Choosing
Initial Attachment
Tuning Rope
Drying the Heads
Contact Me

Back to Okedo Construction

Back to Making an Okedo

Choosing Rope

The final step in completing your okedo is to rope the heads to the body. I have used all sorts of rope, from high-tech climbing and marine line, made of polyester and/or nylon, to simple hemp rope. Some Japanese drums use manila, which is too rough and stiff for me. The standard is asa, which is true hemp rope. I would restrict the size to 8 mm (5/16") because anything larger gets difficult to work with. Japanese drums tend to have thick rope of cotton, manila, or hemp, with twisted, rather than braided, construction.

Increasingly, I'm falling in love with hemp rope. It is hard to get in the US, but it is worth looking for. Hemp is the strongest natural fiber rope, but the crazy US government has banned its domestic production. In addition to its strength, it is soft and resists stretching. Beware, sometimes in the US manila rope is called "hemp rope". It is not the same. Manila is courser and stiffer. In some photos in these pages is a natural-colored hemp rope.

Hemp Rope Resources
I included the links below because hemp is difficult to find in the US.

My most recent purchases were from Scientific Nature Hemp Emporium and TerraWear, neither of which appear to have available hemp rope any longer. Of the following links, I have only done business with Dragonwing.

Dragonwing This is a good, place place to deal with. It is a company that makes tents for renaissance faires.
Rawganique.com has a nice selection from Romania.
Hemp Basics also has Romanian supplies.
HempRope.com is dedicated to hemp rope and twine.
Earth Friendly Goods has a good selection.

An interesting web page about natural fiber rope: Chat Food Fiber Natural Rope

Of the synthetics, I prefer polyester. I have used nylon (the thick black rope in some of the photos is 8mm nylon), but it stretches and doesn't knot well. Climbing rope is made of either. When you buy it, ask for static, rather than dynamic, line. Static is made to resist stretching.

This is perhaps the most satisfying part of making an okedo. Once you have completed roping, the drum is finished.

I have seen at least four patterns for the tuning ropes of okedo-daiko, from very simple to one pattern I haven't figured out, yet. My description is of the most common pattern, also used for tsukeshime-daiko ("shime"). I described the process with the method I use, but there are many ways to rope your drum. This isn't necessarily the best way; it's the best I've figured out.

You can rope your drum with the heads wet or dry. The first time I rope a new drum, I like to put the heads on wet. That allows the head to "shape" to the drumshell.

First, find a nice park in the sunshine. Place the drum vertically. I usually place mine on an overturned bucket, about the same diameter as the drum shell. Adjust the heads so that the holes on the top head line up halfway between the holes on the bottom head.

Bring the long end of the rope down to the nearest hole below that first hole. I start on the one to the right of the first hole, so I work around counter-clockwise. Thread the rope down through the hole, then up and around the ring, so that it is positioned to go up to the next hole. Run the end of the rope through this hole just as you did the first one.

Continue threading the rope around the drum in this pattern until the long end meets the tail. Once you are done, you should see a series of Vs around the shell. Each "leg" of a V will be referred to here as a "vertical". Your drum should look something like the photo at right.

On some drums, this is as far as you go. You can tie the long end of the rope to the bowline loop, and wrap the excess around the circumference of the shell. But I will continue, because the next step makes the most characteristic and attractive pattern for okedo-daiko.

Lateral Tuning Rope

Now you are ready for Phase Two. This will create a lateral line that allows you greater fexibility in tuning your drum, and also make it look cool. You will thread the rope horizontally through the verticals all the way around.

Pass the end of the rope over the next two verticals.

Pass the rope back behind the verticals you just passed it over. About this time, I turn the drum so that it is lying down on its side.

Wrap it over the top of the verticals again, then on to the next pair of verticals. The next pair should include the second vertical of the first pair.

Wrap the rope around the two verticals in the same manner as the first. Each time you wrap around a pair, include the second vertical from the previous pair.

Continue around the drum, without pulling very tight yet. Keep the lateral tuning line fairly centered for a cleaner look when finished.

After you have threaded the tuning rope all the way around, you will arrive at the bowline knot. For now, leave it be.

This is how your drum should look, now, except maybe the color.

Once you reach the end, you have to make a decision. When a hide is wet, it has expanded quite a bit. As it dries, it shrinks. Your drumheads will tighten. So will the ropes holding them. This is a great chance to stretch your heads out more. The more you stretch them now, the less they will change in the future. However, if your drum shell is a little weak, or your hide is thin, you may be cautious, and leave the rope a bit loose. Drying hide can exert a lot of force. Either way, you will want to go one more time around your drum to tighten the horizontal rope at least a little. If you are brave, tighten it all they way.

Here is the drum after tightening up the lateral rope a little bit. The verticals are still not right together and the loops binding the verticals are still quite open.

The is the moment when you might want to make sure the heads are centered on the shell. The drum is still loose enough to allow you the move them, but tight enough so that they might stay in place once they're right.

Now, you still have that loose end and the bowline loop. This loop and the verticals next to it are still unwrapped.

Pull the rope tight. Wrap the rope around the bowline loop and the very first vertical.

Now, you can go around the drum once more and tighten up the lateral. I still leave a little space between the verticals and the loops a little open. This allows some tightening after the ropes have stretched out a bit.

If you attached the drumheads wet, allow them dry. You may hear creaking, moaning, and cracking as they tighten. It happens to my drums every night as the temperture goes down.

Once the heads are completely dry (2 to 3 days, depending on the thickness of the hide), you are ready to beat the hell out of them. Have fun.