Drums and rhythms have always been a big part of my music. I love the drum beats of many ethnic groups. One of these groups is in the highlands of northern Sumatra… Batak. Tubular drums are tuned in such as way as to give pitches. You can play melodies with the batak drums. I played some at the Indonesian consulate in Los Angeles. I decided to make my own jungle drums using that idea but expanding it to much larger and longer tubes. Here’s the result. The longest of these tubular drums is almost 6 feet. I covered them with artificial animal skins and mounted them so that they hang vertically. Look for upcoming music using these fun drums.