I’ve wanted to do an all-music Friday video post for a while now, but I was looking for the perfect topic. A friend of mine mentioned that she plays a ceramic doumbek in her folk band, which gave me the idea for this post. I’ve collected videos of fun ceramic drum solos, plus a studio video of people throwing and sculpting their own ceramic drums.
Tablas are barrell-shaped drums that are sometimes made of clay. They favor a complex style of drumming that involves the fingers and palms working together to create difficult time signatures and meters. As is the case with many of the drums in this post, they have a very melodic sound to them. This is Uday Deshpande of Pune, India earning the title of “tabla virtuoso.”
Udu Drum Solos
Speaking of melodic: here are a few videos of Pejman Hadadi and some collaborators playing Udu drums. The drum comes from Nigeria and it takes its name from “vessel.” You can guess its history by looking at it. It’s easy to imagine someone playing music on a plain ol’ water jug and adapting that idea just a little to give us the instrument we know today. I really like the minimalism of these udu drums.
Moroccan Clay Drums
I don’t have much of a commentary for this video; I just love the atmosphere. The campfire really ties everything together.
DIY Drums in the Studio
Maybe you’re more into the construction of drums than you are the playing, but Janis Wilson Hughes of Evolution Stoneware has a few talents up her sleeve. In this video she walks you through the creation of a ceramic drum and then goes on to play it once it’s out of the kiln.
Those are all the videos I have for this week. Check back here in seven days for a few new ceramic videos to help ease you into the weekend!
Bill Rodgers is a writer for cfile.daily.
Do you love or loathe these works of contemporary ceramic art? Let us know in the comments.
wow, this is lovely!
Hi I’m an Irish woman, drummer and ceramicist and that article and videos are on ceramics drums was class. Well done.