Hardware

I've been doing some investigation into drums and drumming lately.

Param Satya plays the tabla. I've been playing mrdanga for a few years now, and recently I've taken up doumbek (aka darbuka, tarambuka, egyptian tabla and more), and djembe.

Prahlad plays mrdanga, doumbek, and djembe.

We have a kirtan retreat coming up with drumming workshops and a drumming circle, so all these drums will come in handy. There are a few more at Atma as well.

We're also investigating designs, materials, and production lines for producing mrdangas locally and globally.

Remo manufacture a number of different models of djembes, designed in conjunction with percussionists such as Paulo Mattioli. This is a review of the key-tuned djembe.

This drum is made of a masonite-like material, a type of compressed cardboard (wood), and is surprisingly manufactured in the good ole US of A.

It's interesting to see a) that modern instrument manufacturers make modernized versions of traditional world drums, and b) how they do it.

Djembes are traditionally made using wood (there is a local outfit here in Byron Bay that do them out of camphor laurel). The head is traditionally an animal skin. These Remo drums are made using a processed wood as the body, and utilizing a synthetic "Skyndeep" head.

While Remo's site carries information on the Nuskyn and Fiberskin heads, it doesn't seem to have information on the Skyndeep head, apart from this page, which is low on details. Skyndeep heads don't appear in the latest Remo drum head catalog either.

[Update: It turns out that Skyndeep is a Fiberskin head with impregnated pigment finish.]

Remo make an imitation "fish skin" version of this head for doumbeks. I don't know how you make a drum head out of fish skin, or who first thought of trying it, but doumbek's with fish skins sound nice.

The key-tuned djembe uses the Mondo version of the head. It has tuning keys around the head that use 1/32" (imperial) nuts.

It comes with a small spanner for tuning.

One of the great features of this drum is the fact that it has a consistent sound. It may not sound as good as a traditional drum on its best day, but it always sounds better than a traditional drum on a bad day. It has a longer lifespan as well, with the ability to easily change the head, and tune it without having to take it to some dreadlocked, reefer smoking guy ;-)

Currently the bass note of this drum is tuned to D. We use it in large stand up kirtans with a harness strap (photo coming), and also in some mellow pieces with guitar and mandolin, although we've started to use a clay doumbek for that too.

The sounds are generally good and the dynamic range is wide, allowing the drum to pound it out in the mosh pit and also lightly accompany a mellow bhajan.

I'm doing some more mrdanga playing video podcasts, so I'll talk to Vrajadhama to get him to show you how to play the djembe along with the mrdanga in kirtan. He is the master of this.

Overall I would rate this drum as 9/10 for a synthetic drum. Durable construction, excellent materials, and innovative design combine to produce a very versatile and dependable addition to the kirtan backbone.

Prem Yogi recently acquired a new Balarama mrdanga. He rang Krishna.com and asked them if they had anything lying around that they could supply him with, in order to avoid the standard 5-6 month waiting period for Ratna to make one up. Fortuitously they had a slightly used full-sized blue Balaram mrdanga that they sent over within a week. Tenacity pays off.

Prem Yogi with his new mrdanga

It was Prem's 25th birthday this week, and I wanted to get him something so I bought him a case for the mrdanga.

A mrdanga must always be transported and stored in a case. The mrdanga is understood as both Lord Balaram (Sankarshan) and Krishna's flute.

At the time that Lord Krishna was going to advent as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu He told everyone that he was about to incarnate on Earth. Then he told His flute that since He would be coming as His own devotee He would not be taking the flute with Him. Venu was very disappointed and begged to accompany Him, so therefore the Lord arranged for His flute to come as the mrdanga.

All the Lord's paraphenalia is manifested by Sankarshan, the first of the quadruple expansion of Sankarshan, Vasudeva, Aniruddha, and Pradyumna. This means that Lord Narayana's brahman thread, His shoes, and other personal paraphenalia are all manifestations of Lord Sankarshan. The nitya-dhama of the spiritual world, and the dhama that appear in the material world are all also manifestations of Lord Sankarshan. So the flute also is manifested by Lord Sankarshan. Venu is a form of visnu-tattva expansion, not jiva tattva, or some impersonal category. In spiritual life everything is personal.

So the mrdanga must be honored in this category. All of the paraphenalia of worship of the Lord, including the mrdanga, are sacred and worshipable by us. Our service to this paraphenalia is our sadhana.

So the mrdanga must always be transported and stored in a case. Consequentially, storing the mrdanga in this way protects it and extends its service lifetime.

Here's the case we got: Musical Instrument Transportation System (M.I.T.S) by UK's Protection Racket.

Internally the case is lined with a dual-layer synthetic fleece (Propad and Propile) that wicks moisture away from the instrument, preserving the tonal characteristics of the drum. It also absorbs impacts, distributing the force of a blow across the entire body of the instrument.

