— Medicine Drums —
Medicine DrumsHandcrafted in Costa Rica Created as I was taught by drum builders in Zululand, South Africa. These are medicine drums made for ceremony, crafted with this in mind. Each drum is lovingly handcrafted with Guapinol wood, the singing wood of Costa Rica. The wooden frames are curved to enhance resonance and skinned with cow hide. The bodies are super strong and resonate beautifully. They are tunable, meaning they can be tightened easily in humid conditions, unlike many hand drums made with cheaper wood frames which are designed for dry conditions and go flat in humid environments. Instruments and materials are properly cleansed during the making process. I can also build drums to your specification on order. If you are interested, get in touch and I will play it for you on a video call. |
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Wood Guapinol (Costa Rica) |
Skin Natural cow hide |
Price range $200 to $600 |
— Handcrafted Marimbas —
MarimbasPentatonic · Tuned three times A wonderful process of turning a plank and some bamboo into a harmonic musical instrument. Each one individually crafted and tuned. It takes around two weeks to make a 14-key marimba. The keys are tuned to a pentatonic scale using the notes G, A, C, D, E — though any scale can be made to order if a different note sequence is preferred. The marimba keys work best between 95 Hz and 1318 Hz, so all marimbas and balafons are created within this range. Each marimba is tuned three times to ensure optimal sound quality and durability: an initial tuning after cutting, a second before varnishing, and a final tuning after varnishing. The result is an instrument that sounds beautiful, holds its tuning, and carries the care of the maker in every note. |
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Keys 14 keys (standard) |
Scale Pentatonic (G A C D E) |
Tuning Tuned three times |
The Legend of Princess Marimba
“This woman gave our people some of the oldest and most beautiful songs on earth and invented countless instruments, each destined to carry her name in some form or other — Marimba, the Mother of Music.”
— Credo Vusamazulu Mutwa, 1998
In African legend, Princess Marimba was the most beautiful woman in the world, bearer of a powerful curse: any man she married would die within three moons. When her son Kahawa brought back a Masai prisoner carrying a bow and arrow, and warriors were closing in on their peaceful people, it was Marimba who stepped forward. She took the bow and fastened a gourd to its centre — inventing the first musical instrument. As she began to sing at dawn, Masai warriors fell to their knees, and war gave way to peace. She went on to create drums from worn mortars, harps from hunting bows, and marimbas from animal snares. All who play instruments carry her name and invoke her spirit. Read more →
Nixiwaka’s friendship with Baba Credo Mutwa, keeper of this legend →
