Frame Drums

Solid wood shells, not bent plywood. Every Roosebeck frame drum is built on a solid hardwood shell shaped by hand. The wood gives the drum a focused fundamental tone that thin laminate shells cannot match.

Natural goatskin heads.
Real animal hide responds to your hand the way synthetic heads cannot. The drum warms up as you play, the tone shifts with humidity, and the voice has the depth that has carried frame drums across cultures for thousands of years.

Five sizes, one design language. From the 12-inch hand drum to the 22-inch ceremonial size, every Roosebeck frame drum follows the same construction approach. Larger size, deeper voice, more presence in the room. Smaller size, faster response, easier
to carry.

No tuning system, no hardware. Frame drums are not tunable in the same way a bodhran is. The head is fixed, the voice settles in over the first few weeks, and the drum becomes more itself the more you play it.

The 14-inch and 16-inch sizes are the most versatile starting points, and the two we recommend most often. They are large enough to project in a circle drumming setting and small enough to hold comfortably in one hand.

The 12-inch is the most portable and the easiest to play one-handed for extended periods. The 18-inch and 22-inch are for ceremonial use, large group settings, or players who want the deepest fundamental voice possible from a frame drum.

Frame drum is one of the most accessible percussion instruments to start. There is no tuning to manage, no hardware to adjust, and the basic technique is intuitive. Most players are playing simple rhythms within the first session, and the depth of the tradition opens up over years of listening and playing.

Every Roosebeck frame drum ships with a beater suited to the size of the drum.