Native American Drum Sound Variation
At Mission Del Rey, we had an interesting question about Native American drum sound recently. A lady in a drumming circle asked if the sound varied on different parts of an Indian drum or if it is consistent across the surface.
The answer is that Native american drums are made with natural hides rather than modern man-made materials and the sound charactoristics are different.
People who drum with Indian drums vary the tone of the drum in two ways. First by the strength of the strike with the beater and then also by where the strike the drum. By alternating the strike point from drum center to the edge of the drum, the drummer can control the tone and volume of the the native drum.
I've also noticed that drummers use different tom tom's or beaters. It is quite noticable that a hard or soft head on the beater brings forth a different sound even on the same drum. The soft drum stick delivers a softer thud sound while a hard beater yields a more resonant or ringing tone with a noticable vibration.
