Biggest Mistake to Avoid with the Djembe Drum

[@ampdrum1]

I'm mostly a kit player, but have gigged and churched for several years on a Remo djembe. Glad someone is teaching non-traditional djembe. I play it like a cajon/conga type thing. Cheers!

[@DjembeMaster]

My pleasure! I love this new movement of contemporary djembe education! So much fun to be had when playing together with friends and using modern beats 😎

[@chrisw5742]

They sound great when used with an acoustic band in place of a drumset or cajon....

[@DjembeMaster]

True dat 👑

[@kennyfinger8306]

Nice! I’m also a rock/metal kit drummer and I tend to approach my djembe as if it was a kit, since that’s kinda all I know how to do. I think it helps me have a personal style. 🤘🪘

[@parusakezzo6029]

Djembe is all about flow and rhythm 🪘..it's freestyle it goes on with mood and sound beats

[@germainemaxwell4530]

I have always thought that if a person has not got the rhythm of the African drum inside him or her they can play the drum for a hundred years and they will never be a good African drumming , I am at present 80 years old and on quite a few occasions my hands are over my head when I am playing my Djembe . Its great that you are trying to help people to learn and who knows you might find a person or two who have that natural .talent Good luck. Max

[@DjembeMaster]

Thanks, Max ✨

[@primaskateboutique]

Great teacher glad I found this

[@Geekeric]

Love the video! I find part 4 interesting with the "down-up"; it reminds me of Cuban conga style where there's lots of hand contact with the drum head.

[@DjembeMaster]

Thanks ♥️ Indeed, different technique going on here than the traditional way. My down-up action comes mostly from playing the drum set.

[@aha2551]

Lovely sound from that djembe

[@24WFO]

Awesome teacher

[@DjembeMaster]

Cheers!

[@mens682]

Great content!

[@avielp]

please clarify: in the beginnig, keeping the tempo slow is a mistake?

[@renzoschraven]

No, he means that raising your hands too high after each hit is a mistake

[@habulsardar7115]

Leather skin is good or synthetic skin headed

[@DjembeMaster]

Both are fantastic! The leather skin is the original way (and traditionally speaking, the only proper way), while the synthetic skin is just a modern approach using modern technology. The 2 different skin types definitely also have different sound qualities to them. You should check out both 🙂 There are amazing sounds hiding in both ✨

[@Leonnoelmusic]

I like leather skin that still has the hair and I take it upon my shelf to shave it down to a height that gives the drum the proper decay that I like. I would generally choose a leather skin of some kind If I want a little bit more of a traditional feel and sound do take into account that if you go to drum circles and play for hours at a time, I live in Florida where the humidity is always high playing from sunset to sunrise you might have to put the drum in front of the fire to evaporate some of the moisture that the leather skin absorbs in the air while being outside and playing. If you get a synthetic drum head you don't have to worry so much about moisture messing with the drum head when playing outside and high humidity areas for long periods of time. Also I've noticed that synthetic seems to last a little bit longer and stay true to whatever tuning you set it at longer. Synthetics also are generally thinner and provide a nice medley of overtones and also have a lot louder crack But my favorite to my ear is real leather with the hair shaved down partially maybe only sticking up a 16th of an inch or so sometimes less

[@miroslavtabyashki]

Very helpful video! Thanks 👍

[@tedbukowski]

Please tip the Djembe forward so that we can hear the bass sound.

[@unpluggedindrajit]

how to tune it

[@torrestorrespercusion]

what a brutal Microfono, can you me say which you buyed?

[@DjembeMaster]

I use Shure mics - SM57 on top and Beta 52A as the bass mic.

[@ronaldstewart3467]

Thanks

[@kennyfinger8306]

Tuning that Remo djembe, that would be a good video if you haven’t already!

[@willowglenn]

Tuning won't help the ringing sound of a plastic skin.

[@kennyfinger8306]

@@willowglenn Did I say anything about that as some problem I’m trying to correct? No, I didn’t.

[@willowglenn]

@@kennyfinger8306 You should be...

[@milliehumphries3916]

Love the video!!!

[@DjembeMaster]

Thank you!

[@nagaempress]

I have a bad sounding ring on my Djembe. Something fell on my drum head and I have a dent in it. I have a friend that is teaching me how to play. We tried tightening it and well it didn't get any better in my book. I hear a ring on yours . Is there supposed to be a ring when you play? Can a dented head sound good at all? She said I don't need a new head. But this is frustrating. Help! I have a Remo like yours but is the Shadow flame if that makes a difference. Thank you!

