Skins
I use only goat skins from equatorial Africa as
these are acknowledged to be of superior quality
for many builders of drums the world over. These
skins come in many color schemes which can provide
interesting and unique patterns when paired with
selected wooden shells. I use raw, untreated skins
(water only) that must be hand scraped to remove
hair on the playing surface as well as to smooth
the “inside” surface. Each skin requires
a 2 step process that uses an extremely sharp knife
and a lot of patience and feel to remove the correct
amount of hair and membrane material.
I apply raw African Shea Butter to each head from
a centuries old tradition of skin care for drums
(and people). This will make the drum sound less
harsh from the start and will help the skin start
to relax into a much better sounding drum.
Raw skins like these take time to stretch and become
evenly tensioned across the membrane. Playing the
drum is the best way to facilitate this “skin
fiber relaxation” and make it sound better.
Each skin is a unique playing surface and will eventually
develop its own “voice”.
