What sizes and makes are best for hand drums?

[leavings]

I'm in the market for some congas and a djembe, and I've noticed that there's a great variety in size and shape. Are there head and height sizes that are preferred by professionals? Similarly, what makes are considered top, middle, and bottom of the line? How much should I expect to pay?

Thanks,
Peter

[Rimshot]

Hi Peter,
I can't help you with congas, but I can on djembes. The answer is:
it depends on what kind of voice you want to get from the djembe. Do you want to play lead? 1st or 2nd djembe? Are you using it to accompany soft acoustic instruments or are you looking for a loud sharp cracking djembe to play with traditional West African Sangba orchestra and dance?
I play lead djembe for a West African ballet company ad I own several djembes which have heads between 12" and 13"in diameter and thebetween 23" to 26" tall.
THERE ARE NO COMMERCIAL BRANDS OF DJEMBES WORTH BUYING!! If you want a good djembe, it's a hand-made item. I personally prefer the djembes from Ivory Coast or from Guinea. I deal directly with the West Africans, so my price is pretty good. If you are looking for a good servicable djembe, there are a number of people selling them on-line, most of it's junk, but good quality CAN be had. Oe place that I know of that regularly sells very good quality Ivory Coast djembes is African Rhythm Traders. www.africanrhythmtraders.com
They may not be the least expensive, but I've always found them to be quite honorable and have high quality products.
Expect to spend between $250-$450 for a djembe that is of "instrument quality". You can get a djembe that was hacked out in Ghana for $50 at TJ MAXX or Marshalls and you can use it as a decorative end table, but you wouldn't want to play it.
I also own a Remo synthetic djembe (12" head) that I have tuned so that it almost sounds like a big doumbek that's trying to be a djembe and I only play it at venue that are outdoors when it's damp. It's tolerable, but it doesn't sound that great. Toca,LP and CP djembes are just as awful (although they make really good congas and bongos).

[leavings]

At this point I'll be using it primarily to accompany other instruments (acoustic guitar and vocals). I have always enjoyed hand drumming though I'm not very good at it, so I'd like to have something that sounds good. $250 is too much for me at this point, so either I'll try to look around for a bargain (lots of UM students buy hand drums and then realize they don't touch them) or I'll buy one of the synthetics.

I'm not in a rush, so I can afford to be discriminating in my purchase. Thanks for the advice, anyone else have any input?

[maskedman72]

hello leavings!!! have you filled up your new rack yet?? well i just sold a nice djembe for $200 that would be perfect. you are blessed with living in ann arbor and that is michigans djembe capital. check out a guy in chelsea named ryan edwards. hes online at www.likewaterdrumworks.com. djembe is about all i do and i buy all my drums from www.magbana.com. you will spend about $425 for a top notch pro djembe that has been hand carved by a master in africa(preferably guinea). you cant go into a guitar center and buy a drum that is even worth looking at,just as rimshot has said.in fact i second everything rimshot said. you will want a djembe no smaller than 12 and no bigger than 13 in head diamater. and about 24 or 26 inches high. the big thing with djembes is the inside and the wood. the smoother the inside the better. if you go to guitar center and put your hand up inside on of those it will feel as if someone had carved it with a chainsaw. all their djembes are made in ghana and are considered "tourist" drums. the wood is important too. another guy in michigan to consider is barouqe at www.nakeddrummer.com (or . org)
hope all of this helps. -jay

[leavings]

Okay, I get the message. Buy a good one.

Well, the capital for that (along with the capital to fill up that rack I got off of Jay) is tied up in the album. So I guess it will have to wait. I appreciate the advice anyways.

Thanks,
Peter