[michalkow]

Hi!
I bought new tamani recently (http://djembe-art.de/african-drums-tama ... -drums.htm)
A shell looks good, well shaped, but tama has very poor range of sound. Is it caused by new, unstretched skin? Or sth else?

[Paul]

Which one - Nigerian or Mali/Senegal type.. I have been told that they should be stored under pressure. ie. wrap cord around the waist/centre of the tama and pull it tight when your not using it. I would imagine a drum that relies on being stretched to produce different sounds would require a deal of playing in..

[michalkow]

it's small Malian tamani

[Waraba]

I followed the link. The company has done some bizarre things to their djembes. Not to my taste.

My first tama, from Mali, also, had the same issue. No range. I have no useful advice, only commiseration.

[michalkow]

I've just mounted a new skin on my tama, and it sounds great with full range of sound. So the only way to resolve the problem is to change the skin. I don't know why the previously mounted skin sounded bad, maybe it was too thin.

[bops]

I was going to suggest tuning it up, but it sounds like you've got it figured out. Re-heading a tama is no small task, was this your first time?

[Waraba]

i should send you mine. It's been broken for years. No one I know in the area is willing to fix it.

[michalkow]

Previously I reheaded Senegalese tama (little difference), and Ghanaian dondo (big difference).
Not easy but possible