I keep forgetting, I got a beautiful elk hide at wačipi. It’s back to being safely tucked away for when I have time to work on it. Roughly 70something inches x 50something inches. No, I don’t know yet. Well, I know what I’m going to do with part of it, not all, and it’s something for us, so it won’t be for sale.
© C. Ford.
Have you ever made a drum?
No! I was looking at some of the amazing hand drums some people were carrying. I asked one young woman if she had made it herself, and she had, but these are difficult to do properly, although small, because they are done with primarily sinew, and I don’t know anything about that sort of working.
And I really, really wish I knew how to make mocs.
I once watched some Grandmothers making moccasins.
They made it look easy!
Uhhhh, beautiful. I love leather, it’s such a wonderful thing to work with.
Giliell:
Oh, you should have seen -- two full buffalo hides. Ohhh. $530.00 each. Yeouch.
Ouch. Not something for spontaneous shopping
Yeouch, indeed.
On another tentacle, I’ve never seen one for under $1000 (Canadian).
Oh my yes. I made leather bags using sinew years ago and it was quite an undertaking to learn just that much. My sister was the one who inherited that talent in our family. When we were younger, she used to tease that Asibikaashi (Spider Woman) had come to her and told her all the secrets about how to do these things and without that I just wasn’t ever going to learn. Ah, sibling rivalry. :D
You can make drums with elkhide? I’ve got some; it’s pretty stretchy!
There’s an artist on deviantart who makes the coolest drums..
Ah: http://bear48.deviantart.com/gallery/33811069/drum
He has a cool timeline of drums in his comment here:
http://bear48.deviantart.com/art/Two-drums-257556661
I used to own 2 of his hand-drums, which I used as ceremonials gifts for various events. Good stuff. He has a very clever way of lacing the backs into a 4-way cross that you hold sort of like a paddle.
Marcus:
Uh, that’s traditional, and it’s a very ancient technique.
TMM:
Well, Asibikaashi didn’t whisper to me, either. The little I learned, all I was thinking was “oh, I would so fuck this up. Yep.” :D
Ah. Well, that is a gorgeous hide! It will be useful for so many things! Not drums though… Drums are made of rawhide and not tanned leather. One of the things one does as a braider is make rawhide, and then cut it into strings and braid it. It is not difficult, but it is time-consuming, can be smelly, and can possibly bother your neighbors, depending. Nearly all of my neighbors are cows, so that works out well for me.
Kestrel:
No, it’s not drum material. I haven’t worked much with rawhide, either. Rick has, a bit. When I went out to photograph it, it was *freezing*, so as soon as I was done, I pulled it down, and wrapped myself in it. Wonderfully warm, and stops the wind cutting you to the bone.
Since we’re talking about animal skins …
what animal is used to make a Japanese-style drum that is 2 metres in diameter?
my google-fu is failing
.
.
.
on another note
Cover your ears!!!!
@chigau: They say the hide of a water buffalo, at least according to my own google-fu. I know when they make a drum head they have to stretch the hide. Some parts of the hide stretch quite a lot… Those drums are pretty amazing.
kestrel #17
Yes.
My other sources say almost any modern beef-cattle bull.
They are alamingly large.