Ordering a Drum

Bespoke Design

All my drums are made to the highest standards with materials sourced in an ethical and sustainable way. The hides are from Deer who live here in Devon. I have wild Dartmoor Fallow Deer hides  and organically farmed Red Deer hides (from deer who live pretty much wild, in small groups with access to woodland, wild water and rough ground to hide their fawns. They are not kept in fields). The Fallow are smaller and finer hides than the Red and so I can usually only make 14" or smaller drums from these (however at this moment I do have one large Fallow stag hide which would make a 16" drum).  Making a drum from these hides is an exquisite way to respectfully use parts of the animal which would otherwise be wasted, and to continue in an ancient relationship between human, deer and the spirit of the drum.   

The iron ring which I usually use within the lacing at the back (It makes the drum more stable to hold) is forged by our local blacksmith Greg Abel in Moretonhampstead. The exquisitely made and finished circular wooden hoops are made either of Ash or of Willow from sustainable plantations in Pakistan.  The leather used to bind the hand hold at the back of the drum and to cover the head and handle of the drum-stick is usually repurposed - but I also have oak bark tanned wild fallow hide leather (for which I charge a little extra as it was incredibly expensive, but it is incredibly beautiful), and the wool inside the head of the beater is either recycled or hand spun by me. The stick itself is usually  Hazel and is gathered in a respectful way which does not harm the continued good health of the remaining tree. I can easily find other woods for drum beaters too - please do ask if you would like a particular one.

Painted or not?

Please note that there is now a six month waiting list for painted drums - as Fergus is engaged in other creative projects too. 

I therefore encourage you to order a plain drum and live with it a bit before deciding to paint it. OR - get me to paint your drum - primitive art images only, there's a separate page here with my (very few) images....

There are essentially two ways to go about deciding on how your drum should be: The first is that you can decide everything. You chose the size of your drum, which hide I use, the colour of the material that binds the hoop, the colour of the leather used to make the handle and stick. You choose whether there is art work and exactly what that art work looks like. You can send us an exact design or simply say I want this but I'd like it in the style of that with these colours.

The second way is that you simply ask me to make 'your' drum. I ask The Spirits what the drum needs to be and they make all the choices listed above. There are of course many middle grounds between these two ways. It's up to you.

The art on the drums I make are all originals hand painted by my very talented husband Fergus. He uses paint and his extraordinary intuition to convert my ramblings and stick drawings into the beauty you see here. No two drums are the same. To view pictures of some of the drums already painted please look on the Pictures of  Drums page.

Prices

Prices vary according to the size of the drum and the amount of art work. Prices are by individual arrangement and are clearly set out before the work begins. 

As a guideline: 

A plain (unpainted) 16" drum -  £330

plain 14" drum - £300

Plain 12" drum - £260

14" or 16" (diameter) drum with small and  simple art work on the face - £380

a very complicated design might be up to £500.  An average price is £430. The majority of the designs which you can see on the drum page would now cost £430. 

I don't charge for packaging (I use recycled cardboard boxes and bubble wrap) and postage is charged at the Royal Mail guaranteed next day delivery which means it is insured, tracked and signed for. This is usually £12.95 within the UK,  £40.00+ for most of the rest of Europe and approximately £60 for The United States.