Here's a shot of the mrdanga in the case:

And a shot of the case done up:

RRP: AU$99.95 (it went on special for AU$59.99 the morning that I went to get one! :-) )

Conclusion: Solid and well constructed using durable materials. Well thought out design. Nicely executed. It would have been a ten if it had a pocket for the tuning key to go in. (We need to look into something that attaches to the mrdanga strap to store that, actually). The new models have backpack straps and a pocket. This is the previous model that was being sold out.

Rating: 9/10

Raivata writes me:

Hmm I reckon you are right and copying a good synthetic design like that. It's a simple and proven design.

On the ahimsa note I reckon it's ok to use animal skin when it comes from pests like goats or possums (pests in NZ anyway). Allowing them to live is simply causing violence to the other life forms they harm. Perhaps you could train up some of the local boys as Kshatriyas and send them out there to bring home a few skins. Good for the environment, good for the sankirtana yajna and a practical step for introducing varnashram.

Ahimsa aside, I am tending to the use of synthetic heads. I used my Balaram mrdanga in the Andes, in the jungle, and in the desert while I was in South America. Sometimes in the same week. You can't do that kind of thing with an animal skin head drum.

I want this drum to be the "AK-47" of mrdangas. Here are the characteristics of the AK-47 that I want it to share:

• Built using large, crude parts - AK-47's are easily maintained even by peasants. Local gunsmiths are able to produce replacement parts using artisanry. This mrdanga should have parts that are easy to replace using standard parts or replacement parts that people can make.
• Strong and durable - AK-47's are legendary for their ability to sustain punishment and neglect and keep firing. They aren't the most accurate of weapons, but they make up for this with volume of sustained firepower over the lifetime of the weapon. My Balaram mrdanga has gone through aircraft cargo holds, bus lockers, and numerous trips in the boot of the car. This is an argument against clay bodies. My Balaram mrdanga may not sound as good as a bonafide Bengali clay mrdanga, but it has outlasted fifty of them in its service lifetime.
• Coming off a factory line at the rate of 180,000 per day - if you don't have a plan to make thousands of mrdangas, you don't really have a plan for making thousands of devotees. This is an argument in favor of using standard pre-fabricated parts (such as Remo heads), and industrial production materials and existing production lines (the logic of the snake and the mousehole)
• On the national flag of a country - the AK-47 played such a crucial role in the liberation of Mozambique that they put it on the national flag. This mrdanga will play such a crucial role in the liberation of modern nations that it will feature on the national flag of several nations.

No one goes into war without a serious plan for industrial production of armaments. It's time to tool national industries for the sankirtan-yajna. It's time to beat our AK-47s into mrdangas, and wage a surgical war on the diseased mentality which is ravaging our communities worldwide.

The first phase is guerilla warfare, the second phase total war.

Param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam!
Total victory of the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord!

Both use mylar heads, and the bodies are constructed of aluminium. Weight is good. Sound is good.

The Egyptian design is something that could work for a mrdanga. It would remove the perishable rubber component from the current Balarama design.

A young guy at the drum shop told me he bought a clay darbuka in Egypt that uses mylar heads. I'm going up the coast to the place that imports darbukas to see some clay ones. I'm interested in the possibility of a hybrid clay / synthetic head design.

We have a locally made clay water filter at Atma, so we can get fired clay. Glazed it will be stronger than the unglazed bodies made in India.

Remo make Nuskyn and Fibreskyn heads for world percussion instruments. These are synthetic heads that mimic animal skins, using layers of Mylar and Tyvek.

It's almost impossible to get animal drum heads into Australia. Customs gamma rays and sprays them, which makes most of them break quite soon afterwards. There are local animal skin suppliers, but these are definitely not ahimsa heads.

Synthetic heads avoid the animal slaughter angle, and are easier to replace and more consistent in different weather conditions.

The current Balarama design uses a 17.5" head. The darbukas have 22" heads. The Remo Djembe has a 30" head. We'll make our mrdanga use a standard Remo head, so that replacements are easily procurable.

Further to thoughts on making mrdangas and clay mrdangas versus other materials:

I think the Darbuka, also known as Doumbek, or Egyptian tabla, is a good example. This is a drum that is very popular throughout the Middle East, from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. Traditionally it is made with a clay body and fish skin head. Modern darbukas are manufactured by a number of companies worldwide, including one from Remo, and typically utilize aluminium covered with a decorative vinyl finish, with a mylar head with tuning screws.

You can watch the youtube video of Mansour, a famous Egyptian tabla player, playing various darbukas. He starts with a westernized aluminium one with mylar head, and then at 0:42 switches to a clay one. The difference is night and day, as is the difference between a Balarama mrdanga and a clay mrdanga (actually technically called a 'khol' - the mrdanga is a different drum, but we'll stick with the ISKCON term "mrdanga" for this drum).

Check out this young guy from Turkey, Onar. He is also very good. His style is a derivative of famous Turkish darbuka virtuoso Misirli Ahmet ("Misirli of Egypt" as he is known in his native Turkey), who studied and developed his distinctive decorative style in Egypt.

