MEINL Aluminum Darbuka Silver 5 1/3 In X 9 1/4 In

Every one of the aluminium darbukas I've played from meinl has been consistently good. Get the largest one you can afford.

I bought several of these drums ranging in size from 6.5" to the largest size, in order to develop a lending library for a Middle-Eastern percussion group I've started. While it's typical for the largest-diameter to sound the best, I have to single out the 6.5". It has a rich, easy-to-produce dum and a crisp tek; the tek is not quite as easy or nice-sounding as a much more expensive drum but very good. Overall it's extremely responsive; touch it almost anywhere, in almost any way, and it will produce a sound. The larger drums also have a nice dum but the tek sounds metallic, like Caribbean steel drum. But the tek on the 6.5" sounds more like that of a clay drum. One problem with the 6.5" is that it's so short that an adult can accidentally put one's elbow over the opening, dampening the sound. Great size for little kids, though. Also, none of these drums respond well to drum head modifications with the dominant hand during tek's with the non-dominant. So not suitable for a sophisticated player, but very rewarding and fun for a beginner.

We have various drums and hand percussion instruments at home, but our 13yo son wanted something similar to a Djembe which he could then take on camping trips. Our current Djembe is an 18", which is too big and a touch too fragile for a youth's camping trip. Looking around the local GC, we found a 7.25" Meinl Darbuka. Made of Aluminum, it gives good tone, and it will certainly stand up to rough camping trips. The weight is fine - it feels solid, but you won't get tired carrying it. The walls don't resonate, so you can hand-hold it whilst playing, and there are no sharp edges anywhere to catch onto thing. We call it the 'pepper pot'...

I got this for my son along with a hand drum. he loves it!!! plays it a church and everywhere awesome hand drum and really easy to learn.