• Jacaranda Wood
  Trade names: 'Jakaranda', 'African Rosewood', 'african Blackwood', 'Balafon wood'
  Local names: Malinke 'Gbeng', 'Gbani'; Susu 'Ghari';
  Other names: 'Balairi'
  Latin: 'Dalbergia spp.' belongs to the family Papilionaceae.
  There are over 200 Dalbergia species. Among them are in Africa, 'Dalbergia baroni' known as 'Madagascar rosewood', 'Dalbergia melanoxylon' known as 'Granadilla' and 'Dalbergia cearensis' as 'Kingswood'.
  The exact determination of the Dalbergia species used in Guinea are unfortunately not yet succeeded.
  Dose anyone reading this knows more?
• Rose Wood
  Trade names: 'African Rosewood', 'African Rosewood', African Kino tree, 'Padouk', 'Padauk', 'Barwood'
  Local names: Bambara: 'Guénou'; Malinke 'Gbilling';
  Other names: 'Mukwa', 'Muninga', 'Vein'
  Latin: 'Pterocarpus erinaceus' belongs to the family Fabaceae.
  It is visually similar to Jakaranda, but lighter and not as intensely red as 'Pterocarpus soyauxii' which is also traded under the name Padouk.
• Buschmango Wood
  Trade names: 'Wild Mango', 'Sunbird Tree'
  Local names: Malinke 'Doda'; Bambara: 'Dugura'; Senegal: 'Cul Cul' or 'Dimb'.
  Other names: 'Imbubuli', 'Thunzikhulu', 'Umbubuli', 'Vovovo'
  Latin: 'Cordyla pinnata', belongs to the family of Fabaceae; synonym: 'Cordyla africana'
  It shows great similariy to Teak wood (Tectona grandis)!
• Iroko Wood
  Trade names: 'Iroko', 'African Oak', 'Chene d'Afrique', 'Kambala', 'Odum'
  Local names: Cote d'Ivoire: 'Iroko'; Ghana: 'Odum';
  Latin: 'Chlorophora excelsa' and 'C. regia ' belongs to the family of Moraceen
  This tree is one of the most widely spread trees in all tropical african forest formations. It reaches heights of 50 m and diameters up to 2 m. It is not quite as hard as the timbers metioned above. Its strength, however, is similar to european oak. The best Iroko quality comes from the Ivoy Coast.
• Melina Wood
  Trade names: 'Melina', 'Melian Wood', 'White Teak'
  Local names: Guinea / Malinke 'Melina'
  French: Bois Blanc ', other names:' Irib '
  Latin: 'Gmelina arborea' belongs to the family Verbenaceae
  It is a very light wood that can be easily processed accordingly. Its strength is still resonable.
  Its color is light yellow to grayish white.
  It plays a minor role amoungst resonant african timbers. It is favored in Guinea for the big bass drums Dununba, Sangban and Kenkeni. Since a few years, it is also used to manufacture cheaper djembe drums.
• Tweneboa Wood
  Trade names: 'Tweneboa Wood', 'Tweneboa Tree', 'Palm Wood','Drum Tree'
  Local names: Ghana / Asante: 'Tweneboa', 'Kyeneboa', 'Kyenedua' (Kyen = drum; dua = tree), 'Tweneduru', 'Akyaboa'; Nigeria: 'Oma', 'No Kiebo Eke', 'Egin Ogume'; Kamerun: 'Boomba', 'Yombomba', 'Bola', 'Yom'
  Latin: 'Cordia millenii', belongs to the family Boraginaceae
  This tree grows up to 15 m high and occurs in Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Because of its wide umbrella-shaped crown, it is planted for in the villages. It is used for drum carving in Ghana, because it is internally soft and often developes hollow inside with age. The name Tweneboa directly translated means' drum 'tree'. The wood has no special sound characteristics but it is extremely easy to carve. Thats why it is often used for drum making in Ghana, traditionally for Kpanlogo drums and in resant times also for the cheapest djembe drums.
  

Further information can be found on our site Djembé Art and the German Djembé Forum.

We from Djembé Art are specialised in making and marketing professional djembé drums, and are counted amongst suppliers of the top quality worldwide! Our drums are unique special examples with excellent tonal qualities. No mass production.
Djembé Art drums cannot be compared with cheap Asian imports or tourist djembés. Ours are solidly constructed and finished with high quality craftsmanship!
The production of a Djembé Art instrument is considerably more work intensive and demanding, with higher material costs than cheap instruments. The craftsmen have to be paid a fair price for their skill. Since we demand high quality, we search amongst the best drums in their countries of origin, to select only the very best quality examples. We test each drum meticulously, work them over regardless of time and cost, and tune them carefully.
We deal only with selected drums from those countries producing the best quality: Mali, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Senegal! Our only exception are the small childrens djembés in our basic class which are from Ghana. We decided to include this model amongst our selection since they offer a good compromise: They provide the requirements of a tautening system with acceptable tonal quality and the need for a very resonably priced instrument.
Our demand for quality leads to such an extent that we select usually only the top 10% from the best drum manufacturers.

20 years of djemb é experience have taught us, that the performance of a djembé does not only depend on the quality of its components, but especially on the precision of the craftsmanship.
A violin maker hardly needs to point out this influence on his instruments.
We from Djembé Art see our work as a contribution to a better quality understanding about African drums.

Martina & Gavin Grosvenor 2010