How to put a new skin on a drum

Kapiti's drum-maker and taiko artist Murray McDonald shows us the process of putting on a new skin on a drum. Unfortunately I got some problems with the lens of my XL2 and had to use ma handycam... Sorry about the sound... Hope you still enjoy!

[@Gurbejong]

Yes, it's only salt. I had a job once processing those skins. Trucks unloaded piles of skins, fresh from the slaughterhouse. All we did was cover a pallet with salt, spread a skin out, cover every bit of the skin with salt, turn it over, salt it and put the next skin on, salt it and so on. It was a salty situation! :)

[@ianbannister1]

Thanks, I'll never need to do it but watching a craftsman is always good.

[@drekdrek2988]

I like it when he said it is gonna be a bit bass. I myself put a skin and made a bit deeper drum.

[@flowtogrow]

Go Murray!!!!!!! He's the greatest! Raumati South Legend! living in the oldest house there too haha blessings! :)

[@gusto68]

@kevinrepp
Thanks for watching Kevin!
This skin, as far as I know, has been only washed out in water. The skins come covered in salt and the only thing you gotta do is wash this salt out and you are ready the plug the hair... I usually soak my skins about an hour before start plugging them. You don't have to use chemicals at all.

[@mungaithairumunga8522]

you are coll you helped my son

[@gusto68]

Usually they come with the drum. But you could also bend your own and weld the ends together or just get em made by an engineer

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

MURRAY! my old flatmate when i lived in new zealand!!!!
if you ever read this,. or know murray, ask him to get in touch!!!!
incidently, i find it MUCH MUCH easier to let the skin dry out, then use the edge of a not-too-sharp metal thing, like the back edge of a knife, and the hairs come off really easily.
i find that shaving the fur/hair whilst wet, the temptation is to use a knifes blade. and you tend to nik the skin too much that way.
doing it dry means u can use a blunt edge therefore avoiding cuts and niks which weaken the skin (or vellum) once it has been stretched and tuned on the drum.
you of course wet it again when ready to put it on the drum.

[@Kahikatea22]

hey Womble Dung I'm a friend of Murray's will be seeing him in the next week or so, will happily tell him to get in touch, will he know you as Womble Dung and will he know how to reach you?

[@gusto68]

Glad you like it! I've just put a deer skin on ma own drum. Should've filmed it... but that's how it goes when you do things on your own ;o) It's not hard to do if you know what you doin :o)

[@FatNebraskaMom]

this was inspiring to watch.

[@shraneelsanjeevnaidu3387]

The easiest way to take out the hair is to rub lime stone powder on the flesh side of the skin and leave it for 24 hours. Next day it'll come our like real soft.lime stone won't damage the leather

[@gusto68]

Good to know ;) Thanks heaps!

[@gusto68]

Thanks! :o) I wish I would be "famous" on youTube and could exceed this video, cause it was kinda hard to press such a long process into 10 minute...

[@bashkillszombies]

Do you guys use all that fur afterwards for stuff? That'd be absolutely amazing materials for felting.

[@musicisbrilliant]

Did he MAKE that drum? Carve it out of a log??

[@098890786]

WOW!!!

[@bashkillszombies]

Everyone makes the same bloody drums from the same weird little corners of the Earth. Usually the people are indigenous Europeans (or Germanic peoples to be more specific) too, who know nothing of their own peoples history or the plethora of musical instruments they had. It's heartbreaking. I've never seen a peoples with more of an identity crisis than theirs.

[@TwitchYogurthTTV]

Bajo mucho la piel del aro !!

[@Thekiki9733]

Where do you get the two rings? J. Hart

[@failim26]

Nıce

[@masimusic316]

Are you in melbourne?

[@user-vk7vj4kz3n]

حلو منتاز

[@gusto68]

lol

[@shraneelsanjeevnaidu3387]

O