The Worlds Oldest Drum

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The Worlds Oldest Drum

5000 Years

The Frame Drum

Frame drums, found globally, have diverse names and variations.

Some examples include:

Colgrass Drum (Roto Tom) USA
Bodhrán (Ireland),
Tamborim (Brazil)
Tambourine (Egypt Mesopotamia)
Bendir (North Africa),
Daf/Daff/Def (Orient),
Tamburello (Italy),
Pandeiro (Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Latin America).
Dayereh (Iran, Central Asia, Balkans),
Riq (Middle East)
Mazhar (Egypt).

Wider than Deep

These drums are all characterized by a shallow, hoop-shaped frame with a single drumhead stretched across it, with the diameter of the head being larger than the depth of the frame.

Details

Bodhrán: A traditional Irish frame drum, often played with a tipper (a short stick) or by hand.

Bendir: A North African frame drum, sometimes with snares attached to the inside of the drumhead for a buzzing sound.

Daf/Daff/Def: A Persian name for frame drums, also used in the Middle East and Central Asia, often with jingles attached.

Tamburello: An Italian frame drum, similar to a tambourine but without the jingles.

Pandeiro: A Brazilian frame drum with jingles, used in various musical styles like samba and capoeira.

Dayereh: An Iranian and Central Asian frame drum, often used in folk and Sufi music.

Riq: An Arabic frame drum, similar to a tambourine but with a deeper shell and often with more cymbals.

Mazhar: An Egyptian frame drum, also known as daff or bendir in other regions.

Tar: A frame drum from the Middle East and North Africa, with a similar construction to the bendir but with a wider range of sizes and playing styles.

Uchiwa daiko: A Japanese frame drum, often used in festival music.

Tamborim: Unlike the tambourine, which has jingles, the tamborim is a drum with a distinct sound created by striking it with a beater.

Roto-Tom (Colgrass Drum 1951): …idea was based on the principles of the Ludwig tunable bongos and the Remo practice pad and built by Albert Payson.

Exponential Development

Development of the Frame Drum…Particularly the Bodhran has dramatically increased in recent decades… the precision and the engineering of the drum has improved to produce sophisticated and tunable instruments played by virtuosos!

As an illustration…below is photo of a highly engineered custom frame drum used as a ‘Kick Drum’ at Symmetrical Drumming Australia. It is designed and built by Mark Campbell.

Mark's Bodhrans utilise the engineering of the RotoTom and combine it with the nature of the standard Bodhran to build quickly tuned instruments suitable for modern harmonic music.

https://symmetricaldrummingaustralia.org/bodhran

Frame Drum Engineering, Mark Campbell Drum Technician, Bodhran Lessons Canberra, Frame Drum Modernisation

Modern Bodhran and Frame Drums

Mark Campbell teaches modern bodhran (the Irish Frame Drum) from simple original units to the highly engineering rotary tuned instruments. Using modern drum notation and counting methods and video recording to speed progress.

At Symmetrical Drumming Mark uses ‘world percussion’ perspectives on the frame drum (Bodhran)…using them as pedal drums for the feet and as tipper-played frame drums…from Tambourim to Roto-Bodhran…Mark has been playing and engineering frame drums and Bodhran for over 30 years.

Bodhran in a tuned harmonic context