Tongue Drum Accessories

To amplify your instrument on stage, we recommend a contact microphone: a pickup attached to the shell that captures vibrations directly from the steel.

A pickup isn’t a speaker, so you’ll need to connect it to an amplifier, mixing console, or recorder. You can place it anywhere except on the tongues. The sound changes with its position, and placing it on the underside of the instrument beneath the lower-pitched tongues may give you a more balanced sound. Once connected, a contact microphone tends to pick up a lot of high frequencies through the steel. You may want to lower the treble slightly and boost the bass slightly on your amplifier or mixing console, though the amplified sound will never be exactly the same as the acoustic sound. You can then add effects pedals, such as a reverb pedal.

If you’re looking for a more precise sound, another type of microphone uses two pickups placed on opposite sides of the instrument, turning it into a true electro-acoustic tongue drum regardless of its size.

Whether you play sitting or standing, a wooden stand can hold a tongue drum measuring 25–35 cm (10–14 in) in diameter for you. Our wooden stands come in size S, 49–55 cm (19.29–22 in) tall; size M, 66–73 cm (26–28.74 in) tall; and size L, 96–102 cm (37.8–40.16 in) tall.

The metal stand holds a drum measuring 30–35 cm (12–14 in) in diameter at your preferred angle, with better resonance and projection. The surface supporting the instrument also affects its sound: a wooden table can amplify it, while a hard, cold surface can sometimes make it sound drier. Try a few different angles to find the sound you like.

Stickers help you identify each note without having to memorize them all. With a sticker on each tongue, you’ll gradually learn where each note is at your own pace. Simplified sheet music uses a series of numbers, with each number corresponding to a note and its sticker.

To find where each sticker goes, refer to the booklet if one comes with the instrument, or use an electronic tuner to identify the note on each tongue. Then apply the matching sticker. Be careful: putting a sticker in the wrong place will throw off both your playing and your reading of the sheet music. Before applying the stickers, clean the instrument. Apply each one without trapping air bubbles, using tweezers if needed, and avoid covering the sound hole, which could alter the sound. The stickers in our selection are universal, and stickers included with an instrument may already be applied when it arrives.

A tuner checks whether each note is in tune, while magnets let you lower a note’s pitch if it’s too high.

An electronic tuner is a small device that listens when you strike a tongue and shows whether the note is too high, too low, or in tune. Let the sound stabilize before reading the tuner, and keep it at a consistent distance. We recommend one over a phone app, which relies on the phone’s built-in microphone and isn’t designed for this purpose.

If you can access the inside of your tongue drum, you can slide neodymium magnets through the hole on the bottom and place them beneath the tongues. They add weight that lowers the pitch, provided the instrument is made of magnetic metal. You can stack the magnets. The tuner will then help you determine their final positions.

The same magnet has a greater effect on a small tongue than on a large one. Using many small magnets also lets you adjust each tongue more precisely than using a few large ones. Instruments du Monde offers them in sets. Unlike cutting a tongue, which is irreversible, you can remove the magnets. However, a magnet may slightly shorten a note’s sustain, and a poorly secured magnet may rattle.

Choose a sheet music book based on the number of notes on your instrument. One edition is for 8- and 11-note models, and another is for 13- and 15-note models. An instrument with more notes than the sheet music calls for can still play the song. For example, an 11-note drum can play pieces written for an 8-note drum, while a 15-note drum can play them all. The sheet music is designed for tongue drums tuned to C, D, or F major.

At the beginning of each book, tutorials teach you to read the sheet music without prior knowledge of music notation. The songs are then arranged from easiest to hardest. Each book is available in print or as a digital PDF.

To keep your instrument on display and within easy reach, place it on a tongue drum display stand. It would be a shame to leave it in its case or a closet.

The stand in our selection is made of MDF wood fibre and EVA rubber. It comes in sizes for drums measuring 15 and 20 cm (6 and 8 in), 25 cm (10 in), or 30 and 35 cm (12 and 14 in) in diameter, with a wood finish or in black. Our tongue drum accessories also include a decorative cord in sizes for drums measuring 15, 30, and 35 cm (6, 12, and 14 in) in diameter.

When you’re starting out, we recommend getting mallets, a case or bag, and a set of stickers, since what’s included varies by model. Protected by its case, your instrument will stay safe from bumps, dust, and moisture for years.

If you’re giving a tongue drum as a gift, consider accessories sold separately, such as an instruction booklet, a sheet music book suited to its number of notes, or finger guards. For a child, also take a look at our tongue drums for kids, which are smaller and lighter.