Hello fellow Djembe player! I have been asked by many people, how do I tune a djembe? Well first off, how do you know if you djembe needs to be tuned?
Well, a djembe that is not tuned correctly just isn’t going to sound very good. What are the symptoms of a badly tuned djembe:
The bass may be overly boomy and the slaps may be dull with very little definition between the tones. Under these conditions the djembe head may need to be tightened.
On the other side of the spectrum, the head may be tuned too tight, leaving the drum with really high pitch.
CAUTION! When you are tuning your djembe, don’t tighten it too much all at once. If you do, you may stretch the skin too much and tear the head. Try adding just 2-3 knots at a time and testing the results(watch the video). Also, never try to tune a damp skin after you put a new head on. Wait until the skin is completely dried. Also, keep in mind that a tight djembe head can EXPLODE in very hot temperatures.
Now that we have that out of the way, watch this video that Micheal Pool from Freedom Drums has put together showing step by step how to tune a djembe with the Mali Weave. Freedom Drums djembes are available at KopfPercussion.com
Freedom Drums Rope Tuning a Djembe Tutorial Using the Mali Weave Tuning Method from Freedom Drums on Vimeo.
