THE QUALITY OF DARBUKA - DOUMBEK - DUMBEK OR DOHOLLA I MAKE

My vision is to make a Good quality darbuka with Superior sound which will have unique look.
I believe that I've successeded in all three categories, but on this page I'll say couple of words about the quality aspects of the darbukas and doumbeks I make...

There are several aspects which should be considered when talking about the darbuka's quality.
The first one is related with Darbuka physical endurance (Can it be broken?). The answer is Yes and No.
The type of drums I make are certainly more solid than the ones made of natural clay, but definitelly not as copper, aluminum or other metal ones.

So which material do I use?

It's combination of pollyester putty and fiberglass cloth.
That's exactly why they can't be compared with the darbukas made out of clay, since the ones made of fyberglass are so much solid and indistructible in a sense that it is impossible to break the drum on two parts or bigger pieces,

- strong fiberglass cloth reinforce the body into ten times more solid structure.
Two layers of fiberglass cloth and big volume of pollyester putty makes these drums pretty heavy (10 lbs or 5kg) which as outcome has superiour bass sound and strong teks. Other quality aspects are related with well known head rim issues such as: precission of holes for screws and narrow even gap between rim and darbuka body for easier tuning.

As I already mentioned they're not indistructible like darbukas or doumbeks made of copper, aluminium, since it can have some smaller scale damages if hit concrete floor or similar hard and sharp surfaces.

The slideshow above shows the beginning of the process of making a drum shell out of several layers of Fiberglass cloth and Polyester resin. One of the negative side effects of working with Polyester resin are the very hazardous vapors which are released, and which one must avoid inhaling. Solutions are either to work outdoors or to wear a gas mask.