On Sunday, July 12th, I was at the Old Town School of Folk Music Folk Roots Festival, where Ruben Gerena was available for a drum making demonstration. He starts with the formed drum body, sanding the outside so it is smooth.
The other pieces shown include the skin, which can be goat skin, which is soaked and then stretched thin over one of the metal loops that you see in the photo. I’ll leave out many steps here, but the result is a hand made drum such as the finished ones in the photos. There are two different tuning styles, the one on the left being more fixed in nature, and Ruben pointed out that this is more appropriate for places like Chicago, where our weather and humidity vary. From my music playing days, I know that these factors can wreck havoc on trying to stay in tune, as cold weather and hot weather change the tonal quality of many instruments, as well as the ability to stay in tune.
Nuestro Tambo
