Preserving the Beat: Caring for Your Shamanic Drum at Summer Festivals
As the summer sun graces us with its warmth and festival season begins to unfold across the UK, communities come together to celebrate life, music, spirituality, and the enchantment of the great outdoors.
It is a time when drums resonate under starlit skies, around crackling fires, and throughout the joyous gatherings.
However, amidst the merriment, we must not forget the importance of caring for our cherished Shamanic Drums. This article aims to serve as a gentle reminder, offering insights and considerations for safeguarding your drum during festival adventures.
Let us join in preventing the heartache of broken drums, ensuring our sacred tools endure and enhance our festival experiences.
Drums and the Elements
Festival environments expose drums to various temperatures and conditions, making their care of utmost importance. We are aware that hide drums are responsive to humidity and temperature, so let us explore some essential considerations
Protection from Intense Heat: When the sun blazes overhead, keep to shaded areas or cooler spots for your drumming sessions. Remember to keep your drum in its bag or safely wrapped when not in use. Drumheads tightening under the scorching sun can lead to damage or stretching, exerting excessive pressure on the hoop. To preserve your drum's integrity, limit its exposure to direct sunlight.
Taming the Moisture: Festival settings can also bring dampness and wetness. Drums have a tendency to absorb moisture from the air, causing them to lose tension and become flat. Avoid playing for extended periods when the drum goes flat, as it can harm the drumhead. Keep your drum securely wrapped or in its bag until you are ready to play. During festival storage, ensure your drum remains protected, as the heat inside tents can reach high levels.
Dancing with the Fire: Evenings around the fire hold a special allure, where drummers sit to watch for visions in the flickering flames. It is not uncommon to witness people intermittently holding their drums closer to the fire, allowing the heat to warm and tighten the drumhead after it has gone flat in the cool evening air. While this practice can be helpful when done carefully and in moderation, frequent exposure to extremes of heat and cold can gradually damage your drum. Exercise caution and be mindful of maintaining a balance between keeping your drum in tune and preserving its longevity.
Preserving the Magic
We want you and your drum to be able to work together for many, many years. Sadly, at the end of the festival season, we receive countless messages from individuals whose drums have suffered unfortunate mishaps—left in hot cars, forgotten by the fire, or left exposed outside tents overnight.
To protect these sacred tools, we strongly recommend investing in a Shamanic Drum Bag. These insulated bags offer protection against the sweltering heat and chilling lows of temperature. Equipped with a convenient carry handle, they make transporting your drum from the camping area to workshops or drumming circles a breeze.
With a Shamanic Drum Bag, you can keep your drum safe throughout the summer, allowing it to remain an integral part of your magical festival experience.
Let this summer be one of celebration, connection, and the preservation of our sacred instruments. Together, we can safeguard the magic, ensuring that our drums continue to weave their enchanting rhythms through our lives.