Tarnjit

Hey everybody!

Well i would be very surprised if a question like this has appeared on this forum so for my first post ill share with you this dilema i been going through!

Anyway i play an instrument called the Dhol drum ( www.dholfoundation.com for more information), it is basically a wooden barrel with to drum heads either side, a thin treble side and a thick goat skin, which are both beat with 2 sticks.

Dhols are usually made of either Mango tree, a more dence rosewood. And are hand made, or carved out in india making everysingle one unique!

The bass is fastened using rope which is easily adjusted with the tention and The top end is fastened to the drum using some hooks.

From drum to drum the bass sides usually sound the same but top ends vary in sound BIG TIME.

Now the best sounding top ends (or treble side) ring and resonate at all different pitches depending on how much u tighten them, but in reality its very rare to get such treble sides, most of them sound like your hitting a pan..

i worked out its all due to , the quality of the wood, but most importantly the angle and condition of the wood which is actually in contact with the treble skin itself.

http://download.yousendit.com/23C6BD057D5FE20E

if you visit this link and download the file you can see some pictures of my dhol and the top end as described.

Now having made this discovery i taken my time to tune my dhols and other peoples simply by using a flat fine file and slowly going around the wood trying to keep it flat and at a consistant angle all the way round, and as you can guess its really not easy, infact its frustrating and time consuming and never guaranteed you'll get it right...

At the minute im working on this drum and the top end is in a really bad state, i cant get it level at a consistant angle at all but the drum is of highest quality of wood so i have to get it right!! another problem is i keep fileing away at the shell and its starting to get narrow so i need to think fast n make sure i get it right.

i need to be able to obtain a flat consistant edge all the way round the end, at a consistant angle...

anyone have any suggestions on a tool, or the best way i can achieve this? i need the drum skins to sit flat on the wood...

thanks alot! sorry about the essay, hope someone can help! if you need any more info, just ask

Tarnjit

solidwoods

Where on the link/site is a pic of the end of the drum area you are trying to work?
jim

TexasTimbers

I meant to write a reply soon after you made this post tarnjit.

I have not constructed any drum shells yet, but when I do they will be stave shells made of Osage Orange. But to address your underlying question, how to keep the bearing edge (that is the term you are looking for - where the skin sits atop the shell) "flat", well lemme digress here.

It is a fundamentally accepted tenet of drum shell construction that the bearing edge must be beveled. A "flat" bearing edge will dictate that the resonance, a function of skin and shell vibration, will be dramatically lessend by a flat bearing edge. Some companies use a 30 somothing degree, most use a 45, and others even use a double beveled bearing edge and one comapny that i know of places the 45 bevel slanted towrad the inside of the shell so that the flattest part of the skin (hoop type) sits on the dge and not the rounded part that is crimped inside the hoop.

Your drums do not have hooped heads but ratrher loose skins I take it, so that part is irrelevant. And maybe the beveled bearing edge is not essential in a Dhol drum I don't know.

If you want a beveled edge on your drum, secrue it upright to the floor where it cannot move and build a "round shelf" around it. Level this shelf all the way around with a spirit level. You could attach the shelf to the drum by making this shelp large enough in diameter to *just barely* fit over it. A large flat panel, scribed from underneat the shell to allow for the inconsistencies would work. You would then use a router with a 45 degree angle bit with a bearing, and rout your edge.

If you don't want a beveled bearing edge, you could just use a belt sander to flatten the top of the shell even with the "round shelf" you built. You are going to have to use this step prior to beveling the bearing edge anyway.

I was going to start my marimba, but I just agreed to take a one year house gig at the new country club. I think now I want to start on those stave shells this year as opposed to next.

I hope you had email notification linked to this thread I want to know more about those drums. I might need a Dhol drum in my own kit!

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Flame Box Elder

Tarnjit

thanks for your help! really aprietiate it, i think im going to give that a go, sounds good indeed, may be difficult cos ill have to do it everytime i do a different drum because all dhol drums are slightly different in demension as they are all hand made..but if i can create a better sound from each drum, it would be worth it :)
thanks again
Tarnjit