Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred

9

X-RAY TALKING DRUM

Building your own hand drums has traditionally meant a little bit of woodworking and a whole lot of stretching, tacking, and tanning of raw animal hides. Working hides is tricky and can be expensive (especially if you don’t happen to hunt or live near a slaughterhouse that processes sheep and goats), and the results range from incredible to mediocre. In this project and the next, you’ll build two drums from cheap, everyday supplies. The first is a simple talking drum whose pitch you can change as you play, and the second a somewhat less conventional thunderdrum.

Rumor has it that Cuban bongoceros often use old x-ray films to replace the heads of their bongos (especially on the smaller drum, called the macho). Although this ...