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By following the instructions below, you can build a drum close to an actual Brazilian alfaia. The drum featured on this page approximates a traditional alfaia by using easily-obtained parts and little effort. The finished product most differs from an actual alfaia in the following ways.

Counterhoops
The wooden rings that hold down the drumheads are called counterhoops. Pernambuco drums use a hard, but flexible tropical wood. It is cut into bands about three fingers wide and with a length about the perimeter of the drum shell. Then the strips are soaked in water for a long period. Once thoroughly softened in the water, they are wrapped around the drum shell in three layers. Shims are placed between the shell and counterhoop to give enough room for the hide sandwiched between them. The three layers are glued together, then clamped to dry.

Finished, these counterhoops are a bit thicker than the hoops on the drum below. Even though they are thinner, the hoops I use are laminated maple, so they are every bit as strong.

I may try make my own counterhoops someday.

There are some photos of the procedure at SambaMania's website.

Heads
Perhaps more noticeable are the differences in the heads. Traditional alfaias have heads made of wooden rings (flesh hoops) with hide wrapped around them. These heads are rather loose, and sit down below the level of the bearing edges forming a collar. This is the bit of skin between the flesh hoop and the bearing edge. So far, I have used pre-mounted calfskin surdo heads from Contemporanea. They are, of course, quicker and easier. Unfortunately, since they don't have collars and don't set down below the level of the bearing edges, they tend to slide around while mounting on the drum. They sound great, though.

In the near future, I will wrap my own alfaia heads and put the procedure on these pages.

Components

Drum Shell
The components necessary to build one of these drums are available for instruments of 40cm (16" head) to 70cm (28" head) in diameter, though I don't think I have ever seen an alfaia larger than 24". You can find old drum kits and use the kick bass or you can buy raw, unfinished drum shells and counterhoops. For more information about choosing a shell, see Selecting a Shell.

All but one of my drums were made from unfinished shells. I either found them in stores, or ordered Keller products online from Anderson International Trading. This gives you more control and makes a better-looking and better-sounding drum.

If you take apart a drum kit, you have some work, like filling in holes. On the one I made from a kit, I had to strip off old plastic sheeting.

Counterhoops
See notes above about obtaining drum shells. You can find counterhoops that same way. Counterhoops are those wooden retaining rings that hold drum heads onto kick drums. The most important thing is to choose hoops that are thick. They will take more strain anchoring your ropes than they do in their intended application. I also recommend the shallowest rings available. I use 38mm (1 1/2") rings.

Rope
The length will vary depending on the drum, of course, but my 20" diameter, 46cm (18") deep drum needed 16m (53') of rope total. My 22" diameter, 36cm (14") deep drum required 14.5m (48'), and my 20" diameter, 41cm (16") deep alfaia used 13.8m (46'). You can choose synthetic or natural rope. For synthetic, polyester climbing rope or marine line is best. Ask for static line. Dynamic line is designed to stretch, and you don't want that.

The only two natural fibers that I recommend are cotton and hemp. Cotton is easy to find, easy to work with, and soft. The rope also slide easily when you want to tune your drum. My choice, however, is hemp. Hemp is stronger and will not degrade in your lifetime. It handles weather better than cotton, and doesn't fray. On the downside, it is harder to find. Since true hemp is rare in the U.S., here are some links to websites for ordering.

My most recent purchases were from Scientific Nature Hemp Emporium and TerraWear. They were the only companies I have listed here that was able to supply me lately.

Dragonwing This is a good, place place to deal with, but they are short of stock at this writing. It is a company that makes tents for renaissance faires.

The following are other sites with hemp rope. I tried most of them, but they either have it on back order or didn't respond.
Three High Guys Network
The Store Place

Drum Heads
Alfaias should have natural hide heads. Calfskin is the easiest, because you can order them ready to install. You can order Brazilian calfskin surdo heads pre-mounted on their flesh hoops. Cowhide is tougher, and allows for violent playing. Some alfaias have thick goatskin, but I have found them delicate, and am afraid to pay them hard. Of course, natural hide requires greater maintenance and are sensitive to weather conditions. In damp weather, the sound will die. I started with Contemporanea calfskin on my alfaias, but I'm now switching to wrapping my own.

