Re: Ceramic 10" Doumbek the best sounding?

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
 "Tracer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Went to Guitar Center in DFW to hear the various sizes/models.My opinion was
> that the 10" ceramic with roped skin sounded the best.What do people
> generally recommend as the most desirable doumbek? How unrealistic is it to
> play a roped natural skin drum in a variety of conditions? How hard to tune?
> This one was $100-Drum Circle(?) the manufacturer I believe.
> thanks to all who respond.
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 

You may be thinking of "Full Circle"? That's the brand of ceramic 
doumbeks I recently saw in the Burbank Guitar Center a few days ago. One 
large one (11") and two smaller ones (9"). (I think those sizes are 
right, based on the info on their web site at fullcircledrums.com).

I didn't like the large one much. A loud "doum" but very weak "teks." Of 
the two smaller ones, one had fancier designs in the ceramic work. The 
other was plain and cost a bit less. They sounded quite different from 
each other. Could have been the thickness of the skin or the tightness 
of the heads. I'm not familiar enough with drum construction to say. I 
liked the two smaller ones quite a bit, though I didn't buy either of 
them. (What I would really like to find is a drum just like my teacher's 
ceramic drum from Mid-East Manufacturing! And I have played several of 
them and none were quite as good as hers.)

In other words, use your own ears to decide if a drum (especially one 
with a natural head) sounds right or not. 

As far as useability goes, be aware that ceramic doumbeks are breakable. 
I've heard many stories of people bumping their drum against a doorjamb, 
etc., on the way to a gig and breaking it. I've seen a lot with chipped 
rims, too. Guitar Center offers some sort of a guarantee, kind of like 
the extended warranty that Circuit City, etc., try to sell. It might be 
worth looking into, but there may be some sort of "out" for them if they 
can claim that the damage was caused by negligence. 

I've heard people claim that a doumbek with a tied-on head can't sound 
good, but Full Circle's drums would seem to disprove this. But I'm not 
sure that the ropes really are holding it on. I think the ropes hold it 
in place during manufacture while the glue dries. Since it really is a 
glued-on head rather than tied, I don't think you can tune the drum by 
tightening the ropes. (Does anyone know for sure?) 

Goatskin heads are sensitive to humidity. My tar (frame drum) has a 
goatskin head that goes all the way from sounding super-ping-y in the 
summer to loose-and-flappy in our rainy Northern California winters. 
Synthetic heads don't sound as good as a natural head on the right day, 
but they sound a heck of a lot better than a natural head on the wrong 
day. 

I've got a Remo doumbek - all synthetic - and I'm fairly pleased with 
the sound. Not as loud as the metal ones from Alexandria and Turkish 
(but much better sounding IMHO - I hate mylar heads!), not as good 
sounding as my teacher's ceramic drum from Mid-East (but boomier and 
less sensitive to humidity). If I could find a drum just like my 
teacher's I'd buy it in an instant. 

I have a synthetic tar (a Remo frame drum) and a natural one (imported 
from Pakistan). Seems to me that's really the way to go - a natural one, 
for the days when you've got an important gig and you want to sound 
great, or the weather's perfect and you've just gotta play THAT drum, or 
the weather's not perfect and you're willing to fuss with light bulbs or 
blow driers or whatever to compensate - and a synthetic drum that you 
can take to drum circles, leave in the car, not worry too much about 
getting stolen or damaged by idiots with rings on their fingers, that 
will sound pretty good even when it's pouring rain and the heat isn't 
working in the gym because it's the weekend.

HTH-

Chip

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