Skin / Body

Tuning a Djembe

The sound each djembe has, depends on the kind of wood, the diameter, the thickness of the skin, the weather, the place where you play and how tightly the ropes are pulled. The only thing that you can easily change when you don't like the sound of your instrument (anymore), is the tightening of the ropes.

A word of advice for people living in climates like the one I'm living in : avoid tuning your djembe when it is too damp : the risk of tearing the skin is much greater then.

Since some djembes are tightened in a somewhat chaotic way when you buy them (e.g. when they have used up bits of rope in stead of one long rope for the horizontals), the first time it can be quite difficult to find where to start. Sometimes the remainder of the rope is made into a handle, in which case you have to start by undoing that. Find the loose end and make sure that it comes from a knot (twisting two verticals).

Here is an overview in pictures of how to start a new row and tie a knot :

Steps 1 to 6

Tuning a Djembe : Left to Right

1: end the row

Ideally, the rope is coming from the bottom, going round and round always in the same direction (here : left to right) whilst twisting the verticals, and ending somewhere along a new line.
It happens quite a lot too that the rope finishes right at the end of a row, so that you have to start a new row with your next knot. In this case, you have to first get the rope under the first knot of the row you are finishing (see red circle). Don't make a knot, just pull up the existing knot (with a screwdriver or something) and tuck the end of the rope underneath it.
Then take the indicated verticals (green dots - you see you have to skip a couple) to start making your first knot.
2: under the 2nd rope

Put the rope under the farthest of the 2 verticals you want to twist, against the direction the rope is going (here : from right to left).
3: under rope 1 and 2

Now put the rope under both verticals you want to twist, in the direction the rope is going (here : from left to right).

The pink arrows indicate the next step : the "scissor" movement. It makes easier later on to pull the knot well down.
The rope is under the 2nd vertical 2 times. You now move the loose end down under the other piece of the same rope. You actually flip the way the rope is going, as you see on the next photo.
4: scissor movement and pull down

This is the result of the scissor movement.

Now take the middle piece of rope (see pink arrow) and pull it down to the bottom of your djembe, as far as it will go. This is important to get maximum tension in the ropes.
5: pull the knot

This is what you should get after the previous step.

Now get a good grip on the loose end of the rope (e.g. by twisting it round a stick or using a special pulling tool used by sailors), hold the djembe down e.g. with your foot, and pull! Make sure you pull down, not up, so that the knot stays as low to the bottom of the djembe as possible.
6: done!

Admire your knot!

Now continue in the same way with the next two verticals (green dots), until your djembe sounds the way you like it.

Note : On the photo you can see how, after a couple of rows, you get a "row" of double rope where you skip to the next row (blue arrow).

Tuning a Djembe : Right to Left

It goes exactly the same way in the other direction :

1 : under one, under two, scissor
Under the farthest rope against the direction, under the two in the direction, scissor movement.		 2 : result after scissor movement
Pull down as far as is possible.		 3 : result after pulling down
The result : a nice knot waiting to be pulled.