|
|
In the beginning (way back in September 1999) Mike went off to a "drum circle". Arriving back home early the next morning, the bug had bitten! Not knowing where to buy "his" drum he decided to make his own. The search was on for the perfect tree. Some camphor was being cut down near the Hillcrest Library and suddenly our little pickup had a purpose! About a month later, after a whole lot of chiselling, hammering, shaping, sanding and buckets of camphor chips, she was done - all three of her! Two of the original hand carved drums were skinned up with Zebra and the last, but definitely not least, became Snoopy (although she wasn't named until Splashy Fen Music Festival 2002). Deciding that 3 drums in a month were definitely not going to "pay the bills", we went surfing! A zillion sites later, we found the Ashiko, and just about fell off our chairs at the prices quoted on some of the sites, for Djembes and Ashikos. Why were there no affordable drums available and nearly all would have to be imported? The solution to the problem was easy - Mike decided to start making slatted Djembes and Ashikos. He knew that he would be able to produce a lot more using slats of wood than by hand carving. The first slatted drums to come out of the workshop were 8" (20cm) Ashikos, one of the first came back for a visit to our first gathering of the year! We have definitely come a long way since then! Slatted Djembes came next and in true Mike style, the first 2 that came out of the workshop were a 14" (36cm) and a 12" (30cm) with goat skin heads.
Marketing was our next hurdle to cross, but knowing Steve Fataar definitely helped. He very kindly offered us some space in his stall at the flea market. We have since then approached various music shops, who have been extremely enthusiastic about the slatted drums and who have offered to take drums on consignment. Our next big adventure was Splashy 2002! Every minibus taxi on the way up hooted and flashed us - poor pickup!! Eleven drums, tent, bedding, food for 4 people for 4 days, clothes and cigarettes (for Tracey) and off we went. Thank goodness others had arrived before us, so after a short recce, Mike found the camp site that was to be home for the next few days. All I can say is that Splashy is a happening that everyone has to experience! Adventure time again - our birthdays! September was just around the corner and we decided that we would have a drum birthday. Bush was cleared, grass was cut, junk was turfed, tepees and the bedouin were erected, a fire pit was dug, wattle trees were cut down and lastly the workshop was cleaned and rearranged. At that point sleep was a necessity!! People started arriving from about 3:30pm and the last left at 11am on Sunday! General consensus was a good time was had by all. (Thank goodness!) We had quite a long break between the birthday bash and our next gathering held on 4 January 2003 - it rained. About 40 of the faithful arrived in a light drizzle which switched on and off the whole night, but once again feedback was good. Our most recent gathering, on 1 February 2003, had a whole bunch of new faces arrive, which was great - new people to introduce to the wonderful world of drumming and rhythm.
The First Production - 2 November 1999 Listen to the Rhythm of Your Heart
This site was last updated 03/23/09 |
