Shaman Drums FAQ
What shaman drums do you recommend?
Vegan shaman drum
REMO BUFFALO FIBERSKYN DRUMS
My painted drums are vegan buffalo drums from REMO.
What is a vegan drum?
A drum that does not use animal skin - so it has a synthetic skin! Just google Remo and you find them anywhere worldwide (the "naked" drum all white with the logo). They are quite famous as they hold their tune no matter the weather and are easy to travel with and make good instruments for outdoor use. Plus they sound good!
Advantages of a vegan drum:
- no animal harm
- holds tuning outdoors very well
- ideal for traveling: no biosecurity problems when flying to other countries
Traditional animal hide shaman drum
I now only use vegan drums, however if you want a traditional, non-vegan shaman drum made from animal hide, I recommend these:
DAVID & ROMAN DRUMS are tuned with air (pneumatic pitch control). You tune it with a simple bike pump. They sound stunning and are very well made. I did start with a cheaper Terre drum from Thomann years ago and it was not nearly as resonant and strong in tone as this one. You get what you pay for. These drums are around 200-300 Euro, depending on size.
They are available via this website:
http://www.davidromandrums.com/eng/site01.htm.
Advantages of a animal hide drum:
- produces a certain sound that cannot be immitated with man made materials - some people prefer this sound
What do the symbols on your drums mean?
During the creation process, I infuse the drums with intention, healing energies and blessings. The light codes are part of that process.
Meaning of Light codes:
Most of my drum motifs come with a golden ring of codes. These are called light codes, or light language. This is a healing transmission I receive which does not have a meaning in words, but is understood with the heart. They represent universal beauty, harmony and love.
Watch my creation process video & how I sing my drums into life!
Do you paint other drums than the REMO Buffalo drums?
I only paint vegan drums by REMO. I am not painting on animal hide.
The only other drum I offer to paint is the 16 inch Remo Frame drum. This drum does not come with a mallet and is intended to be played with the hands.
Do you paint smaller sizes that 16 inch?
No. All my templates are made for 16 inch and my markers are 2mm thick, so a smaller drum makes it hard to keep the artwork precise. Also, the sound is not satisfying for the smaller drums. The only other possibility would be the next bigger size by Remo, the 22 inch which is quite large and will be more expensive to paint and ship.
Can I ship in my own drum for you to paint?
No.
Do you make drums on commission? Personalisations?
Commissions
Let me know what you have in mind and I will see if I am guided to co-create with you or not. Keep in mind that my style involves graphical designs and markers, so I do not create shading or gradients. Also I have a limited color range as the markers only come in certain colors - so I work with those colors. If you are looking for a realistic looking artwork, I recommend you look elsewhere, for example UK drum artist Sharyn Turner.
I love sacred geometry, mandalas and light codes. Commission artworks will be around 500€, depending on complexity and material costs.
Personalisations
What I can offer you is changing colors of existing designs, for example, codes in silver instead of gold, or adding little details that do not need me to create a completely new template. This is free of charge. Just ask!
Examples for adjustments are:
- silver codes instead of golden codes
- tree of life in a dark irish green
- a red dragon instead of a green one
- leaving the ring of codes out
- the mandala design in a different color scheme
Can I get a galaxy / cosmos background drum?
Certain motifs are created for a while, until I am guided to stop doing them and creating new motifs instead. I honor this process. So, the galaxy drums for example are no longer a motif that I paint. Only 5 people worldwide own these now.
What materials do you use for painting your drums?
To paint the remo drums, I use acrylic paint, acrylic markers and acrylish varnish to seal them off at the end. The brand of markers and varnish is MOLOTOW. I suggest to get a good quality for the paint and varnish and test them out on paper, wood, etc. before you actually start painting the drum.
If you want to paint a regular skin drum, you can also use henna (henna does not work on fake skin and vegan drums like remo). Please google henna for drum painting, I am not experienced in this. Or you can use acrylics for that as well, as long as the drum skin is not treated / oiled. Ask your provider about this.
I have also seen people use oil colors to paint drums, but again, no personal experience as I choose acrylics as they dry fast and are water-based. For more info and a step by step tutorial, visit: