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Now while the skin is still very pliable and soft and wet it is time to begin
mounting the drumhead. First I remount the bottom ring, finding the best place
around the shell that fits best. Now I realign the bottom ring with the
retaining ring and tensioning rods. We want them as straight as possible because
if they are off, the effect seems to be magnified when set against the straight
joints of the staves. Here is how this looks…
From here I keep each part in the same alignment. Keep all of the parts
oriented so that everything lines up nicely. This is also done to flesh ring to
find the place that everything is cleanly aligned.
I then wrap the skin around the flesh ring place it inside the retaining ring
with the hair side down. (This very important!) You want the hair side facing
out. I place the skin and flesh ring inside of the retaining ring between the
tensioning rods like this…
Tuck the edges of the skin through the inside of the retaining ring. If you
get this too tight the ring will rest too high and will not be comfortable on
your hands while playing. I poke the center down to push a nice hollow space
like a pocket. This part may take some practice. Remember that you can readjust
things while the skin is wet and pliable and the drum has not been tightened
much. Keeping the same alignment as before lower the shell into the center of
the retaining ring. It should be able to touch the working surface with a little
slack for the proper fit. Doing this may require some help because you will not
want the tensioning rods to scratch the drum shell, and it will take some help
inserting the tensioning rods into the coupling nuts on the bottom ring. All of
the rods have to go into the coupling nuts at the same time and it must be
evenly so that they do not bind.
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