Drum Circle

July 4th Djembe Sale

Take 20% Off All 10" Elite Pro Djembe Drums! Plus get a Free Djembe Set-up & Heavy Duty Pro Gig Bag!

This sale is valid through July 4th so get yours now.

Click on the photos below for HD Video demonstrations and audio samples.


Ivory Elite 10" Pro Djembe
Regular Price $209.00
Sale Price $167.90



Midnight Elite 10" Pro Djembe
Regular Price $209.00
Sale Price $167.90



King Cheetah Elite 10" Pro Djembe
Regular Price $209.00
Sale Price $167.90

Need help deciding? Call toll-free 1-800-771-9645. The fact that we only specialize in hand drums means you get a fantastic selection, great prices and expert advice!

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New Djembe Lessons with Dion Rivers

NY/NY djembe instructor and drum circle facilitator, Dion Rivers explains how to play two traditional African rhythms; Mendiani and Sunu. Watch the videos online and once you learn how each part is played, pick the one you are most comfortable with and play along!

Mendiani Djembe Lesson

Sunu Djembe Lesson

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How a Djembe is Made: Shell Carving & Hand Painting

Watch how the X8 Drums Celtic Labyrinth Djembe is carved and painted.

The Celtic Labyrinth pattern he's working on is among the more easy carvings for an artisan and will take him about 30 minutes to finish. Modern machinery could possibly do the carvings faster, but it’s the hand crafting, pride and skilled focus on the details that offer the djembe its one-of-a-kind uniqueness and distinct sound. Yet, more intricate and refined carvings can take several weeks to complete depending on the pattern and complexity.

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New Arrivals!

New X8 Drums Doumbek

Palm Wood Claves

Aztek Painted Teak Wood Didgeridoo

Coconut Shell Kalimba


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July 4th Offer valid while supplies last. Discount prices expire July 4, 2010 at midnight ET.
Not valid with other coupons, website discounts or past purchases.

Labels: Claves, Dion Rivers, Djembe Carving, Djembe Rhythms, Djembe Sale, Doumbek, July 4, Kalimba, Sale

In this lesson, we will cover the traditional African djembe rhythm called Sunu so that when you are out there doing drum circles and dance classes, you know exactly what you should be doing.



Video Download - iPod/iPhone compatible (29.1 MB):
Click Here To Download

As always, we recommend that if you have the opportunity to hook up with a djembe teacher, please do so. You can never replace a human being. It's the best thing and it is the tradition of how the art of playing the instrument has been taught through the ages.

Before, you may have seen some djembe demonstrations where I have been 'riffing'. In these demonstrations I was riffing on the clave of a particular rhythm.

What I want to do now is give you an idea of the rhythm itself and the djembe parts.

The rhythm we are going to do now is called Sunu. Sunu is a rhythm that traditionally was used for farmers in Guinea West Africa and also used with another rhythm called Djansa in terms of a contest. But here in America, we use it for a different purpose. Often times we see folks use the rhythm Sunu for funeral reasons as well as celebrations.

SUNU DJEMBE RHYTHM

The Break starts and stops the djembe rhythm and changes the dancers, so we start with the break.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

First djembe part

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Second djembe part

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Now when you hear Sunu played here in America you can hear it several different ways.

Some people play it this way:

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

The other way, traditionally:

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]


Either way is fine. They are both right. One is American and the other is Continental. They are both right.

Now think about the parts that we just learned. I am going to riff a little bit including all of those different parts.

The drum used in this demonstration is the 10" Antique Chocolate Deep Carve Djembe.

Labels: Africa, African Rhythm, Dion Rivers, Djembe Lesson, Djembe.Rhythms, How to Play Djembe, Sunu

Learn how to play the traditional African rhythm Mediani on Djembe with drum instructor and drum circle facilitator, Dion Rivers.



Before you begin, a quick note to our viewers:

In past videos, traditional African djembe rhythms have been demonstrated in a relaxed, freestyle environment. This is often times called "riffing" on the rhythm. If you're not familiar with the term "riff", it means to improvise on the clave of the rhythm while the player is singing the rhythm in their head.

So in previous videos if you have seen that a rhythm is titled "Mendiani" or "Kokoba" for example, you may say "That's not what I was taught or that's not what I heard". That's because the player is singing it in his head while he "riffs" on top of it.

In addressing that, what we are doing in this video is literally breaking down the Mendiani Rhythm part by part so that when you play again in your drum circles, dance classes or drum classes, you have an clear understanding of the parts.

Please note that while we enjoy providing this free djembe lesson online, we strongly believe that a real instructor is always the best thing when you are trying to learn djembe or any type of drumming, especially djembe because the instrument has a long tradition and mastering the timing can be difficult for beginners. We welcome you to play along here as long as you like and when you are ready, seek out a real live instructor who can teach you both the traditions and the rhythms of the djembe.

Now, let's play a rhythm called Mendiani. Mendiani is a rhythm for young ladies. It's played all over West Africa, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, and Gambia. There are different styles so if you go to a Senegalese class, it may not be played the same. What we are demonstrating here is the Guinea style.

The Break begins and ends the rhythm. This is the break.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

This is the first djembe part.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Second djembe part. Break again.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Third djembe part.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Those are the basic djembe parts for the rhythm Mendiani. Note that because I am African American, I prefer to mix some of the parts from traditional West Africa Guinea with what drummers do here in America.

Now, the djun djun part. For every rhythm, there is a djun djun part. I am going to play the rhythm for the djun djun part on the djembe with the break.

This is the break again. Now the djun djun part.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

That was Kenkeni

This is the Sangban part

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

This is Dundunba

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

This is Mendiani. Now, let's riff. You sing the parts in your head if you can while we riff a little bit.

Then play along or just listen to see which parts you can master of Mendiani.

The djembe used in this lesson is the X8 Drums Antique Chocolate Deep Carve Djembe, 13".

Labels: Africa, African Rhythm, Dion Rivers, Djembe Lesson, Djembe.Rhythms, How to Play Djembe, Mendiani

Claves are a traditional Afro-Cuban percussive instrument that provides repeating time in many different kinds of cultural music.

Claves are played by striking the two pieces of wood together, in order to create a sharp cracking sound. Modern claves are amplified as a consequence of their hollowness. One clave strikes the other, causing the stick to create a resonance.

How to Play the Claves

The way the claves are played is just by striking them together. The resonation of the wood in each hand will create the sound.

Your technique can optimize the clave sound. Often we see participants at drum circles playing the instrument with a full grip on each clave. This is poor technique and will kill your sound.

The proper technique is to cup the clave with your hand to open up some space so the clave can breathe and you get some resonance. The striker should also be held with a relaxed grip allowing it to resonate as well.

Once you have the technique down, try some Clave at your next djembe drum circle or add it to your Afro-Cuban ensemble!

Labels: Clave, Claves, How to Play Claves