A drum is a voice, alive and feeling as with any voice. When it speaks then we must listen and honor the message with our best and noblest selves, for it is a voice with great power and it is a voice that is a gift to us from a greater being.
If we do this, then our lives will be full and happy . . . .
—Louis W. Ballard, Quapaw-Cherokee
The Shaman Drum
The Medicine Drum
Shamanic
Divination Drums
Other Drum
Styles
Selecting your Shaman Drum
Working with Your Shaman Drum
Physical Care of Your Drum
The typical drum from the Shamanic Arts Studio is a single headed shaman drum from 13 to 20 inches in diameter. The rawhide is stretched over a hard maple plywood frame about three inches deep. I use rawhide from many animals for the head of the drum: horse, elk, or buffalo (American bison), bear, and reindeer from Sami (Lapland). The leather on the handle of the drum and the mallet fringe match the hide on the drum head.
The hides I use come from many sources and none of the hides have been harvested solely for the hide. Horse hide comes from animals that died naturally. Bear comes from animals which were hunted and processed under very stringent regulations in areas where the animals are abundant. Many bear hunters make a point of hunting in a sacred manner. Elk and buffalo are "ranched" in an organic manner and many of the ranches are owned and run by Native Americans. The meat of these animals is known to be more highly nutritious than beef, pork, or lamb. Reindeer have been herded by the Sami people for thousands of years. Virtually every part of the animal is put to use. I consider myself honored by these various animals and strive to honor them in return by using them in my art. Drums and rattles last for many years (My own personal drum, the second drum I ever made, is twenty-one years old.) Drums and rattles have helped heal and restore many, many people over many thousands of years.
For the vegetarians among my clients I periodically alter commercial plastic-headed drums for shamanic use.
Most mallet handles for the drums are made of wild chokecherry wood that I harvest along creek beds. I also hand turn some of the mallets on a lathe.
I paint most of the drums and decorate them with leather, shells, semi-precious stones, and sometimes silver. I other times I use carefully selected river rocks and other found items. Each design creates a Mandala that can be used for meditation and journeying. Creating each drum requires intense persistence and concentration and is a lesson in patience. The moment of picking up the new drum and playing it for the first time after the rawhide has dried is exciting and a little daunting. Will there be the deep resonating sound I seek or will the drum be “pingey” or a have a buzz which requires that I start over?
Note information on the drum mallet (beater) below in Selecting Your Shaman Drum.
The medicine drum is a small double-headed drum, which has pebbles and things inside it like a rattle. It is usually about 8” in diameter x 1” wide, but can vary somewhat in size. Though it has many similarities to a rattle it is traditionally referred to as a drum. It is principally shaken like a rattle but can also be used with a mallet. Because of its shape and size it has numerous voices, to the point that it "talks."
The medicine drum is used almost exclusively for healing work or private ritual: as a result it is not as well known as it would be if used in public ritual. The drum is known to be used in Eastern Woodlands tribes and is known in Mexico as a Woman’s Healing Drum. I suspect that this type of drum is in more common use than we know.
The medicine drum is useful in calling in healing spirits. It can be used for purification, similar to smudging. In the purification the shaman rattles systematically all around the standing client. In the process the drum draws itself to particular places and will change tone and rhythm. It can also be used to help calm anxiety and agitation and to help return someone who has gotten stuck in the other realities. It can also be used to extract negative energies. It is very useful to journey to this drum in order to get instructions on how it is supposed to be used from the drum itself. As a healing drum it should be smudged or otherwise cleansed regularly as one would do with a healing crystal.
Discovering hidden knowledge—divination—is a part of shamanism that has existed from time immemorial and the drum is a powerful divination tool. My divination drums are inspired principally by the Sami tradition of the far north in western Europe. I make two types of divination drums—oval and bowl shaped. On some I paint traditional divination patterns, on others I make use of sacred rune designs.
Here is a typical divination method: The petitioner asks an important question that cannot be answered yes or no, such as, “What is the best path to follow in my vocation?” When the question is clear, the diviner places a brass ring on the center of the drum and begins to tap on the drum with the mallet. The traditional mallet is a piece of horn in the shape of a hammer. The diviner observes the path the ring takes as it moves and notes where it comes to rest over a specific design. The path taken and the design are then interpreted and provide the answer to the question. Detailed instructions on working with it are included when you purchase a divination drum.
Some of my drums are painted with rune designs and these are interpreted according to the symbolism of the runes found in readily available reference books. One such booklet by Tom Cowan is included in the price of the drum. A series of questions can be asked to elucidate Past, Present, Future, or some other system can be used, but the experience, practice and inspiration of the diviner are important factors in getting the most useful information.
