Hides for Drum and Rattle Making

Choosing the Right Rawhide

Feb 8, 2009 Robert Oakes

The type of hide used influences the drum or rattles both acoustically and energetically.

Making a drum or rattle is a very satisfying project. Choosing the right hide depends on the intended use for the drum or rattle, the conditions it will be used in. Different hides will have special properties when it comes to how they perform as well as the medicine or intention they carry. The major types of hides that are commonly available are:

Deer Hide

Deer is very lightweight and easy to work with. Unfortunately it is too thin to use within a sweat lodge for very long. Good to use in a warm, dry environment and produces a nice sound. Deer medicine brings gentleness.

Elk Hide

With elk, how it will respond depends on whether it is a thin or thick hide. A thick elk hide is wonderful to drum on, and can handle the hottest sweat lodges. Thin hides will stand up fairly well, but will be more sensitive to going flat when in a wet environment. It helps to be able to tune it up by heating the drum head from time to time. Elk medicine is about strength and stamina and is very useful in dealing with chronic health situations. Elk are considered messengers.

Moose Hide

Moose is a very hard and thick hide to work with. The benefit is they have a very nice deep sound, and once they have their sound, will generally hold it despite changes in heat and humidity. Generally moose hides work better in a warm environment and make a good sweat lodge drum. Moose medicine is more on the emotional healing side, and is feminine in nature. Good when dealing with sexual abuse healing.

Buffalo Hide

Although buffalo can be thick and hard to work with, it makes an excellent drum. Stands up probably the best to a sweat lodge, and yet still sounds nice when played in the open air or inside a building. It is a very resilient hide. Buffalo medicine is about prayer. The teaching of White Buffalo Calf woman is that right prayer combined with right action leads to abundance.

Cow Hide

The cow is sacred in many cultures including Celtic, Hindu, and some African cultures. Cow hide makes a nice drum, with very resilient heat and humidity characteristics. Because it is ranched, the hides tend to be more uniform and easier to work with than a hide from a wild animal. In Celtic culture, the cow is seen to be the totem of the Goddess, and is representative of the nourishing quality.

Goat Hide

Goat is a very lightweight hide that is used on drums such as doumbeks/tablas. Useful for journeying, as the light hide makes a quick action.

Caribou/Reindeer Hide

Less commonly seen in southern latitudes, it is the hide of service in northern cultures. Fairly lightweight, it is the standard for most shamanic drums in the Canadian north, Siberia, and Scandinavian traditions.

Horse Hide

Horse is not as available as some of the others, but still is a viable hide to use. It tends to be fairly elastic in nature. Horse medicine is that of journeying or traveling, and would be useful as a shamanic drum.

That sums up the most common rawhides that are available to make drums and rattles. These can be purchased from tanneries or leather craft stores, or rawhide can be cleaned and prepared from a fresh hide. When cutting thicker rawhide, it is often helpful to use aviation tin snips.

Check out Making a Drum Rim and Making a Rawhide Rattle

The copyright of the article Hides for Drum and Rattle Making in Paganism/Wicca is owned by Robert Oakes. Permission to republish Hides for Drum and Rattle Making in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Buffalo hide makes a beautiful drum

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