PORTFOLIO - Masks | Other Carvings | Drums

NEW! Nii Addico is now offering African Djembe Drumming classes through Holly Oak in Waterloo. Group lessons, private classes and healing drum sessions are all available. Please contact Nii for more info, or click here to reach Holly Oak's website

Drum Carving Process:

Nii Addico's drums are only carved from the “kyeneboakodua” tree (drum tree or drum stick). This tree is found throughout Africa. Due to its superb sound quality it is the ONLY wood that drums are carved from. All of Nii’s drums have been carved while living in Ghana or from Drum Tree wood that Creation Africa imports. Nii makes both Djembe drums (used throughout West Africa) and Kpanlogo drums (used only in Ghana). The drum carving process described here pertains to Djembes.

Nii first cuts the log to the approximate size of the drum and begins to carve out the rough shape of the finished drum. The next step is to hollow out the top portion of the drum. This is always done first to ensure that the top is larger than the bottom. Then the bottom portion is hollowed. Nii does all of this work with only hand tools. Once the hollowing is complete Nii trims the outside of the drum to its finished size and carves a design. The drum is then treated with varnish, oils or potassium to protect the wood and give it colour. The drum is left out in the sun for a few days so that the treatment can fully penetrate the wood.

Djembes feature three iron rings, one in the middle and two at the top, which hold the skin and tuning cords in place. The next step is to place the rings around the middle and top of the drum and then weave the tuning cord between them. Once that is complete Nii then stretches the skin to the drum. Goatskin is used for a higher pitched metallic sound. Lamb or antelope skin is used for a deeper bass sound. The wet skin is stretched over the drum and left to dry in the sun for two days. The skin is then shaved and then soaked and stretched again to spend another day in the sun. Once the skin is completely dry, the cords are tightened and the drum is tuned.

Please contact us for a price list.