This Toca Freestyle II Rope Tune Djembe is nicely made, light weight, well-constructed, and sounds great if tuned properly. The finish and clean looking construction of this djembe is great. It has a look of a traditional African drum but uses all of the modern materials of today. The head is plastic, which is great if you drum in all type of different weather conditions and locations. You don’t have to worry about the rain, humidity, or the beach. Because all the materials are manmade, they stand up to a lot of different conditions. If they get wet, but try not to get them wet, you can wipe them down and they will still sound good. And don’t ever leave any drum out in direct sun, for extended periods of time.I like the rope tuning better than metal hardware tuning. Once you tuned them to the way you like it to sound it will stay like that, almost under any conditions. No metal means less weight. I am sure that the rope tuning is by far the best way to tune a djembe. You have 40 to 50 point evenly pulling the skin around the rim. Not like the metal tuning that have about six and no more than eight points of pressure to pull it into tune. And because it is an artificial skin it does not get out of tune like a natural goat skin.With careful placement of some tape on top of the head you can also eliminate the extended ringing that is associated with artificial head. Some people like the ringing, so it is a matter of preference. I do not, so I have a 3inch of white surgical tape… read more on the opposite side from where I strike the head. This stops the ringing from traveling back and forth.Overall I have 5 djembes and this is the one I use to go to the beach with. It is light weight to carry for long distances and I don’t have to worry about it getting destroyed by the elements.

Musical Background:
Profession Drum Circe Faciltator

Musical Style:
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