Great video Cyrus! Pretty amazing rig you made beats sitting on the floor and trying to hold the drum with your feet! :-) Good luck at the show and hope to see more videos soon. Thanks!
Wow... First, a thing of beauty. Man, I would love to just drop everything and come apprentice under you, but I think my wife and kids might have something to say about this... Also, I have a few questions, and mind you I have a couple of your vids down the list to watch so you might answer my questions there, feel free to tell me I will be answered in one of your newer videos already up: 1 - is the boot a must or is it more of a choice, I see why you would want it, but doesn't some people like their drum all natural? 2 - where did you get the wire rings from? is it from the cut away part of the tire? how do you close them up and how larger then the lip of the drum do you make them? 3 - what is that colorful cloth you are wrapping around the wire rings? is it any kind of cloth material you have around or some specific product? 4 - what do you soak the skin in, and for how long, is there a specific skin width you're using? I know you are partial to goat skin, but how about pig skin? cow skin? is the process different for hair skin as opposed to hairless skin, or do you just make the rings a little wider? 5 - any special reason for the specific number of loops your making using your template? more loops for larger drums and less for smaller? 6 - is the cloth you're using to wrap the inner rings for the head different then the outside rings or is it just less colorful since you don't see them? 7 - I love the portable stretching table you have, only you can't see anything you're doing with it since the pole hides it completely, so what and how you use your vise grips and how you stretch everything is still a mystery, even if we see you do it for quite a while, any chance of pictures of what exactly you're doing there? I would also love to see the low tech version, that rain stick you used to use in shows, since I'll be making one or two of these, I wouldn't want to build a table for it, but on the other hand, if those will come out right, I just might want to go pro and make me one anyway. Well, I think that about covers it... Thanks man!! :)
+Yuval Lahav WOW that's quite a list LOL Lets see if I can do this. 1 No the Boot is optional. Lots of players here play in cities and such and when seated the bottom of the drum rests on the ground at an angle, a boot will protect the wood. And on a hardwood floor the boot will protect the floor. It is how ever the choice of the player. 2 The rings I make. They are 1/4 inch (5mm) round stock. That is in one of the videos I think its the finish turn of the small maple Djembe. 3 And 6 It is just ordinary printed cloth. The inside was still colorful it just didn't show on the video as well because it was a lighter colored fabric. Nothing fancy here just cut long strips about 1 1/2 inches wide and wrap away. 4 The skin is soaked in cold water. How long depends on how thick the skin is and if it has fur or not. 2 hours is a minimum as far as I am concerned but I like to soak longer 4 or 5 hrs when possible. As for skin type Cow will work but on a smaller drum a thinner skin is easier to work with, Pig I have never tried, and I cannot say I have ever heard of anyone who has. Mule I hear is good but has a high breakage rate, Goat of course is the traditional animal used, Calf is good too, Cow again for bigger drums, Deer I have used with some success too. 5 Yes the bigger the drum the more you will need, only reason I use the guide is to get them spaced evenly. In this video the drum was 14.5 inches and I tied 20 cradles. If I had it to do again I would put on closer to 30. More cradles means more verticals, more verticals means it will hold tune better. 7 The Porta-puller will be in many more videos as I cover the many ways to head Djembes. I am still working out the bugs and intend to make and sell them so I'm a bit reluctant to giveaway its secrets just yet though I do talk a bit more about it in video #40. OK hope that covers it. I'm excited to see how yours will turn out. I can still remember the first few I made 25 years ago. its a fun and exciting journey you are about to embark upon. Good Luck and keep me posted
I'm almost content with your reply, I was hoping I'll be able to suck all thr secrets out of you, but I guess you've outsmarted me :) thanks man, it's 8:30 in the morning her, drinking my coffee and reading your reply, I'll be heading out to my local wood vendor in about an hour, things start slow here in Italy, I hope to find a could of nice cheap Holm Oak trunks to load up and get ready to to make some shells. And you know what? I think I'v got enough army, boy scouts, and mountain climbing experiance to figuer out a way to tighten the strings enough to make it sound like I know what I'm doing without exposing your secrets, you're safe for another year from the expending Italian market! :) Thank you again my friend, can't wait to start!
Good to finally see what we've been watching you make all this time.
Cy I really enjoyed your video. It is very interesting seeing how you do it. You are a man with many talents. Very Cool...
Outstanding! Thanks for showing how you do this part. Your boot procedure is great!
