Percussion Plus World Slap Djembe 10 pack - pre-tuned

Immaculate construction in leading Bali factory

These World Slap Djembes are now made in a superb world-leading djembe manufacturing facility in Bali. Each drum is subject to rigorous quality control and features a sophisticated one-piece body construction. This ensures a lively and consistent sound, a sleek profile, and enhanced durability. The lightweight, sturdy construction is an essential benefit for constant use in education. Plus, the rubber-coated base prevents slipping, crucial for the physical demands of playing.

An innovative teaching tool

Slap Djembes are not only sturdy and attractive but also provide great teaching aids. The screen-printed, instructional drumheads make classroom music teaching that bit easier by showing students exactly where they need to hit the drum to make different sounds. This helps to speed up the learning process, allowing more time to focus on rhythm, ensemble, dynamics and other musical elements.

Durable Mylar drum head

The Mylar drum head is precisely tensioned for optimal resonance, offering exceptional durability for even the most energetic players. Mylar is an extremely robust material, often used in aerospace engineering; for drum heads it provides excellent all-weather protection, resisting excessive stretching, humidity, and temperature fluctuations. This helps prevent tuning issues and keeps the head from drying out over time, ensuring a consistent and true sound. Superb production values like this make the World Slap Djembes the pinnacle in educational and sustainable drumming, supporting hundreds of lessons over many years to come.

Striking, multicultural design

The ‘World’ design embodies the inclusive spirit of djembe drumming and of Percussion Plus' ethos. Inspired by Andy Gleadhill's Slap Djembe, the map-style sarong-wrapped shell immerses students in a multicultural learning experience. It’s visually striking too, with many flags providing great colourful diversity atop a deep blue oceanic background that looks great in any lighting.

How to play the Slap Djembe

The design on the drumhead shows examples of hand positions that can be employed to obtain a fabulous variety of tones from the drum, from punchy bass to cracking highs. When you hit the skin, let your hand bounce back allowing the sound to ring.

The area in the centre of the drum produces a warm and full bass tone. To play a good bass, the djembe must be struck in the middle of the drumhead with the hand slightly cupped, palm down, and returning quickly from the drum. Use your whole arm and pretend that you are bouncing a basketball; this will result in the perfect action for playing good bass tones!

Bass demo

Straighten all your fingers at the same time. Aim to strike the drum so that the joint where your fingers meet your hand (at the first knuckle) is at the rim of the drum. Think of your hand as an extension of your arm and remember not to keep it on the drum, but to let it bounce back from the drumhead as soon as you’ve played the note. This will produce a clear, ringing ‘tone’, with good projection.

Tone demo

This is played around the edge of the drum. Relax your hand and arm and hit the drum with a slapping motion. Spread your fingers out slightly when you strike the edge of the drum for a whipping crack sound. For an even more distinctive and muted slap, hold one hand down in the middle of the drum in the bass position, while simultaneously playing the slap tone on the edge of the drum.

Muted slap demo

Open slap demo