Single-Headed Skin Drum

Single-Headed Skin Drum Cylindrical drum made from a hollow tree trunk and traditionally covered with a drum head of wallaby skin, goanna, or other natural hide. It is played as an accompaniment to traditional Aboriginal songs or hymns in the Cape York area of Queensland. In Torres Strait the body of the drum is in an hourglass shape, as in drums from Papua New Guinea. The tension on the head of the drum, which regulates the pitch, is modified by small pellets of wax, which may be moulded or…