So you're in the market for a djembe drum but not sure if you should go with a wooden based shell or a synthetic shell. Well, you've stumbled onto the right site. Shopping for a djembe drum can at times be a bit overwhelming. There are such a wide variety of choices, sizes, and features that sometimes you lose sight of what you want. Hopefully after reading this blog you'll have a better understanding of the distinct differences between wood and synthetic djembe drums so you can make a more informed decision.

One of the biggest differences between wood and synthetic djembe drums is that synthetic shells are much lighter and tend to have an extremely bright and almost tinny sound. The brighter tone produced by synthetic shells can be good for cutting through the mix of an amplified band. Additionally, synthetic shell djembes are typically less expensive. After all, it's cheaper to manufacture synthetic molds on an assembly line than it is to carve a single piece of logwood by hand.

Traditional wooden shells have a much more warmer and fuller sound. Most professional players choose wood due to its warm and natural sounding tone. Plus wooden djembe drums are much more authentic and traditional. They just sound better!! Synthetic djembes will be slightly less affected by changes of weather and temperature whereas wood responds more to atmospheric changes, but since they are all tunable that may not matter too much.

If you're planning on gigging out a bunch and transporting your djembe around town, keep in mind that wood tends to show scratches more easily, though both are very durable. A drum usually gets most of its scratches when traveling, so be sure to transport your drum in a djembe bag to reduce the chance of damage.

QUICK REFERENCE:

X8 Djembes produce a traditional line of high quality wooden shell djembe drums made from a solid piece of mahogany logwood. Mahogany is a wonderful hardwood known for its resonant acoustic properties and used in many types of wooden based musical instruments.

Toca Percussion manufactures a PVC shell in their Toca Freestyle Djembe series. PVC is essentially a hard plastic.

All Remo djembes are manufactured using a synthetic shell called 'Acousticon' which essentially is fiberglass. Additionally, all Remo djembe heads are fitted with a synthetic material called 'Fiberskyn'.

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Thanks to the efforts of Moya Moye at the University of South Carolina, many students are enjoying the positive health benefits of hand drumming.

After only a month, his drum circle turnout has grown from one participant to groups of 20-25. All it took to get that far was a single drummer and a sign up form.

The story is inspiring and testimony that drumming plus the energy of drum circles has amazing health benefits for people of all ages.

If you are interested in starting a drum circle, follow these simple steps that have made the drum circle at USC a success:

1. Be your own drum circle.
Moya started his drum circle by playing his drums outside of a local cafe with a sign next to him that read "Sign Up for Drum Circle". As people came over to sign up, he let them know that all types of musicians are welcome and no experience is needed.

2. "The only thing we discriminate against is negativity." - USC drum circle participant
Make sure that you, as the leader, always provide positive feedback to your members. Your attitude and actions will be reflected by the rest of the members.

3. Create a webpage for your drum circle
Moya created a FaceBook profile page for his drum circle so that members can connect online. FaceBook provides an easy interface for you to maintain a schedule of events and locations, upload photos and the ability for members to leave comments (no HTML knowledge is needed). Drum Circle Meetup is also a great place to promote your drum circle online.

Tell us about your drum circle success using the comments link below!

X8 Drums provides special packages to drum circle facilitators. Contact us to dicuss djembe offerings and other hand percussion instruments for your events.

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When shopping for a djembe drum it's important to consider the environmental ramifications of purchasing a djembe that uses illegal wood. Unfortunately, many djembe drums that are being imported into this country, from West Africa, are made from wood that has been illegally harvested. Read more about African djembe drums here.

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We're looking for a professional djembe player to demo eight new African djembe drums that our shop (X8 Drums) is having custom designed and imported from Bali. We will be setting up in a recording studio in Manhattan and will be recording the sounds from each drum and video taping the session. The video sessions and audio will be published on our e-commerce website and used for other marketing purposes. The session will take place in one day.

We're looking for someone who is not only a very good player but is a good teacher as well. You will need to be able to effectively communicate into the camera and be personable. Also, there will be a segment where you will need to walk through the various steps on tuning and detuning a rope-based djembe. Knowing how to repair African djembes, including changing drumheads, would also be beneficial although not a requirement for this particular gig.

This is a paid job! Rates will be discussed over the phone and will be based on professionalism and experience. Please only apply if you are properly trained as a djembe player and have years of experience doing so. You must have proper technique and understand the fundamentals of playing this drum and as I mentioned be able to communicate effectively.

To be considered, please have a resume readily available and be able to send audio or video samples of you playing a djembe drum. Sending samples of you playing other hand drums or a drum kit is not acceptable. Also, you will need to live close to New York City. References are a plus.

Thanks, Mark

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