Featuring Tuned to Scale Tongue Drums
Handcrafted by Steve Roberts

Give Steve a call at 530 894-6349
 steve@tonguedrum.com

 

Click pictures below to hear Audio Samples

 12 Key Bass Giant

12 Key Standards

  14 Key Bass Giant

Sparrow 6 Key
Tongue Drums

 
                    12 Key Bass Giant in A Pentatonic Minor
                                                  Download Audio

                    

                                                                      14 Key Custom Bass Giant Tongue Drum

 

What Are Tongue Drums?
 

Tongue drums are a musical instrument made of wood, usually in the shape of a box, with tongues or keys on the playing surface. Tuned-to-scale tongue drums are tongue drums with the keys tuned to specific notes within a musical scale.

Tongue drums are members of the Idiophone family of instruments. An idiophone is an instrument which vibrates throughout its body when hit to produce sound.  The only instrument older than the idiophone is the human voice itself. Since the tongue on the tongue drum is attached at one end to the drum body, the tongue drum can also be classified as a lamellaphone. Notable members of this family include the Sansa, Mbira, and Kalimba.

Tongue drums are known by many different names including Xylodrums, Log Drums, and Slit Drums. If you were to trace back the origin of the tongue drum, you would find a version in early African and Asian cultures. Early tongue drums had a wide variety of functions within these cultures, from story telling to beating out war cries over long distances.

Steves' hardwood tongue drums are direct descendants of these ancient instruments, with a modern twist, harmonics and tuning. Steve carefully selects the highest grade hardwoods available, and skillfully crafts the finest tongue drums made.

His unique designs and attention to detail have garnered worldwide renowned. Every tongue drum is tuned to concert pitch. They are made in Chico, California and follow in a long tradition of high-quality American-made crafts.

With such distinctive sounds and styles of play, it's little wonder these fascinating instruments are finding their way into recordings from Artists around the world.

From the Craftsman to Your Door.

Click on the following links to learn more about the fascinating tongue drum. 

 

Tutorial on Tongue Drums
 A quick overview of the Tongue Drum

 

How Tongue Drums are Played    Woods Used
Mallets  Construction
Sizes and Models  About Steve Roberts
History of Tongue Drums  Custom Orders
   Contact Us

How Tongue Drums are Played

The Tongue Drum is tuned so that all notes are within a scale, a series of notes which fit together. This means you can't hit a "bad" note. It can be played with rubber mallets to lightly strike the tongues or the tongue drum can be played with the tips of your fingers. The longest tongue on the drum makes the lowest note in the scale.

 Find the scale by playing from the longest note to the shortest (high) note. Two or more notes played in unison create harmonies and chords. Create songs by playing three or four notes in a repeated pattern creating a melody or motif. Add complexity by playing your pattern on other notes of the drum.

Play one note repeatedly for a drone note effect and create a melody by playing other notes around it. Experiment! Try to remember the distinct note of each wood tongue or think of songs and melodies as patterns on the drum. If you are into writing music and songs, the melodies you come up with may surprise you.

 
You're in good company when you purchase a Steve Roberts tuned-to-scale tongue drum. Here's what Tony Humecke, award-winning composer, performer, producer, and creative partner in Percussive Adventures 2,  had to say.....

Hi Steve, Wow, the drum came Saturday and I couldn't be happier! It is fantastic sounding, and looks great too, but the sound is better than I expected.  In fact this one sounds better than a beautiful older one my wife has that I always thought was the best sounding drum I'd heard. Now it's a second to the one you sent. I will send people to your site whenever I can. And I hope I find a place for it in the new film I'm scoring. It's called "El Muerto". If you give me a mailing address I'd like to send you my latest soundtrack release from "Naked In Ashes".

 All the Best,
Tony Humecke
                                                 Plans now available
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From the Craftsman to Your Door

To place an order or to correspond through U.S. Mail, write to: 

Steve Roberts/ tonguedrum.com
P.O. Box 8892, Chico, CA 95927 
 Need help selecting a tongue drum?
Give Steve a call at 530 894-6349

 

Bellisphere,The Original 12 Key Steel Tongue Drum, BelliDrum, are trademarks of Steve Roberts and tonguedrum.com, 2008, All Rights Reserved.

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