Guide to Buying Drums
GUIDE TO BUYING AFRICAN DRUMS 
When you buy an African drum you are essentially looking for three things, a good shell, a good skin and a good sound. Fairly obvious but worth saying. Also, if it's a djembe drum make sure it's is from West Africa the home of the djembe drum, be it either Senegal, Mali, Burkino Faso or Ghana. There's a lot of cheap, badly made drums pretending to be African drums out there so stick to this guide and any further questions please don't hesistate to contact me.
SHELLS GUIDE
The shell of the drum is the most important part. The wood must be of good quality and by that I mean there shouldn't be any large cracks, major defects or have any holes in the top chamber. The inside should be smooth and well chipped out without any lumps or splinter pieces hanging off as this will deaden the sound.
The shell should be made from a single piece of wood, check inside the drum and look for lines and colour differences which could mean the djembe has been reconstructed using multiple pieces of wood.
There are various arguments for heavy wood compared to lightwood however, it is the shape of the drum that is the most of important thing and the larger the top chamber the more resonant the sound. If the drums is lightweight as well, well that's a bonus as you don't have extra weight to lug around.
The wood my carvers use is tweneboa, which is a Ghanaian cedar wood. This is a softwood but produces a fantastic sound. The weight of a cedar wood djembe drum depends upon where the wood was cut on the tree. If the drum is quite heavy the wood will be from the bottom of the tree, if it is lightweight it will be from the younger wood at the top of the tree. On average a full size djembe drum - 12"/13" x 24" - weighs between 5-8kg.
The wood must be treated, usually this is done with a waxy protector over the stained wood finish. This prolongs the life of the djembe and protects it from moisture and marks.
No drum is ever perfect and small line cracks along the top and bottom edge of a drum are normal, as they appear during wood drying process.
SKIN GUIDE
The skin for a djembe drum is usually goatskin but can be calf, cow or antelope on occasion. Djembe drums must have shaved goatskins free of any holes or minor splits. You can tell what sort of skin you have by simply holding to the light and checking for any bits that are substantially lighter than the other part of the skin. Goatskins are tough wearing so don't worry about any minor colour changes when you do this test. Some djembe drums have fur around the outside, some don't, it's just a manufacturer preference.
SOUND GUIDE
Djembe drums in particular produce a nice deep bass and very crisp high notes. You're looking for a warm, resonant bass sound when you strike the middle, a sound that holds the bass note continuously. The bigger the upper chamber the bigger the bass sound.
The slap sound should be sharp and quick, it is the highest pitched sound of the djembe and the longer the stem the greater the pitch of slap, if it' sounds "tinny" or dull then leave that drum alone and look elsewhere.
The tone is the middle sound of the djembe drum, is often called the natural sound of the drum and it is slightly deeper than the slap but should still sound sharp, once again if the pitch doesn't sound good to you then walk away and look at another drum.
Remember that a djembe drum can be tuned but these are the basic sounds to look for.
OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FOR
Double roped djembe drums are better than single roped drums as they hold the ring a lot better and therefore keep the sound for longer. Always go for double roped drums, check the top ring for a continuous rope all the way around the drum with no goatskin showing to see if that drum is double roped.
Design plays no part in the sound of the drum - as you'd expect - but there are some superbly designed drums out there. We have a choice of traditional African Adinkra symbols on the drums, or animal/jungle designs. But as I say, they are purely aesthetic.