How to make a drum - BAM folk music class

For the past couple of weeks we have been working on making drums for one of the songs we are going to sing at the April 2 performance at School. Today's video was made by the 1st and 2nd grade class. They are showing how they made their drums.

I got the material for the drum body from a local carpet store. The cylinder is used to roll carpets on. I just used a power saw to cut them in 12 inch lengths. I like these much better than oat meal cartons. They are very thick and can be made in different lengths. They are also great for decorating. We just used felt pens to make our designs. You could also use colored paper, cloth etc. to decorate the drum. We used weight balloons in lots of different colors for the tops of the drums. Just cut off the nipple of the balloon (or whatever you call it) and pull it over the top of the cylinder. We found it best to tape the balloons on the drum. Thought the balloons are surprisingly resilient they are also very easy to replace. Check out this cool video.

BAM folk music class - March 6, 2009

So we are getting ready for our Performance on April 2. We started working on some drums we are making and recorded a couple more songs. I am posting a little outtake of some solos on the song "We Shall Overcome". Enjoy! It should be noted that we filmed this on "Crazy Hair Day" so that is what is up with the crazy hair. The soloist are Nia and Indgo and the outstanding camera work is done by Sean.