Fun With Hand Drums

As some of you may know, Nate has been playing drums for a number of years. His lessons have always been on set, but he has played "regular" drums in concert and marching band. Last fall, Nate decided that he was going to play drums at church with his Mom's Praise Band, Pacem, as well as with the yet unnamed Lifesygns band that plays at Teen Mass. While he could have played his set at mass, a hand drum is much easier to transport and a little more mellow for the mass setting. I decided to get him a djembe, an African hand drum since that is what Mr. Barr plays at mass and I knew he would give me good advice on buying one. The one I got Nate is shown on the left - it is a 14 inch djembe, with goat skin head and synthetic body. It is mechanically tuned, since I figured a 15 year old wouldn't want to mess with rope tuning.


Nate has a blast playing his djembe at mass and with Lifesygns. At youth group, he can play it loud and wild. I played the djembe at youth group a couple times when Nate let me and I can tell you it is way too much fun. I also got to play it at Eucharistic Adoration in December. This was the first time I had ever played or sung at a church event and it was moving and spiritual. I decided that I needed my own drum after these events. (For those who don't know, I started out a drummer before playing clarinet, baritone/euphonium and sax). I decided I needed something different in a drum, so after some research, I chose a doumbek, a traditional Middle Eastern drum. My drum is shown on the right, it is a 11 inch, hand etched aluminum drum with a synthetic head. I play at youth group practice to help keep the beat and at mass if requested. Teen Mass is for the teens - we are trying get to an all teen band soon.