It Starts With A Blinding Flash

A lightning bolt can deliver up to a BILLION volts of electricity in the blink of an eye. When this energy hits a tree (per the example at left in a photo provided by the National Weather Service), it can obliterate the hardest of woods and blow a tree to splinters, clear down to the roots.

When a bolt hit a silver maple tree in my yard many years ago, it more or less spared most of the wood, but its dagger-like electricity pierced to the roots and led to a four-year decline and eventual death of the tree. You can see in this cross-cut section (right) many of the wounds inflicted. The most intense part of the strike burned a ragged path into the hard outer rim of the maple (see inset, below), but stopped only a few inches further down the tree, as shown in the next photo.
 
The strike's laser-like energy stopped at this point in the tree, as the bottom of the cross section shows only a few holes (highlighted in photo, left), compared to the opposite side (above). (Please note, the yellow cast in the photo is not the actual color.)

While it's hard to see in this photo of a magnified section of the middle (below right), the heartwood was riddled by the coursing electricity (which appear as white/pale yellow streaks), thereby "cooking" the wood around it and making its consistency something like cork. This greatly reduced the transport of water and minerals upward through the tree, leading to its long decline and passing.

Such is the Great Circle, birthing, dying, birthing. And in the case of this silver maple tree, there was an ending...and a beginning.

---

With a lot of love

and a long journey, some

of it came to be...

The Tree of Life Drum

This exquisite drum is the lightest I've ever made, and it sounds wonderful. So many innovations, including a hidden groove for sweet grass around the edge, lilac tie-downs, thoroughly Celtic and Kabbalah themed, a special stand, and all in a drum that is only slightly more than an inch thick!

And I now have some great news!

I have one last beautiful cross section of this tree to make a drum for you!

In fact, it's featured in the photos over top of the Tree of Life Drum! An original crosscut section was just the right thickness to inspire an experiment. I cut it into two, and one became the Tree of Life Drum. And the second can now be your drum!

Here are the details:

This will be an extremely lightweight drum, like its predecessor, probably around two pounds when finished, and thus it will be easy to play and to hold-- for hours if you want! It is made of maple, one of the most resonant woods in existence and one of the most preferred in drum making. The wood adds a rich timbre to the drum's sound.

It is just over 12-inches across, and its thickness is tapered because of the way it was cut from the tree. Thus, its thickness varies from about one-inch (photo, above left) to a maximum of 2 1/2-inches (above right). This will provide an advantageous angle for you to play it, no matter how you hold it. (Please note that the reddish color of the wood is far more muted in the original than shown in these two photos. The most accurate color is shown in the photos at the top of this page.) It is truly unique to have such a thin drum made from an actual tree.

I have already completed most of the work necessary to repair lightning damage, including reinforcing the frame, applying a special all natural preserver that archeologists use to save precious wooden antiquities, and routered out the top (so the design that is cut into it doesn't interfere with the drum head when it's played). There is plenty more to do, though.

I can cut about any design you wish into it, or you can allow me to choose a design. The design must be such that it keeps the frame intact, much as shown with the Tree of Life Drum. We should discuss this in detail so you will be absolutely delighted.

To make this for you will take approximately three weeks after your approval of the design.

I had forgotten I had this piece, as it was misplaced when we moved my shop last summer/fall. It is many, many years old. And I only found it last week (2/10/10)! I posted the Ancestor Drum at about the same time, and thought it was the last from this tree. But then I found this beauty.

I hope I found it for you! Please call today if you are interested: 270/766-1469

Price: $425 plus s/h

Includes a custom beater. I can also make a special drum stand, for additional cost. Let's discuss it!

It Starts With A Blinding Flash...
And Ends As A Sacred Drum

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