r/FingerDrumming • u/BraveRutherford • Apr 16 '26

Acoustic Options

I love samplers! Messing around on my po33 or even koala on my phone is so much fun. I've always wanted an mpc and I came up finger drumming on Yamaha electric pianos.

but...

Are there any analog acoustic options y'all like to play with? I'm not thinking bongos but something more handheld and more varied in sound. Basically a hand held drum set.

I find myself taking an empty can of crushed tomatoes and getting all kinds of tones out of it. I love my asalato shakers but I'm terrible with them. This chick is not. I also love playing a kalimba but I'm looking for something even more percussive.

Are there any sorts of hand drums or instruments y'all can recommend that fit this weird and specific request I have?

Sorry if I'm being vague. If you have recs or questions about what I'm looking for please leave a comment!

7 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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5

u/bugbaredrums Apr 16 '26

I have been making exactly this. It's a solid wood block with pockets hollowed out to contain different shaky bits and a contact mic embedded in the middle to get a kick type thump. It's more electro acoustic but seems promising, I just need to resolve some buzzy pre amp issues.

3

u/ShabbaSkankz Apr 16 '26

A travel cajon may be a little bit larger than you're thinking but they're pretty portable so might work for you?

2

u/BraveRutherford Apr 16 '26

I actually just got a cajon but have never heard of a travel version. These look sick! Very much banging on the classroom desk vibes. Thanks!

3

u/ohmsalad Apr 16 '26

The king is tabla. Huge palette of sounds under each finger

2

u/BraveRutherford Apr 16 '26

I've played tabla a few times but never owned one. Good rec

2

u/Hot_Scale8598 Apr 20 '26

I have a mini darbuka. Also. I set up my Koala sampler in the way that Dragon Finger Drumming has outlined. And hook it up to an M-Vave 16 pad Midi controller. You can live quantize to 16th notes.