No instructions. No teacher. Just vibes.

How I Became A Drum Builder

 

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (or very close by, actually, if you're in Summit, NJ), I was doing a massage and minding my own business when I got a “download” that changed everything.

All the intuitive kids know downloads, but we call them all kinds of different things. Intuitive hits, notes from the universe, etc., etc., etc.

Anyway, this download showed me that I'd done enough massage working for other people, and that my work was supposed to be a little different.

I was supposed to be using massage to catapult myself into building drums.

Now, let me set the scene a little bit more.

The year is 2022. It's September.

I've only just returned to work as a massage therapist after fracturing my arm while riding my mountain bike in July. Earlier in the year, I'd also had to take time off because I needed surgery to repair my ACL.

To say that the stability of my career was on my mind would be an understatement.

I'd already been a massage therapist for 12 years at this point, and I could feel that my body just wasn't working the same way it used to.

So, I did what any other reasonable and rational person would do: I thought about it some more.

Build drums??

How the f*ck does one BUILD A DRUM?

I don't know how to build a drum. I know the parts of a drum... the head and the shell and whatever keeps the head attached... and I guess in changing the head of a drum, you kinda ARE rebuilding it...

Okay, maybe I do know how to build a drum. Sorta.

But not the kind of drums that I'd received in my “download”!

So, I did what any reasonable and rational person would do: I looked it up on YouTube.

It didn't look terribly difficult, but it did look like a lot of work. It looked like there were a lot of ways I could mess things up, and I know I do well with someone showing me how to do a thing and then repeating it myself.

I also had never even HELD a handmade drum with a rawhide skin, and I figured I'd need to have one in my hands first to suss out how to reverse engineer it.

So... I did what any reasonable and rational person would do:

I booked a retreat to Sedona!

I had a friend who'd moved there, and given how broadly spiritual Sedona was, I was certain I'd find a drum there that I could purchase.

I was right -- there were plenty of drums for purchase -- but none of them spoke to me.

None of them felt right in size, sound, or overall feel. They all felt like they belonged to someone else.

On my way to Sedona, I'd also stayed for a day in Phoenix and visited the Musical Instrument Museum, spending SIX HOURS exploring the museum and inspecting the traditionally made drums and other percussion instruments.

I was riding a drum-fueled high the entire time, meandering slowly through every exhibit with fascination, looking at the displays from questionable angels, taking pictures and zooming in to try and discern how things were made...

It felt as if I'd stepped into some sort of portal and come out marinated in a whole new view of the world.

It felt like an initiation.

And in my shopping-for-a-drum adventure in Sedona, I did get to figure out how they were made, more or less. It's not that hard to figure out when you look at them...

And I also stumbled across a full deer hide, wooden hoops, and rawhide lacing used to make drums...

So, since none of the drums available for purchase felt like mine, and the vision I'd had was about making drums...

I did what any reasonable and rational person would do:

I had a full deer hide, a 15-inch frame, and rawhide lacing shipped from Sedona to my home in New Jersey.

No instructions. No teacher. Just vibes.

Perfectly reasonable and rational.

When I got home, the supplies arrived, and I opened them with excitement pounding in my chest.

I still didn't know exactly how to make these things into a drum, but I knew they were gonna be one at some point.

I still wanted to learn from someone, so I looked on Eventbrite and, to my surprise, there was a drum-building workshop being hosted about an hour away from me in a couple weeks.

I decided I'd make a drum at the workshop and take what I learned to use on the supplies and make a second drum afterward.

Perfectly reasonable and rational. Absolutely.

The workshop was hosted by Rob Murphy, an elder in a shamanic community in South America and an experienced spiritual teacher who now holds a space near and dear to my heart.

During the drum-building workshop, I received many more downloads through the shamanic journeys we did as part of building the drum.

Another initiation. Another spark.

Deeper and deeper into the magic...

And at the end of the weekend, I'd made a drum.

I'd also learned how to make a drum for my own purposes later on.

And yes, I DID go home and turn that deer hide, wooden frame, and rawhide lacing I'd shipped across the country into a second drum... eventually

Because, like I said... perfectly reasonable and rational.

But something else had happened that weekend, too.

I'd found a teacher who would later announce an apprenticeship in guiding others through building their own drums, which I would enthusiastically sign up for.

Not even close to the end...

But final enough for now.