Hi there,
I've been thinking of purchasing drum as my first. I still getting some mixed feedbacks about it, and can't find much information about it. Remo current plus point for me now is that they have a dealer here in Malaysia which I can place order from them without fearing been conned through the internet. And also the fact that Issam designed it under an establish quality name. But a nice drummer told me it sounded weird and direct me to Lark. Then I read someone had a bad experience with Lark. I'm gonna try nileshop.com, but now their drum link is not working.
If this drum is no good, any suggestions for shopping online? My country don't hold much world percussion instrument, I can only purchase online, and only those who ships to Asia. Amazons' links to Mid East, I emailed them they don't ship international...
thanx
Nadya
I've been thinking of purchasing drum as my first. I still getting some mixed feedbacks about it, and can't find much information about it. Remo current plus point for me now is that they have a dealer here in Malaysia which I can place order from them without fearing been conned through the internet. And also the fact that Issam designed it under an establish quality name. But a nice drummer told me it sounded weird and direct me to Lark. Then I read someone had a bad experience with Lark. I'm gonna try nileshop.com, but now their drum link is not working.
If this drum is no good, any suggestions for shopping online? My country don't hold much world percussion instrument, I can only purchase online, and only those who ships to Asia. Amazons' links to Mid East, I emailed them they don't ship international...
thanx
Nadya
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Malaysia
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Wed, June 21, 2006 - 1:56 PMKeep trying to find a Nile Shop drum that will ship to you.
It's a great sounding Tabla, one of the best sounding Egyptian drums available.
I have a friend here in the U.S. that sells them, you can check with him regarding the shipping costs.
www.atlantaoasis.com
I also hear that Raquy Danziger (moderator of this tribe) has a signature series Tabla made by Nile Shop. I'd ask her about it.
-Eric -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Wed, June 21, 2006 - 4:11 PMThe Nile Shop is an eBay store and distributes products only through that venue. The Tablas that they sell are manufactured by Gawharet El Fan and sold wholesale only . The Raquy Danziger doumbek is manufactured by Gawharet El Fan. I have been in touch with Mustafa of Gawharet El Fan to try and purchase additional heads for a simbata I own that was manufactured by them and he directed me toward his only 2 (two) large distributors here in the US: Lark In The Morning and Rhythm Fusion. There are other international distributors of their drums and smaller dealers here in the US that may handle individual pieces that they manufacture, but those are the only two larger distributors. I have dealt with Lark In The Morning and with Rhythm Fusion. Both of these houses are honorable and if any problems in shipping have occurred, they have both resolved those problems at their expense. On the Gawharet El Fan tablas, Lark In The Morning has a much lower price on the same drums ($199 as opposed to $350).
The Remo "Ergo Drum Doumbek" is made from a pressed wood (cardboard) type shell (sort of like their own version of masonite as in their djembes) with excellent fittings and rings. It has a very good tone. It is extremely light to handle and the head is a "Remo Renaissance Fibre-skin" head that is about 8 3/4 inches in diameter.
Most people find the decorative finish too garish and offensive looking, but that is a matter of personal taste. The important thing is that the sound is good. I don't know how durable it is. I know that the Remo djembes marr and break easily.
My advice is to buy one of the Gawharet inlay drums from Lark In the Morning. It is an extremely fine instrument. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, June 22, 2006 - 2:02 AMI have had the new Ergo dumbek for about 2 months now and I still love it as much as I loved it the first day...and I've been playing it a lot. I have been studying ME percussion for 15 years now, the last 6 of which I have been under the mentoring of Souhail Kaspar...I'm not trying to brag or anything, just letting you know that my ear for sound is fairly well developed, and I think the sound of the new Remo is quite good...in fact in any band situation where I am the only percussionist, this drum is now my drum of choice because of the very wide separation between the dum and tek...The way I have it tuned now gives me dums almost as deep as a dholla, and teks almost as crisp as a lead tabla, so I can cover almost the the full tonal range that would normally be covered by a dholla player and a lead tabla player. In a band situation with multiple percussionists covering Dholla and/or deff, I'd still play my professional aluminum tabla because the high end is super crisp....but I have absolutely no qualms whatsoever in recommending the new Remo as a first drum.
Of course the best recommendation is that you should buy the Ergo, and then you should buy an aluminum tabla, and then you should buy a dholla, and then you should buy a deff, and then a riqq, and then another tabla, and then... and then... and then...........
