Growing Region: Central and South America.

Availability: Ipe is a great alternative species to other woods, and is available through managed sources, especially as decking material. Our drum is made from excess “scrap” material from a decking project.

Weight/Hardness/Density: Ipe is heavy and dense. It will sink in water. Ipe has a Janka score of 3680. Maple scores 1450, Hickory 1820 and Purpleheart 2090. The Janka scale is a measure of many pounds of force is required to drive a .44” steel ball ½ of its depth into the wood.

Cost: Approximately 150 to 200% the cost of maple.

Comments: The tree generally grows to heights of around 150 feet, but can reach heights of 200 feet. Trunk diameter can reach 4 to 7 feet in diameter. It is popular for decking and outdoor furniture because of its durability, weather resistance, and insects don’t care much for it. It has a class A fire rating, which is the same rating as concrete and steel. Working with Ipe can cause respiratory, skin, and eye irritations.

Timbre/Tonal Color: Ipe provided us with a rich, textured, full sound. It has a lower fundamental pitch than maple, which was a surprise to us given the weight and density of this wood. The principal note is clearer and more defined than maple.

Dynamic Range : The sound of the drum is very consistent from pp (very quiet) to ff (very loud). The character sound of the note remained constant at all volumes.

Tonal Range : The sweetspot is very large on this drum. The note is also very consistent from the center of the drum to the edge of the drum, with less over ring being developed than on our maple comparison drum.

Tuning Range: Ipe has a slightly smaller tuning range than maple. It did not go as low as maple, and went equally as high in head tension.

Resonance/Decay: It has a longer principal note than maple, but is less ringy and has more clarity to the note.

Cross Stick: The cross stick sound is also fuller and richer than the maple drum, but it is limited to a small area and the drum only has one good voice for cross stick. Rim shots were powerful and rich sounding. Very nice rim shot.

Volume: The overall volume with Ipe is very similar to maple, but because it is lower in pitch, the sound is not as harsh as maple and is more pleasing to the ear. The drum had no problem cutting through my band and the guitar amps.

Sensitivity: The drum has good sensitivity at all volumes. It is very comparable to our maple drum.

Feel: Ipe has a nice feel with no unwanted stick vibration. It gave good feedback and stick response, and is easy to play.

Comments: More musical sounding than maple. Ipe makes a “ball-sy” sounding drum. Our maple comparison drum sounded very flat and thin when played next to the rich sounding Ipe.