I am extremely pleased with my djembe, "Infinite Love". The versatility of sounds is remarkable and this drum is a pure pleasure to play. The workmanship is high quality. Even more important is the beautiful tones possible with variations of hand positions and pressure. Thank you, Mr. Coleman. My heart and my hands send you many smiles and my home now reverberates with the sound of your homeland.

Mark S

Foresthill, CA, USA

These are my tips in buying a Djembe and testimonial for Samuel Coleman and other native African drum makers. Djembes are currently popular and therefore non African drums are being sold to compete. African drum makers usually use Tweneboa wood and make Djembes out of one peice of wood. The result is a thick but light and porous shell. When properly oiled for resonance, this is an "infusing" sound that saturates walls, floors and ceilings around the player instead of simply bouncing off of surfaces. Oiled Twenboa also highlights the carefully carved patterns and wood grain. There is no comparison with other woods or stave construction drums built like Congas. African goatskins that are shaved instead of chemically de-haired (and therefore dry and brittle) heads are also the best, wrapped over the rim to give plenty of rim or slap sounds. The drum head needs to be thick and tight enough to give a heavy bass sound with little bending inward. The roping needs to start tight with two dozen or more pairs tightening the head. The intricate roping of Novica drums is of much higher quality than non African assembly line drums. A nice horizontal "Mali" weave gives you a means to tighten and tune, getting the same pitch at each pair around the entire head. Last but not least, I hate to think of native African drum makers on an endangered species list. They enrich world culture in the same way as the native wildlife of Africa. Africa is truly the roots of all world cultures and needs international support. I would recommend Samuel Coleman's drum, as it is easy to recognize the craftmanship and design of a drum player. I am very happy with my new "Odawa" Djembe.

Michael P

Placerville, California, USA

I purchased the djembe drum, "Kete", for my son's birthday after the two of us searched the Web for a djembe. He loved it and the price was within our agreed limit, which meant no wheedling for more money once we found the perfect drum. It arrived in perfect condition and a little sooner than we expected. It's handsome and sounds great, but the best part is that another student in his college Afro-Caribbean Ensemble told my son that their instructor is jealous because my son has a better drum than he has!

Mary Lee Foley

Toledo, Ohio, USA