Good luck,
Brett (who has way too many drums!) -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, June 22, 2006 - 8:31 PMThanx Brett, I think I have a clear picture now. I think I will go with the Ergo first as it sounds like a good first practice drum.
Thanx Eric and Jeffrey too, no doubt I love the Nileshop drum, now I feel it's too precious for a beginner like me to start out on it. My dance teacher had found someone who is going to Cairo (dont know when) and he's willing to take orders for drums... I'm keeping my fingers cross now…
May I have the common specifications of a Nile Drum? Like cast aluminium body? Drum head type? Mother of pearl finish? Good size? When you say inlay, what does it mean?
Thanx so much for the advice -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, June 22, 2006 - 9:10 PMThe drums that are sold through "The Nile Shop" (which is an eBay store and distributor ONLY. They don't manufacture drums) are made by Gawharet El Fan in Egypt. These drums have a very fine caste and lathed aluminum shell with mother of pearl inlay on the outside and a heavy enamel white on the inside making it very smooth and beautifully resonant. The fittings for the tuning bolts are finer metal sleeves that are inserted and bolted in so that the problem of the threading stripping that sometimes happens on the softer aluminum caste drums that are only tapped into the aluminum has been overcome. Gawharet provides a slightly better made mylar head than the standard "blue toned" Alexandria mylar heads. Purchasing the Remo Ergo Drum Doumbek will cost almost as much as purchasing the mother of pearl inlay Gawharet doumbek from Lark In The Morning. I plan on acquiring the Remo Ergo sometime because I like how it sounds (It's just real ugly to my eyes) but I own a lot of drums. If I were only going to buy one to play and I wanted something very durable, I would buy one of the Istanbul copper shelled Egyptian style doumbeks. They are very similar to the Egyptian aluminum doumbeks, but as a rule they are machined a whole lot better and have excellent fittings. They also take a mylar head, but their heads are made very much better than the Egyptian heads. The sound is very strong. High crisp teks and a strong booming bass that doesn't sustain too long. They are also a bit less expensive than the Egyptian aluminum ones,... go figure. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Mon, June 26, 2006 - 7:53 PMThanx for the descriptions, Jeffrey. Will discuss with my friends to see which would they prefer as well. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, July 13, 2006 - 2:02 PMHere's a little more info on the Ergo drum via Souhail.
I had emailed him about a week ago about the different kinds of patterns and colors as the pictures from the NAMM show on Souhail's website had shown a very interesting blue and red version, and then someone else in one of the pics was shown holding a horrible looking purple and orange one that looked slightly different in shape. I tried to find out about this through my friend at the music store by having him talk to REMO, but you are SOL if you are just talking to an order rep there and need answers. My impression is that REMO does not have these in production as of yet, and they are just starting to trickle out into the market.
So, according to Souhail, apparently there are SIX different kinds, "Each one of them (with) different (a) personality" in Souhail's words...
I am interested in which kind of Ergo you have, Brett. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, July 13, 2006 - 2:09 PMooooops.
"Each one of them (with a) different personality" in Souhail's words...
Coffee hasn't kicked in yet. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I will have a can of spraypaint or two standing by when mine arrives :D -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, July 13, 2006 - 3:22 PMLol.....
Mine is the same red and blue stained-glass patterny looking thing found on the Remo website. I have not seen any in any other pattern as of yet. Since I got mine, my friend at the same drum shop has recieved and sold 5 more, all of the same red/blue pattern.
Souhail did mention that there were plans to release an Ergo model in two more sizes, one larger and one smaller than the current size....the one I have now is approximately equivalent to a simbati so I'm assuming the next two sizes will be equivalent to tabla and dholla sizes.
BTW...after almost 3 months of owning one I still love it.
Ciao,
Brett -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, July 13, 2006 - 6:17 PMOK, I talked to a Rep there today, got some of this straightened out. There are 3 sizes, 8, 9 & 10 inch drums, so you are correct in your assumptions. I think from looking at the NAMM pictures in Souhail's gallery that the other kind(s) may be closer to the Alex shape...
