I have a friend who is a musician and wants to use a deer hide to make a drum head. Does anyone know if there is anything special you would have to do in tanning the hide to use it for an instrument? Thanks for any and all suggestions.
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All he has to do is soak the Deerskin in a Lime solution for 7-9 days - then scrape the hair and epidermal layer off. Then it has to be de-limed and he'll have rawhide.
A Drum head made from a tanned skin has no tautness thats needed for resonance.
I posted a article about making them. They must be stretched firmly but not overly tight, I have had them rip when drying. Once a drum head gets stretched from playing, you can wash it on the drum to remove hand oils and tighten the drumhead up as it drys.
I'll pass it along. thanks!