If you don't want to deal with natural heads (shame on you), you can turn to standard plastic drum heads available in music stores. My choice is Aquarian's Superkick II. It has special damping that gives it a smooth, clean sound. It is also tough enough to be struck with heavy wooden sticks. But any heavy drum head will do. It's best if they are rather thick and have a "dark" sound. Good examples are Evans Hydraulic and Remo Pinstripe. For the bottom, I suggest a medium-weight head, like a Remo Ambassador or Evans G1.

A compromise is Remo's Fiberskyn3, a synthetic head designed to look and sound like true animal hide. I have a limited experience with these heads, but they sound pretty good. Some drummers for American Civil War enactments use them on their old drums.

Tools

About the only tools necessary are a drill and two bits. One bit should make a hole a little larger than the diameter of your rope. The other should be about half that guage.

If you have an old drum kit piece with bracket holes, you will want filler putty and an appropriate putty knife to apply it.

I also find small bungee cords handy.

Counterhoop Edging
You will want to round the edges of raw counterhoops. I do very little rounding on the surfaces that press against the head flesh hoops. I want a big contact patch. But I round the upper edges to reduce the damage to my sticks during rimshots and the damage done to my hands if I hit the hoop during play.

You should also soften the edges on the insides of the rope holes.

Protection
This is, of course, a personal decision. But your wood will need some kind of protection. For coloring, there is paint or stain. If you want the original color, just use tung oil.

Recently, I used Minwax Polyshades Olde Maple. Polyshades is a combination of stain and protective coat. It came out great.
I did not use the Polyshades on the hoops. They will get abused, so I just used tung oil to get moisture into the dry wood.

Preparing the Components

If you wish, drill about a 9mm to 12mm (3/8" to 1/2") hole in the side of the shell. This lets air pressure out when you strike the drum and can improve the sound. Most alfaias I've seen have them.

Fill any undesired holes in the drum shell and finish it. The ropes will be tight against the shell, so you should make sure the finish is cured before assembling the drum.

If you are using hemp rope, I recommend laundering it once. It will soften the fibers and make it very pliable.

If you plan to do rim shots on the counterhoops, I recommend staining them or just using Tung Oil. If you paint the hoops, the paint will probably chip.

Lubricate the bearing edges of the shell with a material that won't harm the shell or heads. I use bee's wax.

Drilling the Counterhoops

Perhaps the most difficult job of the whole process is to drill holes around the counterhoops. The ropes will pass through these holes to lock the heads against the shell. The majority of alfaias I've seen have 8 holes, but I've seen up to 10 on large ones. I usually use a template. Sorry the photo at right isn't very clear.

Choose a size for your holes that is a little larger than the rope you will use. I use 6mm (1/4") rope, and I find 9mm (11/32" or 3/8") to be a good size for the holes. You don't want them too large, because that will weaken the counterhoops. The holes will be half way between the top and bottom of the hoop.

First, drill the holes about half the size of your intended diameter. This is to prevent the drill bit from tearing away layers of wood from the exit hole.

Re-drill the holes in the intended size.

Roping the Drum

The photos in this series, like most of the tiny photos on this page, are thumbnails. Click them for a larger image.

Assemble the drum heads and counterhoops. Position the counterhoops so that the holes in the top hoop lie between the holes in the lower one. You want them staggered.

I usually use elastic bungie cords to hold the counterhoops in place. I used four in this demonstration.

Tie a knot with the free end around the main rope so that there is a little space between the knot and the hoop. You will later pass the rope through this space.

Turn the drum back over rightside up and draw the rope over the top of the hoop, and thread the rope this time from the inside out, towards the outside, through the next hole around the upper counterhoop. I usually work in a counterclockwise motion around the drum, though either way works.

Thread the rope through the next hole in the bottom hoop from inside-to-outside again (as with all the rest from here on). Note the yellow bungie cord in place. With the bungie cords holding the hoops, you can put your drum up on a pedastal, which makes this job much easier.

Continue around the drum, in a zig-zag pattern, until you have filled every hole in the counterhoop and the end of the rope is back at the beginning.

