RHYTHMuseum

The Kodo drummers of Sado island (the Japan Sea off Niigata prefecture) live an almost temple-like life dedicated to the mastery of...

Okinawan Eisa is more of a dance style using drums as a prop than drums for drums' sake.  Eisa is traditionally performed after the...

Thailand has a fascinating array of drums owing to a rich history of classical and folk music, diverse hill-tribe population and its...

Brazil is famous for the carnival festivals where thousands parade the streets of the Rio De Janeiro dancing to raucous samba rhythms....

An Article by Peyman Nasehpour, Tonbak, Ghaval and Daf Player Tonbak is the Persian goblet drum and chief drum of Persian music. ...

The Cajon is a wooden box made with light plywood with a hole in the side that produces a deep tone when one side is hit. Usually the...

The appearance of the Irish Bodhran might lead many to assume that it is similar to frame drums that have similar appearance like the...

The goblet drum is a common design found all over the world. The darbouka is the name for this drum in Northern Africa and the Middle...

The tar is a very basic frame drum that can be found in Northern Africa and the Middle East. It is referred to as the Daf in Kurdish...

Around the eighth century the modern western drum set had a precursor in Vietnam. A barrel drum two to three feet in diameter was...

The Djembe can be found all over Africa (and indeed all over the world these days) but dominates the music of Ghana. It is a...

The Nepalese/Tibetan "shaman drum" is called Dhyangro which is beat with a coiled stick.  This drum typically has a two foot head with a...

The Madal is a rhythm-keeping drum for folk songs in Nepal.  It averages two feet in length and six inches in diameter.  Black dots...

Most commonly heard in the market Jma-el-fna of Marrakesh, the Bendir is a shallow frame drum around 14 to 16 inches in diameter which...

The Tabla is a set of two drums which evolved from a single double-ended drum similar to the Pakhawaj, which is still played in India...

In Senegal the Sabar drum was used to communicate in villages over long distances.  The rhythms would emulate spoken phrases which...

Belgium has an excellent museum of musical instruments from around the world and across time. The collection focuses on the instruments...

During my visit to Burkina Faso I had an opportunity to visit the Folk Instrument Museum in Ouagadougou. Though many of the drums...

The Watts district in Los Angeles is home to Simon Rodia's masterpieces of concrete and steel called the Watt's Towers (or Nuestro...

What better to do after you've amassed a fortune selling ketchup? Collect art and drums of course. Norton Simon's spectacular museum in...