Little wonder that throughout the history of mankind, people from all over the world have prized drums-the instruments of rhythm. Perhaps no other people have attached a greater significance to the spirit of the drum than the Indian tribes of North America. The drum has played an inherent role in the lives of Native Americans for centuries. In Taos, New Mexico, pueblo Indians continue to express their deep spiritual awareness through ceremonial dances accompanied by the resonant pulsation of the drum. It is at the foot of the Sangria de Cristo mountains, in two venerable, five-story adobe dwellings, where the Taos Drum originated.
Every drum is handmade from natural materials and renewable resources over a year-long process.
Drum frames are created from wood native to Northern New Mexico-cottonwood, aspen or pine. All trees are harvested in a sustainable way under conscientious environmental standards. Logs are stripped of bark, hollowed out, cut into sections, then stored in a warehouse and slowly dried to prevent cracking. Dried wood is then leveled, rounded and sanded. Drum heads are made from cow, goat, sheep, deer, buffalo or elk hides that have been thoroughly cleaned and scraped to maintain the highest level of sound, appearance and durability.