Specialising in the sale of djembes and African percussion instruments, the African-percussion.net shop was created by enthusiasts of African arts, music and crafts.

Since 1996, our association has been the link between African percussionists and craftsmen in order to offer quality traditional instruments at the best price.

We also disseminate information about the djembe and African percussion network in the service of the community of percussionists.

Find out more about our approach »

The djembe

Our selection of African djembes comes from different workshops in West Africa.

The djembe from Ghana is a cheap djembe, but of honourable quality. The low price of the Ghanaian djembe can be explained in particular by the use of light wood from eco-managed forests for its manufacture, which is cheaper than the heavy wood of a djembe from Mali or a djembe from Guinea.

The Guinean djembe and the Malian djembe are particularly distinguished by their upper classes. Sometimes referred to as “professional djembe”, we prefer to call it “premium djembe” because of its exceptional finishes and the perfect quality of its materials.

The small child djembe, the medium djembe and the djembe with cowhide come to meet more specific needs.

Buying a djembe shell alone allows you to save money or to personalise your djembe, but it requires knowing how to assemble a djembe!

Djembe hats and bags are important accessories to protect your djembe. The straps make it possible to play the djembe comfortably. As for the kessings, they come to enrich the sound of the djembe.

Wholesale of djembe is particularly aimed at associations and public bodies involved in the field of socio-cultural activities, as well as schools and shops or retailers of musical instruments.

African drums

The dundun is an African drum that is very widespread in West Africa. A dununs set consists of three of these drums of different sizes: a small one, the kenkeni, a medium one, the sangban, and a large one, the dununba. Smaller in size, the mini-dundun is also lighter than a classic size dundun and is particularly suitable for shows and ambulatory entertainment.

The African congas are made up of a solid wooden shaft mounted with a beef skin stretched by ropes or tie ropes.

Other African drums are numerous. They are generally classified according to their type (talking drum, peg drum, log drum...), their cultural origin (Ashanti drum, Ewe drum, Ga drum, Yoruba drum...) or national origin (drum of Ghana, drum of Nigeria , drum of Senegal...), or their function (ritual drum, shamanic drum...).

We can mention the dondo, the tama, the kpanlogo, the krin, the batá drum, the bougarabou among the most famous African drums.

The balafon

The balafon is characterised by its size and musical scale: the pentatonic balafon, the heptatonic balafon or, more rarely, the chromatic balafon.

The bwaba balafon is a balafon from Burkina Faso known for its particular sound due to its curved and concave shape.

The balafon from Mali - bambara balafon - and the Guinean balafon are also known for their quality.

African stringed instruments

African stringed instruments such as the bolon, kora or ngoni are made from a calabash, skin, neck and bridge of wood.

Nowadays, traditional gut or skin strings and wooden tuning pegs are generally replaced by nylon strings and oil-bath tuning machines.

Small African percussion instruments

Like African drums, there are many small African percussion instruments.

These small percussion instruments are often played by singers or dancers who accompany the drums with the help of shekeres (djabara), bells (gankogui, karignan), rattles (juju rattle, braided rattle, wassakoumba), dance belts and bracelets, etc.

Thumb pianos (sanza, kalimba, mbira) are also widespread in Africa.

Mounting and repairing percussion instruments

The mounting and repairing of a djembe or a traditional African percussion instrument requires the use of quality materials to prevent premature deterioration of the instrument or too rapid wear of its sensitive parts.

We supply a wide range of ropes and skins for djembe or drum as well as calabashes for the making, mounting or repairing of various instruments, such as a balafon, stringed instrument, water drum, small percussion: whole or half calabashes, bottle calabashes...

Braided rope or pre-stretched halyard? What diameter? Goatskin or cowhide? What thickness? The choice of a rope or skin for a djembe or a drum depends on several criteria: type of instrument, thickness and diameter of the drum, desired sound... If you need advice on how to choose a skin for a djembe or drum, on how to choose a string or any other material, please contact us »