Djembe Fever

A Handmade Piece of Africa

First, a bit of background is in order.

A typical modern handmade djembe in an individual work of art crafted in West Africa from the wood of the Lenge tree due to its acoustic and spiritual qualities among the Malinke people, whose traditional philosophy states that nyama (spiritual energy) is present in all things, whether living or dead, but many other types of hard wood may be used, depending upon those available to the drum makers. Some West African hardwoods used for musician-quality djembes carved in Mali, Senegal, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire include djalla, dougi/dimba, khari/hare/gueni, and acajou.

The djembe's drum head, located on one end only (the large end), is traditionally made of the shaved skin of a goat, but cow hide or antelope skin is sometimes substituted.

Prior to the twentieth century, the skin was commonly attached with animal sinew or intestine, or by stretching a cut strip of rawhide. But, today many synthetic materials have replaced the original organic materials traditionally used to make djembes. The good news is that many modern incarnations of the drum still retain the sound and esthetic qualities displayed in the original models.


Anita bought her djembe, made in Côte d'Ivoire, a few weeks ago and she has graciously allowed me to practice on it as well. We also purchased one of our drum teacher Billy Zanski's practice DVDs to work out with since it really helps us to get into the groove of the West African rhythms while reviewing the correct techniques.


One of the things I always notice after a few moments of banging away on the djembes, whether Anita's personal model or the ones that Billy Zanski of Skinny Beats Drums lets us use for lessons at his shop, is the smell of the goat skin drum head. It has a definite kind of "gamey" smell that took a bit of getting used to over three weeks of classes and practice.


But now, I have to admit that I kinda like that goat skin smell since I relate it to learning a new instrument (new to me , that is). It is said that each djembe contains three spirits: the spirit of the tree it was carved from, the spirit of the animal from which the drum head is made, and the spirit of the instrument maker. The djembe that Anita bought (a colorful detail of which is pictured above) has the maker's initials B.T. MS. along with the date it was made clearly painted on the inside of the drum at the base.

I like that a lot, too.

Our New Drum Circle of Friends

Anita Gayle and djembe master, Billy Zanski

Billy Zanski, owner and manager of Skinny Beats Drum Shop and Gallery in downtown Asheville, is a man on a mission.

"Of course I want everyone to play drums," he says with all the authority of martial arts sensei.  "That's why I run this store and sell drums".  But, there's much more to it than that.  Billy has been playing and building drums for 12 years, hand-picks the West African djembes for sale in his shop with the eye (and ear) of a master, and is skilled at skinning djembes as well as identifying the great sounding ones.

Plus, Billy is a specialist in drum-side manner and the often neglected art of customer satisfaction by personally guiding beginning drummers through the maze of the various options of styles, colors, sounds, wood selection, goat skins, and rope so one may intelligently choose exactly the right djembe for their own personal tastes and abilities..

As they say on TV, but wait, there's more!

Billy teaches two beginning drum classes a week for beginners that will have even the most clumsy, tone-deaf drummer wannabe banging away on the skins in time with the music before they know what hit them.  I can attest to this fact personally since my wife and I attended last Sunday afternoon's hour-long class.  The class size was small, we could attend without bringing our own drums (Billy provides you with a djembe right off the shop's showroom floor while attending a class if you don't bring one with you), and the atmosphere was friendly, easy going and fun.

But, one more fact must not be overlooked which kinda completes this "drum circle" picture.  Billy stresses the spiritual and health benefits derived by the practice of drumming by emphasizing the healing ability within music as the goal of playing the djembe.  Since I have recently re-discovered the many benefits of incorporating the study of music into my daily life, I am very open to this idea.

As I like to say, you usually get a lot more back from something you invest your time into.  I'm feeling like practicing the drumming technique of playing a djembe with Billy Zanski is such a valuable investment.

If you're in the Asheville area, check him out.  If you are already studying some other instrument, like I am, learning to keep a steady beat is an invaluable skill to develop.  Besides, it's a lot of fun.

And so, the beat goes on.