Shop
Chosen by people who play them.
Instruments, cases, parts, and care — selected and prepared by a builder who has been making drums since he was a teenager.
A drum is not a product with a size chart.
Two djembes cut from the same wood, headed with the same skin, can sound entirely different. Shell thickness, the bearing edge, the density of the wood, how the skin was shaved and how it was tensioned — every one of those decisions moves the sound. Most sellers do not know that, and if they do, they cannot tell you which of theirs is which. Mahiri Fadjimba Keita builds drums. He has done it for decades, and it is why he can tell you what you are buying and what it will do. Everything in this shop was chosen by someone who would be willing to play it in front of his teachers.
Instruments
Djembe
The lead voice of the ensemble. Available in a range of sizes, from student instruments to full performance drums. Each one is tuned, checked, and playable the day it reaches you.
Dunun Sets
The bass voices — dununba, sangban, and kenkeni. Sold as full three-drum sets or individually. Without them there is no ensemble, only a djembe.
Kenkeni Bell Set
The bell that rides with the dunun, mounted and ready to play. The bell is not decoration — it is the timekeeper that holds everything else together.
Krin
The slit log drum. One of the oldest instruments in the tradition, and one of the few that speaks in language as directly as it does in rhythm.
Sege Sege
The gourd rattle. Light, portable, and one of the best first instruments for a young child who is not ready for a drum yet.
Cases & Covers
Djembe Bags
Padded carry bags sized to the drum. If you are transporting an instrument regularly, this is not optional — most damage happens in a car, not in a room.
Drum Covers
For storage and light protection at home or in the studio. Keeps dust off the head and slows the drying that cracks skins.
Parts, Materials & Care
Drum Skins
Skins for reheading, selected for thickness and consistency. If you are not confident doing the work yourself, we will do it — see Custom Builds & Repairs.
Drummer's Hand Cream
For hands that play. Regular playing splits skin at the fingers and the heel of the palm, and cracked hands mean weeks of not playing. This is the least expensive thing in the shop and the one most drummers wish they had bought sooner.
Not sure what to buy? Read this first.
Size matters more than most first buyers expect. A drum that is too large will fight a smaller player and a child will never get a clean tone out of it. A drum that is too small will not give an adult the bass they are reaching for. If you are enrolled in classes, do not rush to buy at all. Drums are provided in the studio. Play here for a season, find out what your hands actually want, and then buy once instead of twice. And if you are still unsure, write to us. We would rather spend ten minutes helping you choose than sell you the wrong drum.
Shipping & Returns
Local pickup — available at the studio in Mount Rainier.
Shipping, returns, and damage-in-transit policies are not yet published. The shop cannot take orders until these are confirmed.
Nothing here is quite what you want?
We build to order, and we repair what you already own. A cracked shell, a split skin, a drum that has lost its voice — most of it is fixable, and most people throw away instruments that did not need to be thrown away.