zeno, I've seen some cats making some nice Taiko drums from barrels. They have some pretty elaborate rigging for tacking on the heads...

Making Taiko

[Zeno]

Pablo,
You are correct, there is some clever techniques for making Taiko drums. They can cut down a recycled wine barrel and then glue the staves together thus eliminating the need for the hoops. They have a skin on both sides. I found this:

http://users.lmi.net/taikousa/Taiko_skin.html

http://users.lmi.net/taikousa/Taiko_body.html

(these URLs overlap yours it turns out)

Neither of those Taiko techniques seem to be typical of Caribbean drummaking which was sometimes more "any port in a storm", eg. find anything available and "urgently" adapt it somehow to an echo of the original African heritage however remembered. As I was suggesting even nails may have been a luxury, so hydraulic jacks were probably out of the question. However, I might rig up a hydraulic system next time I want to tack a head on a large barrel. I have often made my own hardware for mounting the heads. This too requires some tools not least of which is a welder. My neighbor has a rig for rolling steel into any desired diameter, so that is a great luxury here. No longer do I have to struggle to find something cylindrical and solid to wrap the steel around to approximate the desired diameter.

btw, the two headed drum solves the sonic problem I alluded to earlier about having the open end closed to make a better tone. Not only does the second head close off the chamber of the drum, but it provides another resonating surface.

Zeno



Edited By Zeno on 1138689806

[zaragemca]

Welcome to the forum Zeno,those pictures are historicals,when you are talking about the island which one you are refering to?. try to get my article,(Zaragemca's brief on Jazz Music).Dr. Zaragemca



Edited By zaragemca on 1140122187

[Berimbau]

Zeno,
I believe your picture was originally published in Earl Leaf's "Isles of Rhythm" back in 1948. The technology for attaching the cuero is, I think, originally from Central African culture. This African-derived technology is employed more in the French Caribbean than elsewhere in the Diaspora. I think that either leather or vines are used for the drum collar band, and that the application of water and the subsequent drying process tightens that band thereby holding the skin firmly to the barrel resonator. Obviously heat from a fire, a can of sterno, etc, would have to be applied to the head to bring it up to a proper playing pitch.
I think that the survival of this technology in the Diaspora has more to do with tradition than poverty, I think that nails were readily available even to the slave population.
Now were you the guy who used to teach an adjunct drumming course at Sonoma State wherein the students actually made their own tack-head barrel drums? If so, I met a lot of your students back in 1981 when I lived in Cotati.



Saludos,



Berimbau

[Zeno]

Zeno,
I believe your picture was originally published in Earl Leaf's "Isles of Rhythm" back in 1948. The technology for attaching the cuero is, I think, originally from Central African culture. This African-derived technology is employed more in the French Caribbean than elsewhere in the Diaspora. I think that either leather or vines are used for the drum collar band, and that the application of water and the subsequent drying process tightens that band thereby holding the skin firmly to the barrel resonator. Obviously heat from a fire, a can of sterno, etc, would have to be applied to the head to bring it up to a proper playing pitch.
I think that the survival of this technology in the Diaspora has more to do with tradition than poverty, I think that nails were readily available even to the slave population.
Now were you the guy who used to teach an adjunct drumming course at Sonoma State wherein the students actually made their own tack-head barrel drums? If so, I met a lot of your students back in 1981 when I lived in Cotati.



Saludos,



Berimbau

Hi Richard,

I did teach a course in sound and soundtracks for films and my students made instruments among other assignments, but I do not think that was me you are referring to. Many years later I would go to the Rancho Cotate High School and help students make something like tack head drums, but that was much later than the 80s.

BTW I still have a drum that was made in Cotati by a couple of early drum enthusiasts here. The shell was made from recycled barrel staves and the local craftman made the unique hardware. Eventually I got tired of the iron getting rusty so I painted it white. Later I will dig it out and post some pictures.