Tribal drum makers are obliged by tradition to make only the particular style of drum that their group uses. My Cochiti Pueblo mentor, Bill Martin, told me, “I only make Cochiti drums which are two-headed drums of a particular design.] A while back a Crow (tribe) medicine man was down visiting and he asked me to make a single-headed drum for him. In all my years I’d never made a single-headed drum.” He laughed and confided, “I had a terrible time; finally had to make it over.”
By contrast, as a non-tribal person I am free to make any style of drum I choose, as long as I don’t engage in slavish imitation. In my freedom I have studied drums used shamanically world wide—Siberian, Inuit, NW Coast and other Native American drums as well as Sami, various SE Asian drums and Central American and South American Drums. Each drum has its own appeal and its own individuality.
I love the variety: round drums, oval, square, bowl shaped, irregular, all have their appeal. I am constantly seeking out new designs and new ornamentation to deepen the uses to which the instruments can be made; each item is a carefully crafted work of art.
My mentor, Bill Martin, as a tribal elder is blessed because he belongs to his people, no matter what, even though that may limit his freedom in some ways. On the other hand, by not belonging in the way he does I have the freedom to make any kind of drum I wish, but at the price of a certain rootlessness encountered in modern non-tribal societies. Tell me, which is better? To belong at the price of some of one's individuality or to be free but rootless?
The most useful drums for shamanic work are single-headed drums with a relatively soft-headed mallet. Such a drum is constructed with a single rawhide playing surface or "head" on a wooden frame. Typical dimensions are 17" diameter, 3" width, and 1/2" thick. Rawhide is the uncured animal skin. Unlike leather, it loosens when wet and shrinks when dry. Binding the wet rawhide over the frame and letting it dry slowly creates the tension on the drumhead. It seems so simple but "art is long and life is short." The length of the mallet is somewhat shorter than the diameter of the drum and the mallet-head is of cloth fur, which I find to be ideal in producing the type of sound I seek.
If at all possible, visit the drum maker and play several drums. Often this is not possible since there are not many shamanic drum makers around. They will be most readily located at their websites. I have listed another drum maker whose work I admire in the Resources section of this site. And of course check the Web.
Clients are always welcome to visit my studio by appointment.
If you can’t find a drum maker to visit, the next choice is to find a store that carries a large selection of drums. Unfortunately these are few and far between. Many large cities have drum shops, but they are unlikely to have few shaman style drums, and the staff tends to be uninformed about using drums to shamanize.
In selecting your drum, play several of them and listen for the ones that call to you—you will recognize "your" drum particularly if you play with a soft, steady beat for a few minutes. Inspect drum and mallet carefully. Notice particularly the cords that hold the drumhead and the places where these cords are attached to the head. Inspect to see that no thin places are apparent at these points—these are the most vulnerable parts of the construction.
Don't be concerned if the frame is slightly warped. The tension between the drumhead and the frame can create warping and, unless it is extreme, it is part of a dynamic balance, a marriage between head and frame.
In drumming for shamanic purposes, you will often drum for extended periods, so pick a drum and mallet that are comfortable to hold. The most comfortable drums tend to be medium size and have a pad or cushion for the hand at the back. A seventeen inch diameter drum stored in a stiff-sided case is also the largest that will fit in an overhead bin on airplanes. Do not check your drum as luggage, take it as a carry-on item. I've repaired several drums that were damaged after having been checked in as luggage.
The construction of the mallet is vital. We often think only of the drum, but the relationship of a drum and mallet is the same as Yin to Yang. The well-mated Yin of the drum and Yang of the mallet make for strong journeys and sweet pleasure. Inspect the mallet carefully. Check to see that the mallet head is attached firmly to the handle. You can do this by twisting it slightly to check for looseness. It can be very problematic to lose a mallet head during a journeying session. Leather mallet heads are colorful and "authentic" but, in my opinion, give an inferior tone. They don't bring out the best ringing sound of the drum, and contribute a slapping sound. After much experimentation I routinely make mallet heads from synthetic fur, tied over a knob that is cross-pinned to the mallet stick. Such mallets are durable, produce good sound, and the pinned knob guarantees that the head will never fly off.
You can find drums with heads made of many types of rawhide. Most common are elk, cow, horse, and deer. Buffalo is available on occasion and while more expensive, is a superior hide for a drumhead. It is the most durable, the least sensitive to humidity and gives a superior tone. Each type of hide has it's unique qualities and spiritual resonance.
