How To Play Hand Drum

Michelle Wie among six Americans who advance at Sybase Match Play Championship

A few weeks ago, Sherri Steinhauer — one of the assistant captains for the upcoming U.S. Solheim Cup team — placed a call to a member at Pine Valley Golf Club down in Clementon.

The request was simple: With the LPGA Tour stopping at Hamilton Farm, would the club let the top American contenders for the team play a practice round at one of the world’s preeminent courses?

Once the anonymous member got word to the club’s general manager, Charley Raudenbush, the answer was a simple one.

Absolutely.

“We said sure,” Raudenbush said by phone tonight. “It was fun. All the girls were so nice, and they couldn’t have been more fun to be around.”

Turns out, the Americans’ sojourn to the sand-covered, ultra-private golf enclave in South Jersey might just be the best thing to happen to the Sybase Match Play Championship this week. Because once the board was finalized after today’s second round of matches, the Sweet 16 had a very distinct flavor.

One that looks very red, white and blue.

When play begins this morning in the third round, there will be six Americans vying to reach Sunday’s semifinals. In a time when the LPGA Tour is dominated by foreign-born players, there will be no shortage of Americans to bang the drum this time around.

“Yeah, I think it’s awesome,” said ninth-seeded Michelle Wie, who knocked off Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist in 20 holes. “I think it’s kind of funny because we just had our Sweet 16 practice session, and we all kind of played matches against each other, so it was pretty interesting. But it’s great. I think it’s good.”

Wie was one of the 16 players who went down to Pine Valley Monday to play what Raudenbush described as 18 holes of mixed-format golf. The teams play six holes of four-ball, six holes of foursomes and six holes of singles play. He said that while players didn’t officially keep scores, Wie said she played “even or 1-under” golf.

But she wasn’t the only one. Cristie Kerr was there, as was Brittany Lang, Angela Stanford and Stacy Lewis. All of them are in the quarterfinals. Paula Creamer, who was part of that 2009 Solheim Cup team but couldn’t join the outing on Monday, moved on today as well.

“I don’t put too much emphasis on (the bracket) because you could be No. 1 and playing No. 64 in the field and they could have a great day and take you out,” the No. 3-seed Kerr said after knocking off Belen Mozo, 7&6. “So it doesn’t really matter. I think everybody who goes into tomorrow will be winners today, so that’s what’s so great about this format.

Care and Maintenance of Hand Drums | ncbioenergy.org

When you buy a new djembe hand drum, it is an exciting day, but you are also taking on a lot of responsibility as the drums require a lot of ongoing maintenance to make it last. Between the wooden frame, the drum head skin, the tensioning rope, there is a lot to maintain and care for. I have tried to put together some of the basics for caring for the drum. This is definitly not a complete list, but should give you a place to start if you are concidering a djembe hand drum.

The Wooden Frame

The general rule of thumb is to treat it the same way you would a piece of nice wooden furniture. Avoid direct sunlight, water, dirty, hot and cold. When transporting it, keep it in a padded case to protect it structurally; and if you are moving from one climate (tempurature and humidity change) to another, let the drum sit and acclimatize to the new climate before playing. Also, as with any piece of wooden furniture, keep the wood oiled. The person who sells you the drum can tell you which oils are best for that exact drum.

Natural Goat Skin Head

Treating the skin head on the drum is easy is you take care of your own skin. Left untreated, your skin would dry and crack over time. The drum head will do the same. When selecting a drum, try to avoid ones that have undergone a lot of processing and chemical treatments. The natural oils in the skin will help the drum last longer. The best way to keep it well hydrated is to actually play it. The oils in your hand will transfer to the drum head and are very similar to what the skin would have received naturally. If you don’t play the drum often, an application of shea butter will help to increase the drums life expectancy. Even if you do play the drum often, a small and infrequent application of shea butter to the parts of the drum that do not frequently get hit would be recommended.

Tuning Rope

Rope is fairly easy to maintain and inexpensive to replace. Do not over tighten the rope, do not get it wet, keep it out of sunlight and you should be fine.

If the above maintenance and care for the djembe hand drum does not put you off, it may be time to concider drum lessons . As fun as it is to bang away on drums, these are meant to be played in groups, where people can learn from people. There are many communities that have been formed around the instrument, and the easiest way to find them is to get lessons and get involved.

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