[@DjembeMaster]

Hey, I know what you mean. Firstly, my skin is a much older version, so it was 2-ply and doesn't ring as much as the new single-ply ones. Secondly, you can remove some ringing by putting duck tape or something similar to the inside of the drum head. Thirdly, tuning the djembe higher to remove ringing is a slippery slope. I can work if you enjoy the sound of the final result, but I prefer some mid-tones as well so I don't tune it very high.

[@nagaempress]

@@DjembeMaster They tried to tighten it and its got a higher pitch now. Some of the ring is gone, But yep that warmth is missing now. I think its time for a new head. I think I need to learn to tune it myself!

[@DjembeMaster]

@@nagaempress If could very well be that a new skin will resolve the situation :)

[@donbaird3826]

There is a video on how to remove the ring 💍. I will try it because I have one also.

[@willowglenn]

@nagaempress plastic skins will always ring like that. A goatskin is the only, and traditional, solution.

[@MrFredzart]

great

[@balongskie9976]

what mic holder did you use?

[@DjembeMaster]

Samson DMC100

[@donbaird3826]

The ring is prevalent....

[@arq.antoniogarrido7608]

Gracias maestro, excelente canal. Saludos de México

[@DjembeMaster]

Thanks! Sending best wishes to Mexico ✨

[@platynowa]

Hey, can you write down strokes or maybe create some sentences that make them easier to remember?

[@DjembeMaster]

Hey, most of my KZbin lesson videos have a simplified written text 🤔 At this point, I'm creating cover songs for a while and see how far in production (enjoyable to watch) I can push it. After this period, I'm sure there will be more new lessons here and also as new courses on my website.

[@deepsky86]

For me is not just slap ton bass there is deeper meaning, djembe can not learn couse djembe is you, being you is enough everything else come easy.

[@DjembeMaster]

Yupp

[@f.s.3727]

such a beautiful comment. there is no right or wrong. there is just what is working inside you that is coming to the surface by the djembe.❤

[@deepsky86]

@@f.s.3727 ❤️

[@jaykopangats8010]

How to roll? Like I'm yours Jason Mraz djembe cover

[@DjembeMaster]

If you mean a drum roll, then that would be a good idea for a separate video 🙂 As for covering a song like “I’m Yours”, the beginning especially really suits a reggae beat ♥️ But when the drum set comes in, something simple works well. Like a straight beat and then bars with bass strokes at different locations. Would be best if I made a video on how I’d play to that song. But as it is, copyright can be a pain in the ass 😜 If there would be a way around this (is there?) a lot of my videos on this channel would be cool cover songs with djembe 🙂

[@elansolomon]

Hey man, I can tell your a good drummer, but it hurts a little to see you playing a djembe, and not talk about its history. It is an essential drum to the malinke people in west Africa, which is its origin. If your gonna play the djembe, some more acknowledgement of the history of it, and of traditional technique would be great to see

[@DjembeMaster]

Hey! First of all, thanks for not being aggressive with your expression - most people who disagree with the way I run things with Djembe Master are quite nasty with their words. So, about the history - I recognize that I would have zero chance of falling in love with this drum and also zero chance to play and perform with it, if it wasn't for the history - since the drum itself wouldn't even exist in this form. For that I am sincerely grateful. Now, I cannot speak on the history because I don't know much about it. My own history is that I was given a Remo djembe at the age of 14 and started to learn to play it myself. Should I know the history? Yes, in many cases the more one knows the better. But I'm focused on a perticular niche - how to play modern beats, not traditional rhythms and technique, so this channel is not about the roots of the instrument. One day, maybe, I'll collaborate with someone awesome who knows the African lineage of this drum very deeply, and he/she can also create courses onto djembemaster.com. We'll see.

[@elansolomon]

@@DjembeMaster I hear you. Here’s on of the best videos to get an intro to its history and cultural context kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooezfXyrd95sebs

[@MrEmiosk]

I for one am dead tired of hearing the history of the instruments of my particular taste of the day, more time is dedicated to talking, history, origin and culture of the instruments instead of actually playing/demonstrating why one should care to listen in the first place. I want to hear and enjoy the music, I want the magic not hear the same unchanging lecture the tenth time over. The beat, the rhythm, the song! That is what matters! What I enjoy!

[@DjembeMaster]

I feel ya 👌🏼

[@JeffPorterMusic]

@@DjembeMaster A remo drum like that is a dumbek and how you play is like a dumbek. Are you just using the word djembe to hook people into the vids? You are definitely not a djembe player, but you're doing great stuff. I would have a hard time not telling people that a remo doesn't sound like a djembe, and that you are basically a middle eastern player. ( : But you can totally do what ya want. You might just be trying to be provocative?