Cheap and easy materials....

- percussion -

Here is something to remember, which we can use for the chromatic drums mentioned a couple/few posts ago, and also for the face of some small stringed/bowed instruments we'll be making in posts to come.

In the chromatic drums post, I mentioned using plastic or rubber for the heads. Well, why not rawhide?

What I have done is, I went to a pet store (or was it the pet section of a supermarket? I can't remember.... ), and grabbed one of those doggy-bone lookin' rawhide treats - you know, those ones that are just a piece of rawhide, all rolled up and thrown into a knot at each end. But the BIG ones.... the ones I found look like they were made for Saint Bernards on steroids.

Boil some water in a big pot, and when it has come to a boil, turn the flame off and set the rawhide in. After a while, it will have become soft enough to untie the ends and unroll.

Cut a piece around that's a good inch or two larger than the diameter of the tube that you will put a rawhide head on, and stretch in onto place, securing it there. One easy way to do this, is to use one of those screw driven pipe fitting fasteners that are often used to secure rubber hoses to metal piping - these can be found at any hardware shop, or home supply warehouse.

When rawhide is wet, it is very pliable - so stretch it out onto the tube. When it dries, it stiffens and shrinks a bit, and hardens like sheet-iron. This will provide a nice tone.

Okay, that ends this post for now - have a nice day!!

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_^

- percussion -