PowWow

We custom build Native American Styled PowWow drums of different sizes and of the highest quality.

All of our PowWow drums are hand built in Waynesboro, Virginia and constructed of top quality wood frames. We opt for a traditional Eastern Red Cedar, Douglass Fur, or a durable Hard Maple frame. Douglass Fur is an excellent choice for larger Ceremonial Drums as it has lower density that enhance low end frequencies, as well as structural stability.

Eastern Cedar is traditionally used and is also a softer wood so it will resonate with the lower tones and absorb some of the higher frequencies, giving a pure, deep bass.  We also build these drums out of many different woods and are happy to work with you to get the perfect sound and style you are after.


Our PowWow drums can shake a room! They come in a few sizes that we have found gives good results, but most of our orders are for custom sizes. The largest we have built to date was a huge 42 by 20 inch Ceremonial PowWow Drum.

There are two main building styles RHD uses to construct these drums. The traditional style uses rawhide lace to tune the drum; where the more modern design uses rope. The advantage of rope is that the drum is easily tuned and can compensate for changes in humidity that effect the sound. Rawhide stretches with humidity, and having a hide and lacing stretch and retract means that your drum will sound very different depending on where you are playing. Coming from a more percussive background, I prefer rope. Knowing that many prefer hide lacing I offer this as a more traditional style and actually enjoy heading these powwow drums with rawhide lace because it contracts when it drys, cutting out a lot of my work!

Either way you want to go, contact Rhythm House Drums about your PowWow drum purchase, as we have some very fair prices for the most excellent drums!