talking drum or djembe?

[hardrockdrummr]

i want to get somenew sort of percussion item. i like the idea of the talking drum becaus e u can change the pithc whilei playing. can anyone tell me anything baout talking drums are they bad goor do they sound like crap are they made cheap. should i get a talking drum or djembe. i notest that they sell mallets for the talking drum do you have to use the mallets or canu just use your hans like bongos.. if somone is knowlegablein percussion like this please talk to me!! haha

[MusicMan]

hardrockdrummer -

I would recommend that you get a djembe, as opposed to a talking drum simply because the djembe is more versatile, and is more commonly used in pop/rock music.

First, the talking drum also usually requires two hands to play (in order to use the strings to vary the pitch and the striker to tap the head). However, the djembe can be strapped over the shoulder and played with only one (or two) hands.

The djembe also tends to have a larger head, as well as a much wider range of tones (even though it doesn't "bend" pitch in realtime like a talking drum). Thus, you can get deep bass tones, as well as high cracks and slaps from the djembe, which is more suitable for most applications. The djembe is also louder.

Finally, it's also easier to mount the djembe on a stand or with a drum kit should you decide to incorporate it into a larger set up. This is also beneficial when you want to be able to use the djembe along with other percussion items in a song. The talking drum is less versatile because they can't be mounted without hindering their characteristic pitch bending feature.

Hope this helps!