Vinyl covered aluminium could be a good material to make mrdangas from. It is lighter than fibreglass and gives a louder sound.

There are obviously production lines set up to make drums with these materials.

Samba World Percussion here in Australia import and distribute a range of darbukas.

This is a "Turkish-style" darbuka:

Take note of the head-securing / tuning mechanism used.

This is an "Egyptian-style" darbuka:

Note the different design of the head. This style is a lot easier on the hands when you play it.

Here is the same design, this time with a decorative vinyl covering:

Traditionally the clay ones are painted and sculpted to give them a decorative finish.

These are traditional drums that are being produced by modern western drum companies. Is there a possibility that our khol could also be produced like this by Remo or some other large drum company?

It is possible. What it would take is for someone to champion the mrdanga and increase its popularity. As kirtan and sankirtan rise in popularity, if a virtuoso steps forwards and creates a reputation for himself, then they could approach a large drum company with a potential market and a potential marketer.

Otherwise, we could look at using existing production facility and financing our own production runs.

Check out this modular drum from Remo, which can transform into a darbuka, djembe, or conga.

I would personally like a mrdanga made with aluminium, with heads like the Egyptian tabla, and a decorative vinyl finish. Each one would also come with a carry bag / protective cover, with a pocket in it for the tuning key, like the one I have for my Balarama mrdanga. That will rock.

Only time separates us.

Phani commented:

it's great how you utilize locally available material and skills to produce mrdangas, or something that comes close to the original thing. but isn't clay locally available in most places, too? (eskimos might experiment with ice-mrdangas...) i never watched mrdangas being made here in mayapur, but don't think there's a huge learning curve getting the clay molded, dried, and burnt into mrdanga shape.

for the heads you could still use fiber, plastic, or whatever; not screwed on, but tied up like the indian mrdangas are. at least until cow protection becomes more wiedespread in the west, and ahimsa leather of cows who passed on peacefully.

metal and wood work has been known in india for a long time, and there are drums made of these materials, too. but as far as i know, for kirtan / bhajan, always clay drums have been used. i haven't heard many varieties of modern mrdangas and am no musical expert anyway, but as far as i can tell, there's quite a difference between the original thing and the other materials...

This echoes the conversation I had last night with Craig at the temple. He also suggested using clay, and mentioned one potter that he knows.

Here are the reasons why we are not considering clay at this point in time:

• Clay is fragile and the drums made from it are not durable
• The mounting of heads is more complicated due to the need to tie them on, rather than mount them with simple screws
• Mass production is not as easy as using other materials that are more readily available and worked with commonly available industrial production lines

To build the infrastructure to make fibreglass / kevlar / aluminium drums is undoubtedly more difficult and expensive than to build the infrastructure needed to make clay ones. However, this infrastructure is already in place in modern cities, whereas the infrastructure and skillset to make clay mrdangas is not.

This has been my initial consideration.

In Srila Prabhupada's time devotees went to Navadvipa and spent many months trying to learn the traditional methods of mrdanga production, but were unable.

At the same time we see that Balarama mrdanga production, using western technologies is going on.

I'll post another article with some more of my thoughts on mrdanga production in the modern western world.

There is no need of sending the artisan to U.S.A. better send our disciples from here and learn the art there. In this connection manufacturing the mrdanga shells as well as the skin work on it is very essential. If possible our men may learn how to make karatalas also. At Navadvipa, there are many artisans for this purpose.
The summary is that our men must learn these four things: doll making, mrdanga making, karatala making and if possible making saris.

- Letter to Jayapataka, Bhavananda, 9 May, 1973

Make as many mrdangas as possible.

- Letter to Tamal Krishna, 11 January, 1974

The mrdanga-making is very important. The new bhaktas, they can be engaged in the mrdanga-making and also help Bharadraja with the doll-making

- Letter to Jayatirtha, 20 November, 1975

Amul from New Jersey, USA writes:

i just saw your video where you put silicon on the mrdanga head. I have a question about that. Does it dry smooth? i am asking because if you want to do the "woop woop" slide on the big side of the mrdanga, if its really rough then it wont be possible. please let me know, i am going to do this because this is such a problem, that black stuff just doesn't stay on sometimes!

Dandavats Amul,

That depends on how you do it, and what you use to do it.

You might need to sculpt the edge, otherwise you'll find it come right off the drum head when you apply force to it laterally, instead of perpendicular to the drum head.

Ratnabhusana prabhu, who makes the Balaram mrdangas in LA, explained to me that he uses glue under the rubber mix that he uses on the Balarama heads, in order to get the rubber to bond more fully to the mylar head.

You might want to experiment with the compound that you use on the drum. I used roofing and sealing silicone. Vraja used some other stuff. There are a lot of compounds out there. Let me know how you get on - you have the lead now!

your servant in Brisbane,
Sita-pati das

See also here.