Fez Drum Making: Rhythm and Heritage
You follow your guide deeper into Fez medina.
The drum making workshop announces itself through sound before sight. Rhythmic tapping. Stretching skin. The work in progress. You enter. The master artisan waits. His family has crafted percussion instruments for generations. His hands show it.
No preamble. No history lecture. Just: work.
Goatskin spread before you. Cedar frame handcrafted. Rope waiting. The master demonstrates once. Stretching skin over the frame. Securing it with intricate rope patterns unchanged for centuries. Your turn.
The goatskin resists. Too loose. Too tight. Wrong tension entirely. He corrects without judgment. Again. Better. The skin begins cooperating. Or you begin understanding it. The physics of drums. The geometry of sound.
The rope pattern matters. Not decoration. Function. The specific weaving affects tone. Pitch. Resonance. Each knot is intentional. Each cross-section is considered. You weave. Your hands learn the pattern through repetition. Through correction. Through patient instruction that doesn’t coddle.
As your drum takes shape, he shares stories. Moroccan musical traditions. Regional differences. The Gnaoua rhythms. Berber beats. Andalusian influences. Each region’s drums are slightly different. Each difference serving purpose. You listen while working. The stories making the work meaningful. The work making the stories tangible.
Two hours pass. Faster than expected. Your drum is complete. Not perfect. The skin tension uneven in places. The rope pattern shows your learning curve. But functional. Yours. Made by your hands under guidance, stretching back generations.
The master demonstrates playing techniques. Hand positions. Striking surfaces. The different sounds possible from a single instrument. Bass tones. Sharp slaps. The range is surprising. He plays traditional patterns. Fast. Complex. Your hands can’t replicate yet. Maybe won’t ever. But you try.
Impromptu jam session. Other students. The master. You. Creating rhythm together. Your imperfect drum is adding to the collective sound. The acoustics of the workshop amplifying everything. The medina outside contributes its own rhythms—footsteps, voices, calls to prayer, and daily life.
You understand drums differently now. Not objects. Voices. Each one is unique. Each carrying history in its construction. Each is capable of speaking when properly addressed.
At conclusion, the opportunity: purchase your handmade drum. Take it home. Resonant souvenir carrying not just sounds but the soul of Fez. Authentic Moroccan rhythms in your hands. The heartbeat of the medina continues wherever you take it.
You buy it. Of course you do. You made it. The drum is evidence. Proof of the afternoon spent learning craft unchanged for centuries. Of touching tradition through cedar and goatskin and rope. Of hands following patterns, countless hands followed before.
The workshop stays behind. Still tapping. Still stretching. Still teaching.
The rhythm continues.
