In this blog post, I am sharing my personal process of making a shamanic drum. I am not an expert in making drums, however, this drum turned out beautifully with a warm, vibrant and sweet tone that sings wonderfully producing rich harmonics. Here are some tips that I learned along the way that I would love to share with you that can help you in making your sacred shamanic drum. The key in making a shamanic drum is to do it when you are in a positive frame of mind, to also add blessings/prayers and healing intentions when making the drum. This transforms the drum from being an “ordinary” drum into being a sacred healing drum also called a medicine drum. Being in a positive mindset while making the drum infuses healing energy into the drum. If you are thinking negative thoughts, then that energy can go into the drum. To help get into the good mindset, I did a healing mediation beforehand, put on some sacred healing music in the background and as I was making the drum, I also said healing blessings the entire time in order to keep my mind focussed and to infuse the drum with those healing energies.
The Supplies That I Worked With
This drum is made from an 11 inch wooden hoop made of ash. The drum skin and lacing are deer hide. I prefer to work with animal skin because it contains the sacred life force energy of the animal. This animal skin was obtained in an ethical way. When working with animal skin drums, the tone will change from day to day and there is a wonderful richness and aliveness to the tone that I find is lacking in synthetic drums. Also, the tone of the drum will change when I do shamanic healing sessions with clients because the sound of the drum has its own healing frequency. This healing frequency will shift depending on what healing energy that the client needs at that time. This is an interesting phenomenon that happens. Before making the drum, I energetically cleansed all of the materials by passing it through the smoke from burning sweetgrass and said a prayer to honour the animal to give thanks in the making of this drum.
Soaking The Skin & Lacing
The skin and lacing needs to be soaked overnight so that it becomes flexible so that you can work with it. I soaked it in the bathtub. I added marigold flowers, lavender and roses to infuse their healing energies into the drum. The lavender infuses calm energy to heal anxiety and emotional sensitivity. The roses infuse sweetness to heal depression, release grief, release anger, strengthen love/compassion, uplift the mood and boost joy/passion. The marigold infuses protection, confidence, joy, creativity and empowerment. I also added clear quartz crystals into the water. I programmed healing blessings into the crystals to radiate those healing energies into the skin and lacing as it was soaking. These were blessings to create healing for people when I work with this drum for shamanic journeying and shamanic healing purposes. In the tub are clear quartz points and spheres.
My Workspace For Making The Shamanic Drum
I put the skin and lacing on towels so that it doesn’t slip around when lacing it up. I also lit candles on the table and placed crystals around the candle to create sacred space as I work. The candle was infused with blessings and healing intentions so as it burned, it would infuse those blessings into the making of the drum. I also have blue clothespins here and needle nose pliers and a pair of scissors. The pliers are needed to make the handle of the drum and the clothespins to add the finishing touch which I will talk about later on in this post.
Lacing Up The Medicine Drum
Lacing the drum is considered a very special process. As I laced the drum I thanked the spirit of the deer and spoke healing blessings into the drum to heal people of all illnesses, to release negative energies to raise the vibration to a higher state, for protection, manifesting good things and restoring wholeness. Whatever blessings or intentions you decide to work with when you make your drum, think about the what purpose your drum is for. Is it for personal healing? It is to clear negative energies from you, other people or your home? It is more for meditation? Once you decide on the purpose of your drum, then you can speak the appropriate blessings/intentions that support the purpose of the drum as you put the drum together. This also reinforces the purpose of the drum and amplifies its sacred healing energy. An example blessing that I worked with is: thank you spirit of the deer for infusing this drum with healing energy to heal all illnesses for humanity, animals, plants, and the environment, to restore balance, to cleanse negative energy and to strengthen protection from all negativity and negative influences for healing all for the highest good for all. In full faith, so be it. Use the intentions or prayers that resonate with you. These prayers/blessings are the “healing medicine” that go into making the drum.
How To Lace The Shamanic Drum
When lacing the drum, it’s best to lace it up stringing the lace from one set of holes at the top of the drum and then going to the set of holes directly opposite at the bottom of the drum. Then once you lace that set of holes, then you go back to the top of the drum to lace the set of holes there. I kept working that way and continued to say blessings/prayers as I went to keep my mind focused and in a positive mindset. Lacing the drum in this way becomes a healing meditation and the drum soaks up those blessings to empower the drum with healing energy.
