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Thread: Need Drum Review

  1. #1

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    Default Need Drum Review

    Hey. This is my first post here.

    I am going to get my first djembe. How is the Schalloch rope tuned djembe at musician's friend? IronLionZion87 created the same thread, but this is my introduction thread. Thanks.

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Need Drum Review

    Murddrum, welcome to Drum Chat!

    I can't do much to help you with this question, because I'm new to hand drumming, and I am not a djembe guy, but hang in there because we have a large number of hand drummers in here. You'll get an answer in short order.

    Again, welcome to Drum Chat!
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  3. #3

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    Default Re: Need Drum Review

    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.

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Need Drum Review

    Thank you, Gretschhead, for that superb answer. I have been playing drums for 48 years but have never played any of the hand drums. This is the great thing about the Forum...there is always someone available with the experience to answer these type of questions and in such a way that we all can learn by. Thanks, from all of us, for taking the time to field Murddrum's question and for exemplifying the best Tradition of the Forum.
    There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value.

    http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/j...vaz/TheSet.jpg

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by fiacovaz View Post
    Thank you, Gretschhead, for that superb answer. I have been playing drums for 48 years but have never played any of the hand drums. This is the great thing about the Forum...there is always someone available with the experience to answer these type of questions and in such a way that we all can learn by. Thanks, from all of us, for taking the time to field Murddrum's question and for exemplifying the best Tradition of the Forum.
    Amen. Thanks Gretschhead!
    Quoting gonefishin: Just have some bacon with ya when you go pick her up..........youre an instant chick magnet.





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    Buy Gifts for Drummers. And don't miss the free Drum Lessons!

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Need Drum Review

    Quote Originally Posted by Gretschhead View Post
    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.
    Good post. I have been playing a set for 6 months with minor hand drum experience (not owning my own hand drum). I plan to use it to jam with friends. I won't be recording or gigging. My budget is $200 and below, so I couldn't buy an Ivory Coast djembe if I wanted to. Thanks.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Need Drum Review

    $200 can score you a really nice djembe if you find the right deal.
    Last edited by drummer; 09-30-2008 at 09:51 AM.

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Need Drum Review

    Quote Originally Posted by Gretschhead View Post
    $200 can score you a really nice djembe if you find the right deal.
    Oh really? Do you have a link or something? If I can find a traditional West African for $200 I will buy it, maybe even stretching my budget to $250. Although I only plan to jam with friends I take drum playing seriously, or I take set playing seriously. I don't know about hand drumming.

  9. #9

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    Cool Re: Need Drum Review

    Quote Originally Posted by Gretschhead View Post
    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

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by bongobro View Post
    Get the best that you can afford. You won't be sorry down the road...
    Yes - I would agree with this totally. I've been there, regarding my Valje's, and they still sound beautiful after 32 years and, on the open market, they're worth 4-5 times what I paid for them.

    I'm still drooling over those Valcano drums, the closer I look, the better they look. I would like to see and touch one live (the Koa and Monkey pod wood).
    Gary

  11. #11

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    Default Re: Need Drum Review

    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...
    Great point bongobro. I do a lot of camping and always take hand drums with me. Often times we get a little tippsy and they get knocked over and left out all night next to a smokey fire, and I've even left a few out in the rain :(. The point is I'm not about to take a $500 djembe or conga or a top of the line set of bongos. I take the drums that aren't so pretty, that I scored for $15 or $20, and they sound great by the camp fire! So what if they get scuffed because my drunk buddy stumbled over it, I even let people use them as a table for their cold one. They always make people happy and get the job done musically. So its definitely a situation of how, when, where the drum will be used.

  12. #12

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    Cool Re: Need Drum Review

    Truth is, man, the drums I have at home are the "experienced" ones, and they're the ones I take with me if I want to slap the skins in a drum circle or at a picnic...

    Every hand drummer, IMHO, should have two sets--a "show" set for concerts and a "go" set that you don't mind gettin' bopped and knocked around. My djembe and doumbek are both "show and go"; my "show" set (the ones you may have seen in my pics) is the one I use in my church's guitar group...and on the occasional non-church gig with my big-band buddy...

    But my "experienced" black CPs and my Meinl bongos are always ready to grab and go...and that's cool with me!
    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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