Djembe Shells

[Shelly Hall]

I'm looking at options for a second djembe, something with wood and skin (though not being a purist, i'm also leaning toward mechanical tuning). What's are the differences between solid body, two-piece and stave shells?
What type of shell is the Pearl Wood Djembe? I can't find that information on the Pearl website? Also, why a water buffalo skin rather than goat? From what I've read, water buffalo is even thicker than cowskin which, to my mind, makes it too thick for a djembe.

[Glen Caruba]

Shelly,

Check out this link: http://www.pearldrum.com/djembes.asp Goat skin is thinner and brighter. When I was doing the R&D on these djembes I decided to go with the goat on just the fiberglass models which accentuates the low-end bass tones. It did not sound that good to me on the oak models. The buffalo has a more traditional sound – not as bright, but much warmer. I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Glen

[zaragemca]

Greeting to Glen,...I also have been using the Djembe in my drumming ensemble with the rod tuning system,so to be able to switch tuning from African Patterns to Afro-Cuban,or Samba,depending what i need to play.The water buffalo skin would be better for a Dun-Dun,which is used in the West-African Drumming,and some times in congas.But people which play only one specific pattern could use the original tuning system of the Djembe, since they don't have to change the tuning.