IVSOM Surdo, aluminum shell, skin and nylon head, 18" x 20"

The surdo is a powerful drum with a lot of responsibility! Playing on a strong surdo line is a lot of fun. You and your crew drive the energy of the batucada. You have the power to elevate the other players and elevate the room.

The head is 18 inches in diameter and the shell is 20 inches deep. The top head is made out of goatskin, and the bottom head is made out of plastic. This drum has an aluminum shell.

This drum can be used as a segunda/second surdo, or even as a tercera/third surdo. This drum could potentially be used as a primera for a kids samba group.

IVSOM also gives surdos the classy brassy hardware.

Goatskin heads

Goatskin heads aren’t as common in the U.S. The natural material has a wonderful sound that thin plastic top-heads cannot reproduce. When you hit a goatskin head you have a nice attack without the thin overtones that you can get from thin plastic heads. The head is thick enough to deepen the overall sound of the drum, but it doesn’t sound too muted.

The goatskin is rolled around wooden hoops that have been cut to size to fit the drum shell. This is done by hand. The skin may arrive a little lumpy from temperature and humidity variations. This is not a problem. To straighten it out get the skin a little damp, not sopping wet, and fit the skin and hoop over the shell. Assemble the other parts of the drum but do not put tension on the head, or play the head until it is completely dry. This should straighten it out nicely.

Straps

Surdo players playing batucada style typically use a shoulder strap to wear the drum. It will hang at a little bit of an angle off your body. 

Bahian style samba players use a waist strap. The drum will hand more straight down between the legs and knees. 

Mallets

Most of the time one mallet is enough when playing primera or segunda. However, at times there are rolls and things requiring two mallets. The mallets for primera and segunda a bigger and heavier than mallets for playing terceira. They are constructed with a nice tapered wooden handle and nice weight giving you a really satisfying wallop.

IVSOM puts extra thought and intention into his products. A machinist by training and a percussionist by passion he blends these skills to create high quality, well designed and well crafted instruments. 

12.0 lbs