You are correct, the photos originally come from Earl Leaf's trip to the islands in the 40s that were indeed published in the book you mentioned. Another of his photos inspired a Seeco LP cover:

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... _Cover.jpg

[Zeno]

Here is the Leaf photo that you are familiar with:

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... _Photo.jpg

[Zeno]

and yet another photo from the book, which, along with a conversation I had with Harold Courlander, inspired (more or less) a drum that I made several years ago (photo to follow later). At the time Harold still had his collected Haitian Assotor drum at home, but was in the process of donating it to a museum or some such agency. The conversation initially was about the historical presence of any still existing relic of a slave made drum in North America to which he had an interesting story. A later conversation was about the Assator drum.

Zeno



Edited By Zeno on 1140505345

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... ssator.jpg

[Zeno]

and yes, Richard, you bring up an interesting thought about when a drum technology is of necessity or of cultural preference. Your point is well taken and since the barrel itself would have value, the undesirability of removing the nails for the next generation of skin, and the consequent destructive effect this has on the wood, is the same factor then as it is today, and why tacks are almost always the "last" resort even for me.

Zeno

[Berimbau]

Zeno,
That's some interesting stuff you're posting. I always thought of that emaciated rumbero in the Leaf book as a sort of Cuban Little Richard! Gotta wonder if that old queen was part of some tourist folklore show? Not too sure what kind of reception Little Rico would get in the macho environment surrounding the Cuban rumba scene! Not that there's anything wrong with it, and it is ok in Brasil, where as one of my Bahian women friends recently complained, "Now EVERYBODY'S gay!!!"
I knew Courlander as well. He helped me with some of his original research for my now lost article "African-derived drums and drumming in the Southeastern United States." Harold gave me a field drawing of an old peg-tuned drum being used for grain storage by an African-American informant in Alabama. Unfortunately, ALL was lost in Katrina.
But to sum it up, I had uncovered quite a bit of evidence that African-derived drums were being made and played in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Carolinas until fairly recently. So much for the drum bans of the antebellum slave code!



Saludos,




Berimbau

[onile]

Alafia Abure Zeno!
I hope that you are well and in an abundance of blessings!

I must echo Abure Berimbau's sentiments exactly, those are some great pics, which by the way are of historical significance!

I am always greatful to individuals such as yourself and Abure DavidPenalosa, as well as others who contribute factual, historical and very illuminating information to this forum! Great Job Abures mi!

I am very interested in seeing the posts that you mentioned which you might consider writing with regards to slave drums and other material pertaining to this subject!


Respectfully,

Onile!



Edited By onile on 1140542844

[Zeno]

I knew Courlander as well. He helped me with some of his original research for my now lost article "African-derived drums and drumming in the Southeastern United States." Harold gave me a field drawing of an old peg-tuned drum being used for grain storage by an African-American informant in Alabama. Unfortunately, ALL was lost in Katrina.
But to sum it up, I had uncovered quite a bit of evidence that African-derived drums were being made and played in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Carolinas until fairly recently. So much for the drum bans of the antebellum slave code!



Saludos,




Berimbau

Richard,

That old peg-tuned drum shell used for storing grain (witnessed by Courlander in the late 30s in Alabama) is also what I was referring to, the story he told me. Harold regretted not having made an actual photograph. He said that this was the only evidence he had ever seen. RFK also had no information on this subject and, in fact, had referred me to Harold on the subject. It is a shame that your article was lost. What was the nature of your evidence? Any photos? Any objects that might still be preserved in museums somewhere?
Does the Smithsonian have anything? Collectors? Whatever?
When I used to visit the now departed collector Dr. Joe Howard, it never occurred to me to ask about this particular aspect. He mostly had some great pieces from Cuba and Africa. It is amazing to me that there would be nothing in the Smithsonian, but you might know more about this.

Zeno



Edited By Zeno on 1140547846

[Zeno]

Hi Onile and Dr. Zaragemca,

Thanks for the warm welcome. The format of this forum with the ability to post photos, and edit posts, etc. is the perfect place to share this information. Again, thank you for the encouragement.

Zeno

[Zeno]

This detail from the well known mid 19th century illustration of Congo Square shows some kind of drums. I cannot see it they have peg tuning, but then the journalist illustrator may not have noticed or bothered to render those details.

The weather and the moisture in the ground was/is not conducive to the preservation of old wooden objects from 150 years ago. The even more unspeakably hostile human environment added to this disappearance.

Richard, I am sure you covered all this, and anything you can add from memory or whatever will be welcome information.

Zeno

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