Kohaku Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 Forgive the rambling intro, but I need to provide some context... One of my ongoing projects involves crafting indigenous musical instruments from regions with critically endangered species. Among the list of instruments I need to make is a Kultrun Drum (from Chile- home of the Juan Fernandez Fur Seal). These are flattened, broad drums... with a drum head that's usually attached with thongs (although it can be riveted in some cases). Anyhow, here's the drum body that I made... I always planned to attach the drum head with thongs... but I was concerned about the visual impact to the surface. Aside from the circularity of the carved designs, you've got a strong crackle pattern that I hate to de-emphasize. Here's the piece with the drum head attached... The thongs couldn't be spaced with 100% evenness (I didn't want to overlap the designs). The net effect- the integrity of the surface is compromised, and the drumhead buckles between the more widely spaces thongs. Overall, it just looks... sloppy. So- I'm thinking of drilling holes in the rim and attaching a new drumhead using rivets. I've never drilled ceramic before. What do people think are my odds of doing this without destroying the piece? Note- I have had good success with riveting drumheads to Raku drums... but always with the holes augered in before I bisqued the piece... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piedmont Pottery Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 If it were me, I would use a larger steel or brass ring on the outside of the pot to attach the cords to rather than drilling. Size the ring to fit just beneath the widest diamter, above the level of the fish. This way you can tension the head evenly without obscuring your design or breaking the pot when trying to drill it. Good luck Jeff Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted May 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 If it were me, I would use a larger steel or brass ring on the outside of the pot to attach the cords to rather than drilling. Size the ring to fit just beneath the widest diamter, above the level of the fish. This way you can tension the head evenly without obscuring your design or breaking the pot when trying to drill it. Good luck Jeff Ross Not a bad idea. What I have a little trouble getting my head around with this is the tensioning process. You'd have about an inch to work with between the ring and the edge of the drumhead- so you'd have to attach the cords to the head (or leave rawhide strips) and then cinch them down relatively tight while the leather was wet. I haven't seen this done... the drums I've seen with rings use the double-ring method. Might be a higher-success alternative than drilling the rim, though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrgpots Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 If it were me, I would use a larger steel or brass ring on the outside of the pot to attach the cords to rather than drilling. Size the ring to fit just beneath the widest diamter, above the level of the fish. This way you can tension the head evenly without obscuring your design or breaking the pot when trying to drill it. Good luck Jeff Ross Not a bad idea. What I have a little trouble getting my head around with this is the tensioning process. You'd have about an inch to work with between the ring and the edge of the drumhead- so you'd have to attach the cords to the head (or leave rawhide strips) and then cinch them down relatively tight while the leather was wet. I haven't seen this done... the drums I've seen with rings use the double-ring method. Might be a higher-success alternative than drilling the rim, though ;)src="http://ceramicartsdaily.org/community/public/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif"> I have made native American drums with wood pieces glued into a cylinder and the drum head stretched overtop. I created a 1/4 in deep indentation all the way around the cylinder about 1/2 in below the cylinder top edge, creating a ring 1/4" more narrow than the outer diameter of the drum head. I used a tight metal ring that snugged up into the indentation to hold the stretched the rawhide down. You could throw your next drum cylinder with a similar groove about 1/2 in below the top edge, then use a ring to hold down the drum head. Still use the rawhide strips as you have in your picture with thering on the back to stretch the rawhide strips. The ring just below the drumhead would prevent the drumhead from lifting up. It works well for my wooden drumheads. Jed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 if this is a silly suggestion, just laugh at it. what about using heavy duty clear fishing line so if the strings cover the beautiful seals they will not interfere too much. lovely artwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted May 18, 2013 Report Share Posted May 18, 2013 Ceramics do not drill well-the chances it dies are very high with drilling-if you do use a diamond or masonary bit water and go REALLY slow I would not drill it as its asking for trouble and thier are many ways to avoid it and have it still work as a drum . Next drum make the holes first. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted May 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2013 Mark Yup. The only reason I didn't was because I wanted to be as 'authentic' as possible. (See the image below). Of course- the Argentinian kultruns are made of wood, and don't feature motifs around the flanks, so I'm already behind the eight ball on this one. I should have just drilled the holes to leave myself the option. Oldlady- thanks for the suggestion. I can't see putting fishing line on the piece that eventually goes into the public installation... but for something to pass on to a friend, it may be a good option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted May 18, 2013 Report Share Posted May 18, 2013 I have had students make drums over the years. The sinew for seuring the skin does distract from the decoration. During my last teaching job, I showing the udu drums video by Frank Giorgini. They do not use a skin. One day my students were jamming with their drums and sounded really good. Google them and think if you could use that idea. Your decoration is very nice...too nice to cover up. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen222 Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Forgive the rambling intro, but I need to provide some context... One of my ongoing projects involves crafting indigenous musical instruments from regions with critically endangered species. Among the list of instruments I need to make is a Kultrun Drum (from Chile- home of the Juan Fernandez Fur Seal). These are flattened, broad drums... with a drum head that's usually attached with thongs (although it can be riveted in some cases). Anyhow, here's the drum body that I made... I always planned to attach the drum head with thongs... but I was concerned about the visual impact to the surface. Aside from the circularity of the carved designs, you've got a strong crackle pattern that I hate to de-emphasize. Here's the piece with the drum head attached... The thongs couldn't be spaced with 100% evenness (I didn't want to overlap the designs). The net effect- the integrity of the surface is compromised, and the drumhead buckles between the more widely spaces thongs. Overall, it just looks... sloppy. So- I'm thinking of drilling holes in the rim and attaching a new drumhead using rivets. I've never drilled ceramic before. What do people think are my odds of doing this without destroying the piece? Note- I have had good success with riveting drumheads to Raku drums... but always with the holes augered in before I bisqued the piece... Drilling holes competition which is never stopped for very windy conditions,weighting and tuning boomerangs which has become an art.In addition, as throwers which have become more sophisticated also have developed innovative tuning techniques to adjust and fine tune the flights of their boomerangs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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