Starter Kit. Idea 44 of 500. Cluster 2
Drum-making and a drumming lesson in one afternoon
The mechanism, from the book
The craft cannot be copied and the object can. In Europe people queue to watch glass being blown and then buy the glass.
The first step
Pair a drum maker with a drummer and propose a single afternoon: watch a drum stretched and tuned, then learn a basic rhythm on it. Run it once for friends and film it on a phone. Send the clip to the nearest hotel's activities desk and to three hostels. The first paid group is the proof.
- Who pays first
- Groups of friends and families on holiday who want a lively afternoon and the story behind the drum they heard at a performance.
- What leaves today
- Drummers are paid only per performance; teaching the making and the playing sells the skill behind the sound.
Ask first
- National Crafts Council. Ask which drum makers they know who could teach visitors.
- Department of Cultural Affairs. Ask whether traditional drummers could be introduced through their programmes.
Check before you spend
That the hide and wood used are legally sourced, that a drum can pass customs abroad, and that the noise does not trouble neighbours.
Find out these three numbers
- What will a visitor pay for a lesson and a small drum?
- How long does it take to make a small drum?
- Can a finished drum travel home as hand luggage?
A comparison from the book
Kandy hub. Appendix
"The hub is the crafts and tea showcase on the lake, with the tasting room, the drum-maker"
The drum-maker is already in the book's Kandy hub, open to the visitor.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.