djembe or darbuka?

[Sunbeam56]

Does anyone have experience with these drums?

[trilobyte]

I'm giving this a nudge over to the Q&A board, since that's a better fit for general preparation discussions.

[Sunbeam56]

Thank you

[Ugly Dougly]

Yep. One hand goes BOOM BOOM....
The other hand goes takka tekka takka.

[Drummin Jim]

Sunbeam,

I play the djembe, and plan to bring it with me. What would you like to know?

Jim

[The Rod]

I've played a lot of both drums. They're cousins, the djembe is the bigger wooden louder version of the darbuka or doumbek as some call it.

I prefer the djembe for sound, deeper bass, but they're usually large and cumbersome.

Darbukas are nice because they are traditionally much smaller, and the cheaper ones are either hammered or cast aluminum with makes them durable and great for festival use. I like that they are traditionally played under the arm instead of between legs witch makes it easier to walk around and play. The nicest darbukas are ceramic and have a much fuller sund with deeper bass than the aluminum versions.

[Sunbeam56]

Thanks LeFrench. That is exactly what I wanted to know.
Sound - convenience - materials - what is best...
We went to Renfest last fall and I followed around a guy with a drum for while. Or maybe he followed me, anyway, we all ended up at the Barbarian Inn playing with the instrument. I didn't recall whether it was a djembe or a darbuka.
Now I know.

With the theme Caravanserie - I think drums are going to be part of the experience.
Probably won't leave camp with it.

Question - for a djembe - is the mechanical tightener better than the traditional rope tighteners?

Question - for a darbuka - I see a lot of fiberglass ones offered - how does this affect the sound?

[The Rod]

as far as djembes are concerned I prefer a mechanical tuner, way easier than the string dealie, anyone can turn a nut but the unstringing/restringing procedure for tuning a djembe is a pain. As for bringing a drum to the playa, depending on where your coming from a djembe will need to be tuned once it gets to the playa and a time or two there. I would suggest loosening the skin for the trip then adjusting once on playa to get the sound you want. Air pressure, temperature and humidity will affect the skin.

The best Darbukas in my opinion have synthetic heads which are much less susceptible to factors that affect natural skins. Almost all the djembes I've seen have goat hide skins. If you bring a darbuka with a synthetic head it most likely wont need much tuning if at all.

As far as the fiberglass darbuka I can't be of much help here, I dont have much experience with those, but I can tell you that while the material will affect sound the main determing factor of a darbuka is the shape of the resonance chamber. They usually have a few of each different hand drum at a guitar center or similar store, you can go play with them in person before making your choice. Sometimes a store dedicated to percussion will have a pretty decent selection...

[Sunbeam56]

Thank you again LeFrench.
Excellent intel.