South Africa’s only Drum Making Academy

Our Drum Farm at Bomvu manufactures drums made from the Agave tree which is prolific in the region and borders the entire property. Most conventional drums and djembes are made from indigenous hardwood trees contributing to the alarming rate of deforestation in South Africa and globally. The Agave tree originates from Mexico and is used in the making of Tequila, but here in South Africa it is considered an invader species which threatens indigenous forests, so now we put it to good use in our drum farm, not only producing top quality drums but helping with job creation in our community and saving the environment as well.

We have years of experience working with softwood to produce these environmentally friendly drums. Using certain techniques, resin and varnish we are able to share our knowledge with you to produce a drum with a sound quality matching, if not superior to, conventional hardwood drums.

Guests at Bomvu have the opportunity to make their own unique, lightweight African drum at our Drum Farm taught by experienced drum makers and players. It is a scarce and unique talent and usually takes between three to five days to produce a single drum, after which drum enthusiasts are taught how to tune and finally play their drum. The drum making process starts with the coned shape root of the Agave and guests are taught how to carve and clean the cone, prepare skins, and apply rope for tuning. Not only will you leave here with a unique, personalized drum that weighs very little, but also the knowledge of how to make it, tune it and re-skin it.