You know what? There is a heck of a lot to know about gourds. Here’s a collection of links to interesting information about gourds. Oceanic Drift of Gourds – Experimental Observations. (1954). As in floating long distances over the sea. Bees are Essential: Pollination of Gourds, Squashes and Pumkins. (1964). Where would we be without […]
Author: Philip McIntosh
We are pleased to announce that we now have gourd hand drums for sale. These are your basic gourd drums with a bottle gourd shell, goat or calfskin head, and a variety of finishes. They range in head diameter from about 15–20 cm (6-8 in). Be sure to check out the audio recordings to hear […]
Good starting material is essential for producing a good end result. Gourds that are old and dry break easily. So do ones with thin shells. The best place to buy a gourd for instrument making purposes is from a local supplier like a farm or farmer’s market where you can get a close look at […]
In a recent exchange with Dennis Waring, he introduced us to the term organology. Sounds like it should be the study of organs (like what are inside plants and animals) or perhaps the kind you find with big pipes on them at the back of a church. But no! Dr. Waring provided us with this […]
Design, Research
What’s New in Percussion Research: July, 2021
References for percussion instrument players, makers, and inventors.
Group music intervention using percussion instruments to reduce anxiety among elderly male veterans with Alzheimer disease Med Sci Monit. 2021; 27: e928714-1–e928714-7. Published online 2020 Dec 17. Prepublished online 2021 Feb 21. doi: 10.12659/MSM.928714 Brandmeyer, A., Timmers, R., Sadakata, M. et al. Learning expressive percussion performance under different visual feedback conditionsch 75, 107–121 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-010-0291-6 Simulation of mallet percussion instruments by a coupled modal vibroacoustic finite element model. […]
Drum Making
On Soaking Drum Heads
One tried and true method for soaking natural materials for gourd drumheads.
When preparing drumhead made of natural material such as goat or calfskin, all drum makers warn against the water being too hot because it can extract the natural glue–like and protein components of the material resulting in a loss of elasticity. Truth be known, we have accidentally gotten the water rather warm to the touch […]
GDE, Publishing
Gourd Drum Engineering: The eBook
Electronic version of Gourd Drum Engineering optimized for iPad now available.
An electronic version of Gourd Drum Engineering is now available! It is designed for optimum functionality viewing in landscape mode on an iPad, but looks good on any ePub reader. About Gourd Drum Engineering Gourd Drum Engineering is mostly about building percussion instruments using gourds, but we hope it will be more than that. The […]
Basic Hand Drum, Instrument Repair
Repairing a Cracked Rim
Instructions for repairing a cracked rim on a basic hand drum.
Spring weather in Colorado can have wide temperature swings. We think that might be the reason we found this basic hand drum with a cracked rim one day. Along with other drums, it was kept in an unheated garage that was quite warm during the day and often near freezing at night.The expansion and contraction […]
Design, Drum Making
Applying the Mind
The utility of clearing the mind when engineering new instruments.
The Güirophone (Figure 1) which is described starting on page xxx of Gourd Drum Engineering was the result of a “happy” accident. The little gourd was intended to be used for prototyping a snare drum and as we got near the end of the first cut, SNAP!—the side of the rim broke. It happens. We […]