Recording techniques:Djembe

General guidelines

 * The head of Djembes is pretty wide and some of the bass comes from the bottom of the instrument.


 * There isn't a single position close to the drum that captures it's actual sound.So a realistic recording requires some distance between the microphone(s) and the instrument.

Microphone Placement
Each technique begins with a bullet point.


 * In a good sounding room try micing the drum 6-10 feet away.
 * If you wish to close mic, try a single mic 4-6 inches above the rim and angled across the drum head.
 * To capture the extra low frequencies place a microphone underneath the instrument and aimed at the opening.
 * Combine these techniques to get a fairly accurate sound (large diaphragm dynamic microphone underneath the instrument and small condenser microphone above the rim).