Or perhaps Mid East's 'divide the diference' shaped mini Doumbek. If I understand correctly these will not be made available until the Winter NAMM show, or thereabouts. Dunno about these coverings tho, they should have used Souhail's current B&W inlay to start with. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, July 13, 2006 - 6:26 PMThere are such very good quality spray paints on the market right now.....................................
I tried one at a drum trade show and was pleasantly impressed with the sound, and it is very light to hold but it doesn't sacrifice a full body to the sound the way that other lightweight drums do.......so, yeah it's ugly, but paint is cheap. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, July 13, 2006 - 6:58 PMDid you ever come across those paper thin shelled Tablah? They were making the rounds five or more years ago.
Weighed as much as a BIC lighter... No tone whatsoever tho!
And you know, considering how long REMO has been doing R&D on this I would hope they got something going with it finally! -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Fri, July 14, 2006 - 12:30 AMGosh... I didn't know there was a few variant to these... I had just place orders for the unit published on remo site (think is brett's version)... it turns out to be a cheaper alternative to me compare to the nile drum from lark. (was given a discount by distributor cuz i ordered 3 units)
my friend just finished her private class with hossam, and will be sharing some tips with us. i hope this drum won't let us down. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Fri, July 14, 2006 - 1:02 AMWell, don't worry - you are in fact getting the one in the publicity pic on the REMO website, and the one Brett is talking about. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Mon, July 24, 2006 - 2:17 PMI just stopped by my local drum merchant and got one of the new Remo Ergo Drum Doumbeks and WOW!!! I own MANY different types of doumbeks from the small to the dholla and some larger. I have several inlaid Gawharets (which I love) and many old "work-horses). This drum is very garrish looking (it looks better in person than in pictures) but OMG...the sound. It's extremely responsive and you get nice sharp yet dry slaps and pops and plenty of nice sustain and ring to the teks and kas. The doum is good. I think that the imitation "fishskin" head is a real winner. It's waaaaay better than the fiberskin and renaissance heads. Not as much sticky friction as the Egyptian mylars and it feels kind of like fishskin.
Here's the kick: These drums are inexpensive. They retail for $109.95 (I got mine for a whole lot less than that, but they are always giving me props, because I'm around a lot and promote their store) They ship things regularly and I've dealt with them for many years as a supplier of all my drumming needs.
You can contact them at: www.lidrum.com
The business is called The Long Island Drum Center and all they sell is drums and percussion (great cymbal room).
Check it out. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Mon, July 24, 2006 - 3:56 PMUm Jeffrey....I'm thinking you meant to say retail for $209, not $109. If they are $109 then I'm driving right out to buy a truckload....
Seriously, if the store sold it for $109 then they are not aware of Remo's new pricing policy which is in effect on only their newest batch of world percussion...it's a different pricing policy than the old one. If your store sold it to you for $109 then they actually lost a large chunk of money since that is well below their cost as a Remo dealer, and probably don't even know it yet because Remo usually bills dealers well after the item ships.
But I agree...I was very impressed with the sound.
Brett -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Mon, July 24, 2006 - 4:09 PMNope, it's 109.95 and I got mine for their cost which is a whole lot less. See you in NY. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Mon, July 24, 2006 - 9:09 PMThen again it IS possible that they have a special arrangement that you don't know about... Unless you work for Remo in the ordering dept?
LI is too far for me to drive tho. Oh well. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Mon, July 24, 2006 - 9:30 PMi wished i could fly there too... -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Tue, July 25, 2006 - 6:59 AMBTW The MSRP from REMO is $205.00 on that drum. LI Drum Center is one of the largest if not THE largest distributor of drums and percussion in the US. Their showroom is the size if not larger than an entire Guitar Center or Sam Ash and it's only drums and percussion. They deal in very high volume and are probably one of the largest distributors of Remo,Evans, Zildjian, Sabian, DW, Gretsch, Ludwig, Tama, GMS, LP, Toca,etc. I normally get incredible discounts there and their regular retail prices are far under what anyone else is selling for (you can sometimes get better prices elsewhere on sales, but across the board, their prices are good). Plus they are all professional drummers and if they don't know something, they know who to call to find out. They are selling all of the Istanbul darbukahs and Egyptian style tablas at lower prices than what smaller companies have to buy them at.
I purchased one of the very large Istanbul "Djembeks/Djembukahs(whatever you want to call it)" y'know, the 24" tall one with the 12" head for 119.00 retail from them and I was given one by the Istanbul rep when I was there (I sold them both because they were just too big for me). These drums retail elsewhere at between $250-$375 depending on where you buy them.
