TOCA Djembes

TOCA Djembes:

Tuning and Maintenance of Toca Djembes

Tuning
Toca's Djembe and Circle Drums will need to be tuned as they do not come pre-tuned from the factory.

With a tuning wrench, move in a circular motion around the drum, (using the Toca Logo as your guide to remember where you started) giving each nut one half turn in a counter-clockwise direction until you've gone around the drum once completely. Tightening in half turns is recommended for applying even tension to the head, (if the head is very loose, more turns can be used to get the head to produce a tone). Continue this process until the desired pitch is reached, always keeping in mind to visually inspect the collar of the head for even tension.

It is important to note that the animal skin head is matched to the size of your drum. Animal skin heads are not perfectly even like plastic heads. Drums should be tuned until the pitch is high and focused, with no ring while playing an open tone.

Maintenance
It is a good idea to slightly loosen your heads after playing. Going in a circular motion, give each tension nut a half turn clockwise to loosen. Do this, working your way completely around the drum twice. This simple procedure will help to lengthen the life of your heads.

During the manufacturing process, (before skin heads are mounted to the drums) heads are soaked in water to make them pliable for mounting. Due to this process, some of the oils are depleted from the heads. To achieve the best possible sound, we recommend rubbing a small amount of hand lotion containing lanolin into your drum heads, once they have been tuned. This will make the skins sound better, increasing volume and tonality, because the skin can relax to vibrate better.

Occasionally, tension rods will squeak when tightening or loosening. This occurs when lubricant between the nuts and washers dries up. If this occurs, apply some lubricating oil.

You can keep fingerprints off your shell with a chamois polish cloth.