ECDC Djembes and hand drums are constructed using stave lamination, an ancient art used in barrel making that remains on the cutting edge of manufacturing today for stability, consistency, and strength. We use only kiln dried woods below 7% moisture content, the same specifications they use in the guitar industry. There is no wood movement, cracking, or going out of round using this method if you start with good materials.
Many imported djembes are carved green and shipped before they are dry, whether they are from Africa, Indonesia, or Thailand. This is largely due to demand for speedy delivery by the importers and financial contraints that properly storing and drying wood entails.
The benefits of laminating are uniform wall thickness (for proper resonation), stability (carved whole logs crack and go out of round when they dry), and consistency - if we build a great design that we love we can duplicate it.
All of your drums are lathe turned. This means they are truly round, have flawless bearing edges, and the top is true (flat). These characteristics are crucial to a good sounding and easy to tune drum, and they are very difficult to achieve with hand carving, if possible at all. There are a select few hand carving masters that make phenomenal djembes, but they cost at least as much as an ECDC Fatbelly drum and there is a lot more wasted wood.
Stave construction is environmentally sound building practice. A solid shell wastes all the wood from the inside of the drum as well as the outside - as a matter of fact, there is more wood wasted in shavings than there is in the drum. I can hold the waste pieces from a stave djembe in one hand, and they are used to heat my workshop. You can build 3 times more drums out of the same cubic footage of wood using stave contruction vs. whole log carving.
We have also been building a full line of Djembes, ashikos, snares, and tongue drums out of 100% straw with a water based binder for the past 7 years under the name Naturashell. Acoustically it's fantastic due to uniform grain density, and it's a waste product that Canada produces in spades - another way to make a difference in day to day living.
We use low stretch 5mm tech cord for the Mali Weave on the hand drums and 3mm on the crown and base hoops. The smaller diameter ropes on the hoops allows the ring s to seat better on the flesh ring and shell. Low stretch cord means less tuning, and out of tune drums are the biggest reason for a Djembe to be sitting in the corner unplayed. Quality rope is a very important thing to look for when shopping for a rope tuned drum, and domestic builders have access to much better rope products than most mass manufacturers overseas.
We use the highest quality goatskins, and you can usually pick your preference in thick, medium, or thin, hair on or off, from our inventory of Bodhrans. This means you are picking your sound! Our shells are Canadian Rock Maple, and are perfectly round. If you look at a cheapo bodhran you will see that it is not truly round, which means different tones in unpredictable places on the playing surface. Our tuning system is lightweight and very rugged - so rugged in fact, that we offe a lifetime replacement warranty on it! We usually install a versatile 3 way crossbar, but you can choose you bar type, style, and placement. Our heads are glued and stapled into a channel instead of just glued on - tear out is a common problem with imported bodhrans, but guaranteed not to happen with our 3 year warranty. You also get to choose from some great colors and finishes, but most importantly - the difference is sound. Try one and compare!
