by Sakuntu » Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:47 pm
Whopbamboom,
When I bought the drum it had a plastic ludwig factory "ensemble select" head on it. First thing I did was take it off and cut the plastic off the aluminum ring with a sheetrock knife. Then I grinded the aluminum ring down a little with a belt sander to make it smaller in diameter- not so tight fitting-to allow a natural skin to wrap around it. (carefull that flesh hoop gets HOT from the friction! Then I just took a goat skin, soaked it and tucked it like i would a conga.
As for playing, I prefer playing with my hands...like i said it has a sound similar to an ashiko or a Haitian tanbou. I make sure i always detune after playing becuase even with my reinforced side plates, I don't trust the shell (its just thin plywood). ???
Sakuntu