Mehmet Nihat San
Darbuka Skin Craftsman
Selects, tensions, and hand-laces the natural goatskin heads onto Ahmet Tashomcu's hand-thrown clay shells — and sound-tests every finished darbuka before it leaves the workshop.
Mehmet Nihat San completes Tapadum’s clay darbukas and udu drums after the clay shell leaves the potter’s wheel. Working alongside master potter Ahmet Tashomcu, he selects each natural goatskin head, hand-laces it onto the fired clay body, and tensions it to the pitch and response the instrument calls for — from the deep-voiced bass dohola shells to the brighter solo darbukas.
Every finished drum passes through his hands for a final sound-test before it leaves the workshop, a quality step that sits alongside the Tuning Light System fitted to many of these darbukas — an internal lamp that gently warms the goatskin to hold its pitch through changes in humidity, in place of the traditional open flame.
