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![]() Featuring Tuned to Scale Tongue Drums Handcrafted by Steve Roberts |
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How We Make Tongue Drums
The
construction of the tongue drums is a complex and precise process. Steve Roberts
directs and performs the construction of our products. Steve has over 20 years
of experience as a cabinet maker, and is also an avid musician. Combining
the attention to detail learned in cabinetry and his sensitivity and musical
training, Steve makes some of the finest tongue drums available.

Steve painstakingly pores through stacks of domestic and exotic hardwoods to find the best combination of materials that will yield the best qualities and tonality for the perfect tongue drum.
Planing is a process we use to ensure the exact dimensions of the material.
The next step is precisely measuring and cutting the wood into component shapes.
From there the tongue drums begin to take shape. The parts are
laid out and tested for proper fit.
The
gluing process involves the application of modern resins combined with uniformly
tensioned clamps. This process guarantees an acoustically perfect instrument as
well as one which will last.
After the resins set, the drum receives an initial sanding.
Not until all this is done are the keys finally cut and the
tuning process can begin. This may be the most important step in determining the
quality of sound in the instrument. This is where Steve utilizes
his
musical experience and skills. The musical scales are selected and each note is
tuned by ear to piano and refined using a frequency counter and other electronic
means.
The drum is given a final sanding and then finished with multiple coats of gloss polyurethane.