Gary King Sr. crazy repair job!! broken heart djembe

Here is a drum that i gave to Gary, with the idea of repairing the drum as a symbol of his repairing heart, after loosing his son a few months back.

You got to love Gary's smile.. he is one genuine person.... and he is so happy with this so dang ugly repair!!

Man, this one was really bad, and very odd break, in that it was cracked from a violent blow, in several directions and very hard to get clamped in the correct direction.

When using these expanding glues, its so important to make sure they are clamped very tightly, as they will split apart a hairline crack as it dries and cures.

So, we put a metal bar across the top of the drum, wound the rope around the cracked area, and then up and over the bar, to prevent the rope from slipping down the shell as it gets tightened.

This was the first time i did this technique, very fly by the seat of my drawers kind of thing..

Gary was very impressed.. laughing with amazement as i wrapped and bound this challenging drum... he is so funny.. really gets into things, with the amazement of a kid, at times.

This is a quality i always enjoy in people.. when they get such a thrill out of the simple pleasures of life.. laughing and shaking their heads with enjoyable bewilderment! ... fun....

So, we will see if this drum comes together.. its a 50/50 shot at rebuilding this into the amazing drum it was. this is one top end drum, and in the end, it looks like Yagbe will be stringing it up for Gary... very cool.

Yagbe is one of the best at skinning and roping up a drum. You should see his work... incredible.

Im so happy Yagbe has adopted Gary as a student... Im so happy for them both, as Gary is going to be a great student, for sure. He already has decent chops, as he has worked on western rudiments in the past, for some reason... as he was a guitar player.

From what i understand, Gary was quite a player, back in the day. Im sure this will help him in his work with Yagbe..

As we all know, we need all the help we can get when working with Yagbe, as he is such a master.

I asked Yaya if he knew of anyone who was a master in several traditions, as Master Yagbe. Eventhough Yaya knows many a player from east to west, he knows of no one who has mastered as many folkloric traditions as Yagbe. Its like having a triple doctorate.

Anyway, lets see if we can get this drum to sing. I have a feeling it will come together.

Tony