Beater Making Masterclass — How to Make a Shaped Drum Beater

Hi. My name is Max. I'm from Ukraine, and I've been making shamanic drums and all kinds of accessories for them for over ten years.

In this masterclass I decided to show how to make one of the beaters I make for my own drums — the shaped, wave-formed one, with a flat striking face covered in fur.

There can be any number of beaters for a drum — to every taste, colour and shape. But in my own work I have mostly settled on the flat striking face with fur: it gives the drum a quieter, more meditative voice than beaters with a round head of leather or cloth.

You can take any stick you find in the forest, wind some cloth around it, and that is already a beater. Or you can come to it as a maker would: put more attention into it, more detail, more of your own feeling.

Making this one is harder, and it needs power tools — which, if you don't have a workshop of your own yet, you can rent or borrow from friends or family. But all of that goes into the piece you made with your own hands, and the drum will thank you for it with new tones and a good mood 🙂

Who it's for

• You have a drum and want to open something new in it — another feel, other rhythms.
• You make drums and beaters yourself, and you want to take on a type you haven't made before.

What you get

• The full process on video — 37 minutes, in two parts, from a bare batten to the finished beater. English subtitles burned into the picture.
• Written guide — PDF, 10 pages. Every measurement, material and step in writing, plus a table of timecodes so you can jump straight to the part you need.

A note on language. The video is narrated in russian with English subtitles burned in. The guide is fully in English.

Making the drum itself is a separate craft — that's my full Drum Making Masterclass.

Any questions? Write me — hello@openyourdrum.com