This is the point where you pass the rope through the space you left with your knot. Draw the rope through and pull taut.

From this point, you will be threading the rope laterally throught the vertical lines. This is the tuning rope. The process here makes the alfaia unique. Other drums are tuned with rope like this, but this is the one one that I have seen that uses this roping pattern.

Again, thread the rope between these vertcals from behind.

Continue around the drum in the same manner.

Here is a shot after a few verticals have been tied together.

Continue past the verticals with the knot. Tie these together as the others. My feet need sun.

If you have used nylon, cotton, or hemp rope, you will get a lot of practice with this process. In my experience of all three of these ropes, I had to re-tighten them at least twice. Hemp stretches the least of these, but still needs some adjustment at first. Polyester-based static line will stretch the least.

If you have to re-tighten, it is best to undo the entire length of the lateral line. Then you can properly tighten the verticals again. Soon you will be able to do this quickly and easily.

Selecting a Shell

Dimensions
Drums have different characteristics determined by the ratio of the diameter and depth of the body. Drum fanatics often argue, even using mathematical calculations, over which are the ideal dimensions for certain drums. Some general rules:

• A deeper shell has more resonance and fuller sound; a shallower shell has a "tighter" response and clearer tone.
• A wider head can be tightened more than a smaller head for a given pitch. This gives better stick rebounding when playing, and allows better control.
• For general use, square dimensions, where the depth and the diameter are nearly the same, seem to produce the best compromise. So far, my favorite dimensions for one of these rope-tuned bass drums is 46cm (18") deep by 20" diameter.

It seems the average alfaia has about a 3/4 ratio of depth to diameter.

Thickness
Generally, a thin shell is desirable. It will vibrate with the drum and produce a fuller sound with a nice sustain. However, if the shell is too thin, it will be weak and may warp. If you want a thin shell, it can be reinforced with interior rings at each bearing edge. A thin shell also obviously makes for a lighter drum. You can quite comfortably wear the drum strapped over your shoulder.

If you order Keller unfinished drum shells from a distributor such as Anderson Trading, the shells will be measured in layers. There are four standard thicknesses:

I usually choose the 8 layer with no reinforcement. Another alternative is 6 layers with reinforcement, which is a little more expensive. 10 layers makes a pretty heavy drum.

You can also order bearing edges to be shaped. Usually, this is done by beveling the inner surface of the bearing edge to make a smaller contact on the head. A sharper bearing edge creates more sustain, and a brighter sound. Less beveling reduces sustain and gives a mellower sound. I tend towards a sharper bearing edge.

More advice
Here is a good web page about tuning drums. Much of it won't apply to this project, mainly because the heads on these drums are tuned together; heads on drum kits are independently tuned.

The Molehill Group: Learn How to Tune your Drums

and here is Prof. Sound's Drum Tuning Bible from Drumweb.com:

Prof. Sound's Drum Tuning Bible

Wearing your Alfaia

Alfaias are rather light and easy to wear. They are usually worn over the shoulder with a sling, but I've seen some mangue bands wear them around the waist.

Completing as a Sling
Not only is the sling more traditional for these drums, they are preferred over the waist strap if you intend to march with your drum. Unfortunately, it also makes it harder to play with two sticks. A heavy drum may also hurt your shoulder and/or back, although I've never had that problem with an alfaia.

With the basic strap complete, either thread it between a vertical pair of ropes, or hook a carabiner on the belt. If you use a clip, you can then simply attach the drum to your sling. If you are right-handed, slip your head and left arm through the sling to wear the drum on your left side. Do the opposite if your are left-handed.

Although I personally find it awkward, some traditional alfaia players in Pernambuco wear their drums on the shoulder of their weak hand, not across their chest to the opposite shoulder.

Completing as a Waist Belt
This method has a few advantages. It allows you to play the drum equally with both hands. But more importantly for many drummers, it is easy on the back. Most of the weight is distributed on the hips.

The process for completing a waist belt is similar to the sling, but the strap will be a bit shorter. With the basic strap complete, either thread it between a vertical pair of ropes, or hook a carabiner on the belt. If you use a clip, you can then simply attach the drum to your belt. Buckle the belt around you, and you are ready.