Removing humidity from a 16 inch hanging temple drum

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Johanna
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2022 3:43 am

Removing humidity from a 16 inch hanging temple drum

Post by Johanna »

Hi! Apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong place. I have a 16 inch hanging drum used for sadhana practices that I bought in Nepal a couple of years ago. It has become very humid and sounds terrible. I'm trying to figure out how to remove the humidity permanently. when I dry it with a hair dryer for 15 or 20 minutes it tightens up and sounds good, but then within a day it goes back to its wrinkled state. Also open to suggestions on how to store it properly after fully drying it out so that it doesn't absorb humidity again. I live in montreal, where it is humid all the time. Thank you!

Here's a link to a photo of the drum
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Queequeg
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Re: Removing humidity from a 16 inch hanging temple drum

Post by Queequeg »

Was curious about your dilemma. Found this:
http://www.completedcircledrums.com/careAndFeeding.html
Might be worth contacting people like this for better info.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Removing humidity from a 16 inch hanging temple drum

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Queequeg wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 3:43 am Was curious about your dilemma. Found this:
http://www.completedcircledrums.com/careAndFeeding.html
Might be worth contacting people like this for better info.
We have problems here with high humidity in the monsoon season and very low humidity in the dry "winter" (it's what we've got right now: 12 C overnight, 25 in the daytime, i.e. not everyone's idea of winter), so I'm familiar with the problem. What this link says under Temperature and humidity changes is exactly what I would have said, and the key point, Johanna, is keeping your drum in a room which stays reasonably warm and dry. Storing it so that both sides are open to the air will also help. Hang it on a wall or in an open frame like a gong-stand rather than lying it on a cushion.

:namaste:
Kim
zerwe
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Re: Removing humidity from a 16 inch hanging temple drum

Post by zerwe »

I personally don't have a Chod drum or Changteu and I doubt that there is an opening in the frame, but if there was, it may be possible to place a dehumidification system like those that are used in string instruments.

Shaun :namaste:
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Lingpupa
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Re: Removing humidity from a 16 inch hanging temple drum

Post by Lingpupa »

I was recommended to make a paste of ash (eg from your incense burner), spread it over the skin, let it dry naturally then knock it off after a day or so. It made a nice mess, and using a traditional method seemed cool and chodpa-y, but it didn't really work.
Everything depends on what the "skin" is actually made of, and I have to say it looks as if it has really stretched.
You may get the best advice from traditional music forums, eg devoted to Irish music or native American music.
All best wishes

"The profundity of your devotion to your lama is not measured by your ability to turn a blind eye."
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Kim O'Hara
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Location: North Queensland, Australia

Re: Removing humidity from a 16 inch hanging temple drum

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Lingpupa wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 5:31 pm ... I have to say it looks as if it has really stretched.
I thought that, too, but the OP says it tightens up okay with a bit of help from the hair-dryer.
Lingpupa wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 5:31 pm ...You may get the best advice from traditional music forums, eg devoted to Irish music ...
You've already started getting it, because I know bodhrans far better than Nepali temple drums. :emb:

:namaste:
Kim
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