Meet the drum maker...

I have been very fortunate to have such a great supplier of drums for a number of years now. His name is Anthony Appobi and he is a master drum maker in Accra, Ghana.

 Anthony deep in thought!

 

 

 

 

 

 

His quality of workmanship is very high and his attention to detail second to none, it takes many years and much learning to get the drums to the standard he demands.

And believe me, I know what I'm talking about as I've been through four suppliers in finding him!!

He has a team of people working on the drums and other percussion instruments. The wood, which is a local cedar wood called tweneboa, is bought down from the forest (they operate a replanting system in Ghana, for every tree cut down a new one is planted) and kept near his store in Accra. 

The djembes and other drums are cut from the trunk of these trees. Each segment will represent a drum. The lightweight drums are cut from the top of the trunks, the heavier drums come from the bottom of the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hard work then begins, the trunks are cut, hollowed, wittled and shaved into the djembe shape. They are then sanded, smoothed down and ready for the next step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the empty drum husk is ready, it then has the rings, the skins and the vertical ropes that hold it together added. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This takes time and a lot of skill and patience is required as the drum need to be tuned to a high level with the rings, rope and skin all woven togther. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The skin is then shaved and further tuning and adjustments take place. The drum is then carved and finished with a beeswax resin to protect the wood.

Great care is taken in the appearance of the drum as most people not only want a drum that sounds great but also looks fantastic too. All sorts of designs are used on the finished wood. Some have batik or kente cloth, others have intricate metal plating added to the edge, some just plain wood. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the symbols on the drums have traditional Ghanaian Adinkra symbols. There are hundreds of these different designs, a lot of them can be seen on my site and a definitive list of their meanings can be found here

Once the drum is finished, it is then tuned for a final time and then safely stored.