Great video Cyrus! Pretty amazing rig you made beats sitting on the floor and trying to hold the drum with your feet! :-) Good luck at the show and hope to see more videos soon. Thanks!
Uncle is awesome as always
that Porta Puller is spectacular i would buy one :)
Nice just did this on my djembe
It would be nice to see or hear some explanations of what exactly it is that you are doing at every step
supreme master!
Wow... First, a thing of beauty. Man, I would love to just drop everything and come apprentice under you, but I think my wife and kids might have something to say about this... Also, I have a few questions, and mind you I have a couple of your vids down the list to watch so you might answer my questions there, feel free to tell me I will be answered in one of your newer videos already up:
1 - is the boot a must or is it more of a choice, I see why you would want it, but doesn't some people like their drum all natural?
2 - where did you get the wire rings from? is it from the cut away part of the tire? how do you close them up and how larger then the lip of the drum do you make them?
3 - what is that colorful cloth you are wrapping around the wire rings? is it any kind of cloth material you have around or some specific product?
4 - what do you soak the skin in, and for how long, is there a specific skin width you're using? I know you are partial to goat skin, but how about pig skin? cow skin? is the process different for hair skin as opposed to hairless skin, or do you just make the rings a little wider?
5 - any special reason for the specific number of loops your making using your template? more loops for larger drums and less for smaller?
6 - is the cloth you're using to wrap the inner rings for the head different then the outside rings or is it just less colorful since you don't see them?
7 - I love the portable stretching table you have, only you can't see anything you're doing with it since the pole hides it completely, so what and how you use your vise grips and how you stretch everything is still a mystery, even if we see you do it for quite a while, any chance of pictures of what exactly you're doing there? I would also love to see the low tech version, that rain stick you used to use in shows, since I'll be making one or two of these, I wouldn't want to build a table for it, but on the other hand, if those will come out right, I just might want to go pro and make me one anyway.
Well, I think that about covers it... Thanks man!! :)
+Yuval Lahav WOW that's quite a list LOL
Lets see if I can do this.
1 No the Boot is optional. Lots of players here play in cities and such and when seated the bottom of the drum rests on the ground at an angle, a boot will protect the wood. And on a hardwood floor the boot will protect the floor. It is how ever the choice of the player.
2 The rings I make. They are 1/4 inch (5mm) round stock. That is in one of the videos I think its the finish turn of the small maple Djembe.
3 And 6 It is just ordinary printed cloth. The inside was still colorful it just didn't show on the video as well because it was a lighter colored fabric. Nothing fancy here just cut long strips about 1 1/2 inches wide and wrap away.
4 The skin is soaked in cold water. How long depends on how thick the skin is and if it has fur or not. 2 hours is a minimum as far as I am concerned but I like to soak longer 4 or 5 hrs when possible. As for skin type Cow will work but on a smaller drum a thinner skin is easier to work with, Pig I have never tried, and I cannot say I have ever heard of anyone who has. Mule I hear is good but has a high breakage rate, Goat of course is the traditional animal used, Calf is good too, Cow again for bigger drums, Deer I have used with some success too.
5 Yes the bigger the drum the more you will need, only reason I use the guide is to get them spaced evenly. In this video the drum was 14.5 inches and I tied 20 cradles. If I had it to do again I would put on closer to 30. More cradles means more verticals, more verticals means it will hold tune better.
7 The Porta-puller will be in many more videos as I cover the many ways to head Djembes. I am still working out the bugs and intend to make and sell them so I'm a bit reluctant to giveaway its secrets just yet though I do talk a bit more about it in video #40.
OK hope that covers it. I'm excited to see how yours will turn out. I can still remember the first few I made 25 years ago. its a fun and exciting journey you are about to embark upon.
Good Luck and keep me posted
I'm almost content with your reply, I was hoping I'll be able to suck all thr secrets out of you, but I guess you've outsmarted me :) thanks man, it's 8:30 in the morning her, drinking my coffee and reading your reply, I'll be heading out to my local wood vendor in about an hour, things start slow here in Italy, I hope to find a could of nice cheap Holm Oak trunks to load up and get ready to to make some shells. And you know what? I think I'v got enough army, boy scouts, and mountain climbing experiance to figuer out a way to tighten the strings enough to make it sound like I know what I'm doing without exposing your secrets, you're safe for another year from the expending Italian market! :) Thank you again my friend, can't wait to start!
Boa noite, Belo trabalho