Re: Need Drum Review
Originally Posted by
Gretschhead
Murddrum, let me ask you a couple questions: How long have you been playing drums? Do you have other hand drum experience? What do you plan to use this drum for (gigging, recording, just for fun, etc.)? How serious are you about the djembe? And lastly tell me what your budget is for a djembe?
I personally would never buy a Shalloch djembe. I'm not saying they are junk, its just that I've spent a few years studying djembe and for me a traditional hand carved rope tuned drum is the only thing that does it for me. I've messed around with the shalloch stuff at guitar center and it does not meet the standards that I personally look for in equipment. Please take into consideration that I've been playing drums/percussion for 15+ years and I don't buy budget gear anymore. For someone who is just learning on the djembe or someone who will only jam on it a couple times a month, it is probably the perfect drum.
I don't want to tell you to go out and spend $400 on a professional drum from the Ivory Coast, but there is a HUGE difference in sound and playability. If you are a serious working musician I would not recomend anything else. Sniff out a good deal on a used one on ebay or craigslist and you can have the real thing for the price of the Shalloch.
Gretschhead, you've nailed it...I've been pleased with my $165 djembe which came from who-knows-where in Africa in 2001, but a lot of it depends on what you plan to do with it. I use my djembe often, but it's not the only drum in my hand drum arsenal...often for fun but more often as an accent compared to my bongos and congas...
I've played hand drums and set for 24 years, and I've found that the medium-price drums work well...if I could afford the top-of-the-line congas, I'd rock them...but I left the cheap stuff many years ago. Get the best that you can afford. You won't be sorry down the road...
keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!
Charlie
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau, "Walden," 1854
"There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi
"Maybe your drums can be beat, but you can't."--Jack Keck
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