waveriders.org

waveriders.org began when a couple of friends decided to make a djembe drum. With a simple, wooden West African djembe named "Little Mama" as our muse, we set out to make a drum that sounded so good it would make everyone want to dance, just like Little Mama had always done.

We looked around, played hundreds of djembes, and found out why gems like Little Mama are so hard to come by. The sound chamber of a wooden djembe is very difficult to carve accurately, and any irregularities create poor acoustics. This would explain all the low-quality attempts and why it is rare to come across djembes that have both deep warm bass resonance and distinct, crisp rim tones. The good ones are made with great care and precision and are usually very expensive.

Drums made from materials other than wood are easier to produce because the inside shape does not need to be carved, but sound chambers molded from other materials do not match the rich, warm tones of wood. Ceramic drums sound like ceramic, fiberglass drums sound like plastic, metal drums have metallic tones-nothing else makes music like a well-made wooden djembe. We quickly realized that we needed a special kind of wood that could be formed, not carved, to perfection.

Well, it took us five years of research, experiments and testing, but we finally came up with BioCell, a natural fiber composite made of hemp fiber and chips. The resonance and tones of BioCell are incredible, and it is moldable like clay. Yet unlike ceramic or wooden drums, the natural toughness of hemp makes them indestructible. Better yet, djembes made from BioCell are impervious to moisture, naturally UV resistant and unaffected by changes in humidity.

Finally, Little Mama had some competition. Our first djembe made from BioCell sounded amazing, and they just got better and better. The rich warm tones and resonance of a BioCell drum are superior than wooden drums, and they are lightweight. Best of all, a molded sound chamber creates perfect acoustics, drum after drum. The precise sound chamber makes them incredibly efficient, and that means you get more sound with less effort.

It really is no wonder that drums made from BioCell sound so good. Hemp is a prolific and sustainable source of fiber that can be cultivated without the use of pesticides, herbicides or fertilizer. Using Hemp is good for our planet. Playing drums is good for the soul. The two belong together.

We wanted to share our djembes with the rest of the drummers out there, so we set up waveriders.org to build djembes made from BioCell. Each drum is handcrafted right here in Hood River, Oregon. As a sustainable business, we keep costs as low as possible by selling direct.

Making drums from BioCell makes us happy. The amazing tones of waveriders djembes are the sound of the future. Sound waves from a drum can make people dance, or they can change the way things are. Either way, we like making waves.