[Gatesedge] drums

Michael Tucker mtucker at airmail.net
Wed May 14 13:23:29 PDT 2003


On Wednesday, May 14, 2003, at 02:38 PM, Walick the Wanderer wrote:

> Where can I get a drum?, how much should I expect to
> pay?, what type of drum would you recomend?, and is
> there a type that is needed to balance out what others have?
>
> =====
>
> WALICK
>

Hi, Walick:

There are a few local (Houston) shops where you can get a limited
selection of drums. The Drum Shop on North Loop 610 (near Ella, I
think) is where I bought my djembe. You can probably check the Yellow
Pages or search Google (http://www.google.com/) for drum shops in the
Houston area and find others.

There's a mail-order company called Mid-East Manufacturing. They make
all sorts of Middle Eastern ethnic instruments. They're based in
Florida, believe it or not; a true-blue USA company, if that matters to
you. They have all sorts of information on their web site at
<http://www.mid-east.com/>, including descriptions of the instruments.
You are probably interested in getting a doumbek ("doom'-bek"), also
called a dourbeke ("dur-bek'-ee"). See
<http://www.mid-east.com/Info/doumbeks.html>.

Your choices pretty much boil down to either a ceramic or metal shell
for the drum, and either a natural (skin) or synthetic head. Metal
shells are more durable than ceramic, but sound tinnier (to my ears);
and natural (skin) heads sound a little more... well, natural than
synthetic heads, but are far more sensitive to changes in humidity (a
big deal in Ansteorra; no big deal in the Outlands). To each his own.

My favorite drum is a ceramic (I like the sound) doumbek with a
synthetic head (important around here with the high humidity), which
was ordered from Mid-East Manufacturing. You can see a picture of it
here
<http://www.mid-east.com/cgi-bin/shopper.exe?preadd=action&key=CDNP>.
It costs $90 plus shipping, which is (in my opinion) about what you
should expect to pay for a basic doumbek (somewhere in the $75 to $150
range).

I don't own stock or anything in Mid-East, but I like their products
and I think their web site is an excellent resource for answers to
questions such as yours. However, I advise you to go to some drum
workshops and/or practice sessions, take at look at other people's
drums, give them a try, and find out what you like before you spend any
money on a drum of your own.

You should also get a sturdy, well-padded carrying case of some kind
for whatever drum you end up with, especially if you settle on a
ceramic drum. Gravity and driveways are poison for them; a single drop
can kill one. :-)

Yours,
Michael Silverhands




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