Ghana djembe - Cheap djembe
Eco-djembe
The Eco-djembe is a reference for percussionists looking for a traditional djembe that meets standard quality standards at an affordable price. It is made from a light wood - Gmelina - widely used in West Africa, particularly in construction and for reforestation of dry forest areas. The moderate density of this medium-hard wood reduces the weight of a djembe usually made from heavy wood by 2 to 4 kg, while retaining its excellent characteristics. The Eco-djembe can be mounted with any type of goat skin, but very thick natural skins - castrated billy goat skin or bovine skin - are not recommended to avoid any risk of deforming the shell.
The Ghana djembe is a cheap djembe with all the essential technical qualities of the best djembes. The wood used for its manufacture - the tweneboa - comes from eco-managed forests.
The Ghana djembe is also light, as tweneboa is a lower density wood than those generally used to make a Malian or Guinean djembe.
Due to the low cost of production of this wood, the price of the Ghanaian djembe is relatively low, but also due to the use of braided ropes for mounting the djembe, which are cheaper than the pre-stretched halyard.
These particularities do not alter in any way the robustness of the djembe. However, we advise against mounting a very thick skin on this kind of djembe so as not to risk deformation of the shell.
The decoration of the Ghanaian djembe is also very diverse: engraving of animal scenes or Akan and more particularly Ashanti motifs, use of a transparent protective glaze to enhance the natural colour of the wood, or dyes to give the djembe its colour.
These djembes are made by specialised workshops located at the handicraft centre in Accra (Ghana).