With good care drumheads rarely split, though deer and antelope hide seem to be more vulnerable to this problem. I have recently begun making bear hide and reindeer drums and rattles and they seem very promising in durability and have a soft, unique tone.
When you are unable to "audition" your drum, you will need to rely on the drum maker. Individual drum makers, such as myself and some of the others I listed in the Resources section can be the most helpful in meeting your needs. I am happy to give telephone auditions of my drums.
Climate affects the sound of a drum greatly. More tightly stretched drumheads will sound better in a wet climate. In very dry conditions, however, such drums will produce a tight "pingy" sound. In prolonged periods of extremely high humidity the drum head will go flat no matter how tightly stretched it is. See the Physical Care of the Drum section below for remedies to these problems.
Commercial plastic headed drums retain their tone in all weather. They also considerably less expensive and are readily available at commercial drum stores, so they do have their place, even though they feel short on "soul." Since they are made of wood and plastic, they are also a "vegetarian drum" for those who don't want animal hides.
In selecting a drum with a design painted on it, consider whether the design is consistent with your own practice. Designs have a spirit of their own and influence the journeys. A drum design adds power to the drum and can be used as a focus to journey into.
When a drum is new, it needs to be awakened. Smudge it and dedicate it to your work. Play it gently at first and, if you have an opportunity, expose it to more "experienced" drums and play along with them. This awakening process partly involves the mating of the unique resonance patterns of the drumhead and the frame. When I am using a new drum, I experience it as a child who, once awakened, begins to gain experience and power—and quickly outpaces my own experience and power!
You will find a relationship developing with your drum as you use it and will quickly discover that your drum also has moods. Like human relationships these moods won't always be compatible with your own. You will get spiritual benefit and guidance from just playing your drum regularly. If you want to learn specific shamanic techniques with the drum look in the Resources section of this site.
It is best to reserve particular drums and rattles for sacred work and to have other drums and rattles for "social" uses. For myself, it is important to honor and respect the drum by not displaying it ostentatiously, by keeping the drum "face up" when setting it down and by smudging it periodically, particularly when it has been used in difficult work.
The commonly used term "drum beater" implies that the sound is "beat" out of the drum. Yet, ideally, the drummer pulls the sound out from the drum with the mallet rather than beating it out. A practiced drummer often uses a light wrist stroke that creates a ringing tone and can be continued for a long duration with little fatigue. Most drums sound best when the head is struck about halfway between the center and the rim. The tone at the center tends to be harsh and with few overtones. You will find that certain tones seem most appropriate for certain work—for me a ringing tone works best for the usual journeying and a more strident tone helps facilitate extraction work and the power dance.
1. Rawhide is an extremely durable substance, provided it doesn't get wet. Drums do best in conditions that humans also find comfortable.
2. Store the drum in a comfortably warm, reasonably dry place. When the humidity is high it may lose its tone. The tone can be restored by heating the instrument slowly in front of a fire, by using a hair dryer, or by warming it on a heating pad. Don't heat it any hotter than your hand can tolerate.
3. Do not leave your drum in a closed car for a long period. Heat and dryness may split the head. If you will be traveling with it in the desert you may want to keep it in a plastic bag with a slightly damp piece of paper towel enclosed (but not touching the drum). In a wet climate you can preserve the tone of a drum you have heated by putting it in a tightly closed plastic bag.
4. Usually the best place to store your drum is to hang it on the wall—but not over a radiator or heating vent or where the sun will shine on it. Another option is to keep it in a plastic bag or a drum case. Many drums can fit into cymbal cases available through music stores which cost about $50 for one that will fit a 17" drum. These are ideal for traveling. Hand made bags are available but are hard to find. Check the Web offerings. Anyone with sewing skills and the inclination can create their own.
5. Your instrument can be cleaned by occasionally rubbing it softly with a slightly damp cloth. Once in a while, the rawhide on the drum will benefit from a very light coating of Neat's-foot Oil compound on the back surface and on the cords. It can be found in the shoe care section of most grocery stores. If your drum has a painted decoration, rub it very lightly. If a design is starting to abrade away you can touch it up with acrylic ink and halt this process by spraying the design with clear matte art fixative such as Krylon© which is available in spray can from art supply stores. Be cautious using fixative, it is toxic, so follow the directions on the can carefully. Unfortunately I have yet to find a non-toxic substance for this purpose.
If your drum should ever need repairs, consult the maker, if possible, or find another drum maker who works in a similar way and see if he or she can make the needed repairs.
With minimal care, your drum will last for many years as a trusted companion. The second drum I made, my personal drum, is over twenty-one years old and shows no signs of wear or fatigue despite having been played almost daily for that entire time.