The Lacing Continues
I continue to lace the drum, working around in a circle from the top of the drum downward and then back upward. When lacing the drum, it’s important to pull the skin tight as you work. This is a fine balance because you don’t want to pull too tight because when the drum dries, it can produce a high pitched “tink-tink-tink” sound as you beat the drum. This is an undesirable sound because it doesn’t have resonant tones and if the drum is strung too tight, it can snap the strings and break the drum. Also not desirable! Lacing the drum too loose, then the skin becomes a little too slack and when beating the drum it can produce a “whap-whap-whap” sound that sounds lifeless and muted. Again, not desirable. You are aiming for a flexible rich tone. Think of the Goldilocks principle when tightening the laces and skin: “not too tight, not too loose, but just right”. Go by feel and use your intuition. You can ask the spirit of the drum if it’s too tight or too loose as you work and let the answer pop into you mind and then make adjustments in the tension as you go. This is what I did when making my drum to get the right tension.
Symmetry Of The Lacing
So, I continue to lace the drum saying blessings/prayers as I go. As you can see, the lacing is not symmetrical. The lacing at the top of the drum is shorter than the lacing at the bottom of the drum. So, this is not desirable either, however, if the drum skin is not cut completely round, then this can happen. Or if the holes that are punched in the skin aren’t evenly spaced, this can also happen. It also depends on the shape of the wooden hoop - if the hoop isn’t perfectly round, then this can happen. The hoop in my drum is handmade so it’s not perfectly round and this is okay. If the symmetry of the lacing is a bit off, don’t worry because when the handle of the drum is made, it will bring it all into balance. If the symmetry is way off, then you can loosen the lacing, readjust it and then tighten it back up again. I personally love that the drum is not entirely symmetrical - it’s what gives it character and makes it one-of-a-kind and unique.
Making The Handle
When the handle is being made, this is where you can pull the lacing into more symmetry. There are 12 strings, so here, I bundled them into 4 sets of three strings. I had two pieces of lace and with one of the pieces, I tied a knot in the centre and then with the ends, I made the handle by wrapping it around one set of 3 strings and then weaving it over and under the strings from the knot in the centre outwards. Then using the needle nose pliers, I tucked the end of the lace into the weaving so that it doesn’t show and so it holds the lace in place without unraveling. Then I did the same process on the opposite set of 3 strings. Once that was completed, then I made the handle in the same way for the two remaining sets of 3 strings. As I wove the handle, I kept saying blessings as I went and finished off the last set by tucking of the end of the lace in with a blessing of gratitude.
The Clothespins
The clothespins are used to pin in the drum skin in the places between the lacing in order to help the skin to pull in closer to the wooden frame. It makes the look of the back of the drum cleaner - more neat and tidy. It also has another function because it can create a sound chamber that allow for beautiful harmonics to resonate within the drum as you play the drum. This can also create a sacred sonic effect that sounds like a “voice” is singing within the drum. In this drum that I made, people often report that they hear a women’s voice singing in the drum. Remember this: the deer has a feminine energy and the flowers I worked with in the soaking of the skin/lacing also has a feminine energy. So, it’s no wonder that people report hearing a feminine voice within the drum when it’s being sounded. Intertesing, isn’t it?
Now It’s Time For The Drum To Dry
The clothespins also serve another purpose - to act as a stand so that you can stand the drum on a table for it to dry. This allows the drum to not touch the surface of the table and allows air to flow around the drum so it can dry properly. I let the drum dry for one week. Please don’t be fooled when other instructions say 24hrs because in my experience, it can take longer to dry. The drying time depends on how warm or humid the environment is. When the drum is drying, it should not be touched or disturbed. Don’t play the drum until it’s completely dry. Remember this: honour the drying process and if you start feeling impatient that you want to play the drum before it’s totally dry, patience can be bitter but its fruit is sweet - meaning that when you are patient, you will be rewarded with sweetness and in this case, being rewarded with the sweet sound of your drum! Here, I placed the drum to dry with my crystals near it to add some extra healing vibes during the drying process.
Making The Drumstick
The drumstick is just as important and sacred as the drum itself and it’s what makes the drum sing. The drumstick is simple to make. The handle is wood from an ash tree. The head of the stick is comprised of leather with sheep’s wool stuffed inside and then the leather is wrapped with sinew and tied tightly so that the head is secure. The head is stuffed tightly with wool so that it is relatively hard. This firmness produces a nice tone for my drum. Something to consider is how you want your drum to sound and the drumstick/beater can make a difference in how your drum sounds. So you may need to experiment with a firmer or softer drum stick head to see what sound it gives your drum and what sound that you personally prefer. Again, as I wrapped the sinew around the drum, I said healing blessings to infuse that energy into the drumstick. Every step in making this drum is a special and sacred process.
What My Shamanic Drum Sounds Like - shamanic Medicine drum rhythm
Watch this video to hear me playing this drum and what it sounds like. May you enjoy its healing vibes through this medicine drum rhythm.
If you are interested in making your own medicine drum, you can find drum making supplies from Tribal Spirit Music here. Happy drum making and may you enjoy your beautiful and sacred drum!