AFRICAN GOATSKIN
FAQ
AFRICAN GOATSKIN
FAQ
Table of Contents
- What makes an African goatskin sound better?
- Goat skin? or goat hide?
- How are Goatskins tanned for drums?
- Are these skins clean and safe?
- Don't they smell awful?
- How do I get the hair off?
- I hear you can dehair using lye?
- What about bugs?
I want to save a skin to use later. How should it be stored?
- How do I replace a skin on a roped drum?
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What makes an African goatskin sound better?
I have not seen a study of the acoustic properties of plate stiffness and sheer strength differences between the skins of different breeds of goats. What sounds "better" is a matter of opinion. For instance, there are very many types of plastic heads available for regular drum sets and set drummers all have their opinions about which heads sound best on their sets. I prefer the opinions of African drummers when it comes to what makes an African drum sound right, and it is a difference that most drummers can hear. I have heard Africans explain it by saying their goats have less fat. Or it may have to do with the hot climate of sub-Saharan Africa and the goats not needing as much hair. So the follicles are spread further apart and there is more uninterrupted surface area. Or it could be because they are whole unprocessed skins with all their natural oils. Commercially processed goat skin is given a chemical bath to remove the hair which also strips the oils out of the skin.
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Goat skin? or goat hide?
"Hide" is the term used for the skin of a large animal like a cow, horse or buffalo. "Skin" is used to mean the skin of small animals like goat, pig, sheep, fish and fowl. Goat "pelt" is actually the best term, meaning a rawhide skin with the hair still on, but no one seems to use it.
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How are Goat skins tanned for drums?
They are not tanned. Skins and hides of all sorts for use on drums are rawhide. The skin is taken from the animal (the flesh is taken and sold as food) and immediately stretched on a rack and allowed to dry in the sun. Heavy hides are salted first to speed the drying process before rot sets in. Skins and hides which are destined for the leather trade are also salted prior to being stretched. A salted hide is not best for drums because the salt not only removes moisture, but oils as well, oils which are essential for the elasticity and long life of a drum head.
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Are these skins clean and safe?
All animal skins legally imported from Africa, or anywhere else, are inspected by US Customs, the Dept. of Agriculture, and the Dept. of Wildlife to ensure they are free of diseases threatening to humans, livestock, wild game and not taken from a protected species.
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Don't they smell awful?
Sometimes, but not usually. A stockyard in Africa, or anywhere else, is not a very lovely place. Urine, blood, and other body fluids find their way into the goat hair easily and as it dries in the sun the odor goes away, but during shipment moisture in the enclosed space can "wake up" the odor, giving things a distinct barnyard atmosphere. Once the skin is soaked in water before being installed as a drum head the odor goes away permanently. Sometimes there is a strong, goaty odor to male skins, but that goes away with time too and it is the nature of the beast.
At Bongo Central we thoroughly wash the skins when we receive them so that odors are not a problem to you.
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How do I get the hair off?
There are three good methods. Shaving, shearing, and depilatories.
- To shave a skin soak it in water for a couple hours and then nail or staple it to an appropriate board with the tail pointed down. Using a double edged razor blade held between the thumb and the first two fingers begin shaving the skin while the skin is still wet with strokes directed towards the tail. The blade should be slightly bent by the thumb. Make sure the skin is stretched flat so you don't nick the skin. Alternatively, the head can be shaved after it is installed on the drum and still wet if you want to keep a haired border hanging from the edge of the drum. Shaving is dangerous the first few times you try it, it is very easy to cut through the skin and ruin it until you get the feel for it.
- To shear a skin soak it in water and hang it as with the shaving. Use a set of electric hair clippers or a beard trimmer and remove the desired hair. Once the head is installed and thoroughly dry remove the remaining stubble with 80-100 grit sandpaper. Don't press it into the head too hard or you'll scar it.
- To use depilatories follow the instructions on the bottle generously. Squirt it on, let it set, and pull the hair loose. Use sand paper to remove what remains. I don't like to use depilatories or any other chemicals on the head.
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I hear you can dehair using lye?
No, not lye.. but Lime. Skins which have been commercially processed to remove the hair use Hydrated Lime, or Caustic Lime. This is not good. It is a very toxic chemical that can cause chemical burns to your skin and eyes. It has to be rinsed out of the goat skin again and again and again to make sure it is all gone, and the result is a skin which has had every single drop of natural oil leeched from it, resulting in a drum head which is hard, dry, unresilient, and will go dead sooner than later. This Liming process is used with skins and hides in making leather, where you don't want any natural oils in the product to interfere with the tanning process where they can cause "oil burn".
There is a small beetle, or weevil, growing to about 1 cm in length, which sometimes shows up on haired rawhide skins. This insect will eventually chew holes through the skin and needs to be exterminated. Dust the hair with Diatomaceous Earth (available at any garden supply store). This environment friendly pesticide will handle the weevils and you won't expose yourself (or the skin) to toxic substances. Alternatively you can use Boric Acid, a white powder found off the shelf at any pharmacy. This is also environment friendly and not dangerous to you, but a source of dread to the weevils. Boric Acid also has the property of preserving the hair, keeping it from shedding, and so is useful on drums that have kept a hair trim around the edge. Boric Acid is not quite the same thing as borax.
At Bongo Central we dust the goatskins for bugs when we receive them so that any infestation is never a problem for you.
I want to save a skin to use later. How should it be stored?
Just put it away in a dry place with some air circulation and it will last indefinitely. If you expect to keep it stored for a very long time then it is recommended that you dust it for bugs, the boric acid will also help prevent any mold. I have heard of people freezing skins to store them, but that isn't necessary. The beams of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City were lashed together with rawhide and no nails and are still holding just fine. Freezing may actually be harmful for a drum head as the tiny ice crystals expand in the skin, separating the fibers and widening pores.
How do I replace a skin on a roped drum?
Visit "Rope Tuning Hand Drums, a Guide for the Uninitiated" for a detailed discussion on roping djembes, ashiko, Dunun and any other roped tuned drum.
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Revised: July 21, 2002.