Remo HD-8512-00 Fiberskyn Frame Drum, 12"

Good quality sound for its size

Well built, inexpensive, and fun. The sound is very good, and won't bother the neighbors. There are dozens upon dozens of videos on Youtube- performances for inspiration, and step by step instruction. This size, 14", isn't heavy at all, and works great whether lap style or upright. Definitely worth the price.

If you can’t spend much, this is the way to go. Many lower priced drums are made by companies that just make cheap crappy drums. Remo makes a wide range of drums - decent low priced drums, but also really good drums to meet your needs beyond entry level. Remo had been recommended to me, but like many buying their first drum, I wanted real hide for the head rather than synthetic. My first drum (from a different manufacturer) had a goatskin head. It cost more than this one, but is smaller and sounds more like a toy than a musical instrument. I’m so glad I bought this drum and will very likely go with Remo when I buy my next drum. If your hesitation is the fact that the drum has a synthetic skin, just know that this synthetic sounds better than the cheap drums made with goat skin - nothing against goat skin, but the cheap drums are made with low quality hides that aren’t of uniform thickness and just don’t perform well.

Perfect size, price, feel and sound, for beginners and even more advanced students, who want an economy frame drum.I teach frame drum and tambourine in the Layne Redmond style. I'm mostly an upright frame drum player, not lap style. This isn't great for lap style, so I'll talk about upright.To me, the 14" is ideal for the beginner student. In fact, I played this exact drum for years, even as an advanced student of Layne's!It's so portable, lightweight. Easily packable in your suitcase, with clothes around it. Going to and from your drumming circles and classes, I recommend a carrying case, makes it easy to carry while protecting it.It no longer has the 4 holes to add your cross-style rope for a handle.Personally, I find the 16" Remos to be a bit top heavy for upright playing for beginners. The 14" still has a nice deep enough doum, very good tocs/teks/taks.And you can't beat the moon-look for your divine feminine invocation!Keep in mind, each drum is different, even though mass-produced. Overtones will differ between drums. And some drums will have a higher doum, some a lower one.Yes, the frame of this one is more narrow than the super high quality and much pricier frame drums out there. So no, it's not great for lap style playing.Alternatively, there's the Remo Renaissance headed frame drums as well. Those came out much later, and I'm glad Remo is still producing both. So we have options for our more economy drums!Great for frame drum teachers who want to invest in a 'fleet' of frame drums to teach your group classes.

I have never owned a frame drum, or any type of drum really, so bought this on faith...(err, price). My main desire was to learn how to call down the spirits while simultaneously bugging my neighbors with the noise, then maybe walking barefoot to a nearby park and joining a ganga smoking drum circle to show off my lack of skills.Seriously, I bought this little drum strictly for pleasure. I've always been a fan of drumming but never owned any of my own.It is a quality made product, for sure, the only ding against it is that the product description (as many others have said) is not accurate. No it doesn't have holes or a thumb hole in the rim, which I suppose would've been a plus. (Really, that's my only critical comment about the product)I'm a newbie, and I look forward to playing with this to learn the basics! The 10 inch drum feels awkward to me though, but that's mainly because I've never used a frame drum before. We'll see how this goes! :-)