
Intergenerational music projects


Frame drum-making workshops




Make your own frame drum
The frame drum is probably one of oldest musical instruments. It was (and still is) used almost everywhere around the world, mostly by the indigenous cultures of our planet. I run these workshops with the belief that the vibration of drums can help us to connect with our own vibrations and with our inner experiences to bring to our lives a sense of deeper meaning, to calm the mind, resonate in the heart and uncover new perspectives and connections.
The drums we will make in this workshop go by many names. Sometimes people call them "frame drums," more often they are called "shamanic drums" or "Bodhran" in Celtic culture. The most important thing is the intention with which you use them - if you just want your own handmade music instrument or if you are also interested in their traditional use, which is surprisingly very similar in a large number of different cultures across the globe.
You have quite a unique opportunity to work with natural materials such as wet skin and native wood. Coming to the workshop is a perfect opportunity to create your own instrument with your own hands or even cooperate on creation with family-member, partner, etc.
Shamanism is an old "method" of seeking wisdom from Nature through deepening our ability to listen, receiving support from our ancestral lineages, discovering the world of spirits, receiving and sharing healing through knowledge. The instruments of shamanism are humility, intuition, sharp awareness, presence and sensitive practice. Many shamans connect those qualities with transcendent experiences of conscious traveling of the soul into other worlds, and it is possible to experience altered states of consciousness with the guided use of a frame drum.
The process of making drums is connected with the ritual expression of gratefulness to the animals and trees whose bodies we use as our materials - deer skin and solid wood. When new drums are finished, there will be an (optional) ceremony to welcome the new drums with the smoke of sacred plants.
In the past I have offered these workshops in schools, meditation centers, summer schools and camps, team-building events with companies, festivals, even in office buildings! There have to be at least 15 drums made at every workshop, and I we need enough time to dive calmly into the process, so while it is possible to create drums in few hours, I prefer to meet for a whole weekend.
Contact me for more details or if you would like to organise a workshop for your group or organisation.
