D’jembe Question

[Kevin E.]

Ok well I am our churches percussion player. Congo's,Shakers ect. Here is my question what kind of d’jembe should you get? I know they are alot of money but do you get what you pay for?

[worshiptrench]

Don't get a natural skin head (calfskin, etc) unless you have a lot of time to massage lanonlin lotion into the head or it will get hard and crack (and sound like poop as well). We have a large one I got at guitar sinner/center. I wanted a lot of low end so large was vital. I also wanted lug tunable. If you are near a music store, go play em. Your ear will tell you which one. Make sure it is tuned before you make your selection.

We mic the top with a 57 or similar mic and bottom with an 87 on a towel or if we have time, we move our kick drum mic off its stand onto a towel to get some serious boom in the subs.

[worshiptheKing]

I like the larger ones as well. They have a richer sound than the small ones. I had a natural skin one and loved it. You know, I've looked at a couple, skin vs. synthetic, rope vs. lugs. It really depends on the sound you want. Go and play 'em.

[russhutto]

I got a Remo synthetic once for a previous church I served at. It was awesome. It was a small-ish size but put out some serious sound.

Downside: it wasn't tunable.

[worshiptrench]

I checked. Ours is a huge remo synthetic head that is tunable.

[walkerjerry]

Get a Remo DJ series (Fiberskin III head, key tunable) at least 12", I like 14".