In Africa, one of the Djembe's functions is as a healing drum.
Djembe drums have become very popular in recent years not only because of the
infusion of African and Middle Eastern musical styles into popular music but also because djembe
drums lend themselves to a wide range of music. A variety of sounds can be pulled from a
djembe (pronounced “GEM-bay”) drum, from the deep and booming “bottom” tone to the bright, singing “
top” sound. A djembe can easily be played to emulate a set of congas or bongos and the kick and
snare of a drum set as well as the music that djembes are usually associated with. That’s why
djembes have become “the one drum” to carry!
REMO Acousticon Djembe Shells
REMO Djembes are based on the same traditional Djembe tone and form combined with their
modern advances, particularly the REMO Acousticon® drum shell made in the USA. Remo’s proprietary
Acousticon® is an environmentally friendly shell material made with 100% recycled wood fibers.
Acousticon djembe shells have all of the tone and resonance of solid wood shells but are much
lighter (more portable!) and less expensive to manufacture. This results in a great-sounding and
durable drum that in a wide and dramatic variety of Designers Touch and Fabric finishes, looks as
dramatic as it sounds and sounds better than it costs!
REMO Tunable Djembe Sizes
REMO tunable djembe sizes run from a top, or drumhead, diameters of 10”, 12”, 14”, 16”
and 18” with the
14”
size having a slight edge in popularity because it is not too big to carry conveniently and not
too small to lose the big bottom tone. Go bigger if you want more big, boomy bottom or a smaller
size for a higher range and sweet top tones. Different-sized djembes played together by two or more
drummers sound fantastic!
Why Key-Tuned Djembes?
Unlike traditional fixed-head or rope-tuned djembes, REMO has led the field with the
great advance of its key-tuned djembe drumheads. You can easily re-tune your REMO djembe to the
dominant pitch you prefer and in the rare event that your djembe drumhead becomes worn out or torn,
it can be very easily replaced. The REMO newly engineered key-tuned “Contour” lug brackets make
tuning more precise than ever.
REMO Djembe Drum Heads vs. Animal Hide Heads
The main business of REMO is making DRUMHEADS. Remo first found great success in making
drumheads for acoustic drums, replacing calfskin with highly-specialized polyester film materials
that well emulated the warm tone and easy response of calfskin while being far more durable and
also, immune to fluctuations of the pitch and tone of the drumhead caused by temperature and
humidity of changes in the weather.
In the 1980s, REMO began applying this technology to the making of drumheads for world
percussion instruments. As they accomplished with drum set heads, REMO has dramatically succeeded
in creating authentic-sounding, weatherproof and extremely durable drumheads for djembes.
REMO MONDO™ Drumheads
In 1992, the MONDO™ drumhead (Italian for “world”) introduced a new era of innovative
drumhead manufacturing, increasing the possibilities for Remo World Percussion. This development
provided a pre-shaped drumhead, specific to the new Remo drums that allowed for easy tuning and
replacement while creating a very natural and traditional sound. Then later creating the SKYNDEEP™
drumheads for djembes, congas and bongos, REMO had a drumhead that precisely replicated the look
and the feel of real animal hide heads, bringing a completely authentic playing experience to their
expanding series of djembes.
REMO SKYNDEEP™ Drumheads
SKYNDEEP™ drumheads are mounted on the REMO Infinity, Designer, Leon Mobley, Apex and
the original Key-Tuned Series djembes. The Advent djembe comes with a REMO Suede drumhead which is
a popular drumhead for standard drum sets and sounds great on the Apex.
SKYNDEEP™ Graphic drumheads are featured on the Infinity, Designer and Leon Mobley series of
djembes are decorative drumheads that are made using a proprietary ink embedding process, embedding
unique designs into the head while maintaining the integrity of a great sounding drumhead with
warm, crisp and vibrant tones. In other words, the REMO SKYNDEEP™ Graphic drumheads sound fantastic
and look really cool, too! The equation is: REMO Acousticon Shells + Unique and Creative
Finishes + Key Tuning + SKYNDEEP™ drumheads = A fantastic line of Djembes!
You can check out our entire selection of REMO Djembes
here.
Get your REMO Djembe from Sam Ash Direct today, with
fast, free shipping at the guaranteed lowest price. Sam Ash Direct gives you the security
of more than 86 years of experience, 24/7 customer support and the Sam Ash Direct 45 day return and
60 day price protection policy. You cannot go wrong!