They've been in business there for over 30 years and are on a first name basis with everybody at Remo, plus they are very saavy businessmen.......
I doubt that the prices are an accident. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Fri, July 28, 2006 - 8:56 AMOkay, so somebody here called REMO and bitched about the price of the new Ergo Drum at LI Drum Center. I just got a call from Dennis (the owner) and he only has one left at the 109.95 price and now he MUST sell them at $149.95 (that's the lowest that they will allow him to go). This drum is in such demand that REMO is saying 6-8 weeks before delivery of new drums. It is currently only available with the 9" head, the 8" and 10" versions will be available in the fall. I just ordered a few extra heads for it because this is the drum that I will be carrying and banging around with at Pennsic (I get nervous carrying one of my inlaid drums from campfire to campfire). I haven't painted it yet, I'm sort of enjoying the fact that it's so damned ugly and makes such purty music.
Incidentally, it has a very large trumpet at the end of the throat which makes it near impossible to fit into any of the standard doumbek carrying cases and so far I haven't seen a Remo case that is made for it yet. Im going to have to cut down and revamp an old djembe case in the meantime. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Fri, July 28, 2006 - 10:33 AMGee, that's really cute [/sarcasm] Sorry to hear that, what a very weird thing to do.
I wonder who that was...
Myself, I have been trying to get info from them for a week on ordering this, to no avail.
This might be why. Oh well. Guess I'll have to wait until the ones I ordered last month come in, but they're already taken... -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Fri, July 28, 2006 - 12:08 PMBummer on the lost sweet pricing deal.....It wasn't me, promise...I don't know anybody at Remo.
Because of the large bell, I've resorted to carrying mine around in a Dholla case, even though it's kind of loose and roomy on every other part of the drum.
What was the price on extra heads if you don't mind telling, and were they a 6-8 week delivery time also? -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Sun, July 30, 2006 - 8:37 PMyeah, what a loss.
Had place my orders on the beginning of July. I hope the delivery won't get affected. The distributors here said I hafta wait for like 3 months before this rat created this snafu. Then the distributors assured me that it will arrive earlier as they have 'active' shipments coming from Remo. I'm so much looking forward for it to arrive soon. Aaarrrrggghhhhh!!!
As for the casing, I too had check with the distributor. He say currently there's no bag for it. Thinking of getting a duffel bag and pad it with foam or sponge. -
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Unsu...
Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, August 3, 2006 - 8:08 AMThis drum sounds interesting but I have trouble playing light drums. How light is it? My favorites are heavy drums that sit in your lap and don't go anywhere and don't require straps or a harness. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, August 3, 2006 - 10:23 AMNot that light. Not as heavy as a typical 6 Lugger inlay. The shell, in comparison to the ummmm 'childrens' models of doumbeks previously available from REMO, is like three times the thickness. It's kind of strange at first. I just got one in the mail yesterday, have to play it in before posting up a review. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, August 3, 2006 - 11:02 AMI've actually decided to sell mine. As nice as it is, it is so close in sound to other drums that I have that I really have no need for it. The shortcoming that I find is on the finger snap and snap rolls. The doums are powerful as are the teks,kahs and pops and slaps, but the character of the head makes you have to really force and dig in for the finger snaps and finger snap rolls. I bought it well and I will be selling it at a profit (much less than you'd pay elsewhere) so if you're interested, pm me. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Fri, August 4, 2006 - 2:11 AMaww... jeffrey. And I told my friends that you're a convert... hehehe
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, August 10, 2006 - 7:39 PMNadya, I'm considering this drum, too. Can you let us know what you think when you get it? Thanks so much! -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Thu, August 10, 2006 - 10:29 PMSure no prob. hope it arrives soon, getting antsy. -
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Re: Remo's Ergo Drum Doumbek
Tue, June 30, 2009 - 9:14 PMCheck out my product review of the Remo Ergo Soloist on my Blog:
web.me.com/tmabbatt/iWe...1DC691BD.html
There is a decent audio clip of me the beginner doumbek player as well as a brief video clip of me playing the drum. There is also a page of detailed photos of the drum. The ergo-crystal 9" is available right now at:
www.globalmusicalinstruments.com/s...ml
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