What happens if the screws are not in the holes that were intended for them from the manufacturing? I bought a new El Fan darbuka and first thing i did was to remove the membrane to check it out, without noting how the screws and the holes were. Looking for a way to fix that, i tried testing which screws can go all the way and which can not, and use them in the holes where they can go all the way without trouble. This left a gap of 3-4 millimeters. Then i tried to check at which holes the upper part and lower parts of the darbuka align best (without the membrane), so that there is no gap left when the screws are in place (with testing which screws fit best to which hole). I seemed to have found the best alignment, and tested (without the membrane) that there is no gap. When i used this alignment with the membrane, there still remains a gap of about 1-2 milimeters. When i opened the package there was no gap at all. It seems there is no way to find that again, is there really a way?
Hello Frank, I’ve contacted Gawharet El Fan company and talked to a Gawharet El Fan mentor via video call. He told me that the even gap between the rim collar and the shell is not important at all. He said the most important thing is that the skin and the rim collar must be flush all around. What do you think about it?
Did you talk to Ibraheem Malik? He is my mentor, too! He also told me that the most important thing to get the skin even with the rim collar. But in order to get it flush with the head, you need an even tuning. There might be some slight gaps, but it should not be too much. Thats why you need to practice tuning the Darbuka. Many say its easy and no rocket science, but thats not true for a beginner. In my 1 year of playing I already destroyed 5 skins. With destroyed I mean that I tuned them wrong and could not change that in the aftermath, because the plastic molecules have stretched and accomodated to my wrong way of tuning. Now I know what to do, which is a combination of an even gap + skin being flush with the head + all pegs sounding ALMOST the same. As already said in the video, it will stretch over time and the sound will get better, but you need to tune it right in the beginning, because afterwards it will be hard to correct these mistakes. Hope that helped
Excelent video!
What happens if the screws are not in the holes that were intended for them from the manufacturing?
I bought a new El Fan darbuka and first thing i did was to remove the membrane to check it out, without noting how the screws and the holes were. Looking for a way to fix that, i tried testing which screws can go all the way and which can not, and use them in the holes where they can go all the way without trouble. This left a gap of 3-4 millimeters. Then i tried to check at which holes the upper part and lower parts of the darbuka align best (without the membrane), so that there is no gap left when the screws are in place (with testing which screws fit best to which hole). I seemed to have found the best alignment, and tested (without the membrane) that there is no gap. When i used this alignment with the membrane, there still remains a gap of about 1-2 milimeters. When i opened the package there was no gap at all. It seems there is no way to find that again, is there really a way?
Is there an specific note to tune to? I know other drums are tuned to a specific frequency or note.
Hello Frank, I’ve contacted Gawharet El Fan company and talked to a Gawharet El Fan mentor via video call.
He told me that the even gap between the rim collar and the shell is not important at all. He said the most important thing is that the skin and the rim collar must be flush all around.
What do you think about it?
Did you talk to Ibraheem Malik? He is my mentor, too! He also told me that the most important thing to get the skin even with the rim collar. But in order to get it flush with the head, you need an even tuning. There might be some slight gaps, but it should not be too much. Thats why you need to practice tuning the Darbuka. Many say its easy and no rocket science, but thats not true for a beginner. In my 1 year of playing I already destroyed 5 skins. With destroyed I mean that I tuned them wrong and could not change that in the aftermath, because the plastic molecules have stretched and accomodated to my wrong way of tuning. Now I know what to do, which is a combination of an even gap + skin being flush with the head + all pegs sounding ALMOST the same. As already said in the video, it will stretch over time and the sound will get better, but you need to tune it right in the beginning, because afterwards it will be hard to correct these mistakes.
Hope that helped