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Steve first got his start in woodworking as a cabinet maker in the 1980's.
He spent many years woodworking, learning about different woods and joining techniques. During these same years Steve was also interested in music, and practiced playing guitar, keyboard, and many types of drums.
In the late 1990's, Steve was in a music store when he saw a wooden drum which made very sweet sounds. The sounds of this instrument had qualities of the guitar, the marimba, and other instruments relying on wood for their tone.
He started working to build a wood drum with shapes cut in the tops before he had any idea what the instrument was even called. He learned they were known as tongue drums, and at the time only a handful of people in the whole world were making them tuned to musical scales.
This had become Steves all consuming passion, the tongue drum. From the moment he woke up, till late in the evening his thoughts were on tongue drums and how to perfect the sound, the building technique, and the business.
Steve started tonguedrum.com, and with the help of many good people the website became a success. The tongue drums were now being made and shipped all over the world. People were requesting custom tunings, excitedly uploading videos on the very new Youtube and business was good.
News of the tongue drums reached everywhere, and soon the tongue drums began finding their way into many musical scores and soundtracks. Steves tongue drums were even now being displayed in museums of musical instruments.
Since the beginning on tonguedrum.com, Steve has put out high quality tongue drums. The amazing harmonics and fine tunings you hear on the instrument today are the result of a decade of design and building. Steve even went above and beyond and helped woodworkers make their own versions by putting out plans and templates so he could share the joy of making these wonderful drums.
If you would like to be a part of a musical tradition built around the fascinating tongue drum, we welcome you to the tonguedrum.com family.
"Like a sculpture, the drum reveals itself slowly through the process. There is a perfect sound in every instrument, my job is simply to not get in the way."
