Name: Lonchocarpus castillo (Machiche, Black Cabbage Bark, Balche, Caribbean Cherry).

Growing Region: Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.

Availability: Readily available, often with FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certification.

Weight/Hardness/Density: Heavy and hard. Machiche scores 3100 on the Janka hardness scale. Maple scores 1450 and red oak scores 1260. The Janka scale measures how many pounds of force are required to drive a .44” steel ball one-half its depth into the wood.

Cost: 1.5 times more than maple.

Habitat concerns: No major concerns, and is plentiful (that was said about the American Bison also). Machiche is harvested as a secondary (alternative) species in Central America to rosewood and mahogany.

Comments: Primary use is for flooring and decking. It has been used traditionally for construction in its native growing region. Martin Guitars has used it for backs, sides and head plates of guitars.

Timbre/Tonal Color: Machiche has a higher fundamental pitch than maple, which is not surprising given the weight/hardness of the wood. The note is quick, clean and controlled. Not much over ring or overtones. Short principle note.

Dynamic Range : Very consistent sound from pp (very quiet) to ff (very loud).

Tonal Range : Also very consistent. The pitch of the note stayed the same all the way from the center of the head to the hoop.

Tuning Range: Machiche did not take a loose a head tension as the maple, and it did not go quite as high.

Resonance/Decay: This drum has a BIG sweetspot. Over ring kicks in about 3 inches from the center of the drum and stays consistent all the way to the hoop with only a small gradual increase in the amount of over ring. This is really a “2 zone” drum: center to 3” out from center, and 3” from center all the way to the hoop. The drum did have some slight over ring at a high head tension.

Cross Stick: Cross stick is also higher in pitch than maple. Machiche has a slightly smaller area for cross stick use than maple. The sound is a short, tight, controlled click with very little over ring.

Volume: Similar to maple, just higher in pitch with less spread of the note.

Sensitivity: Good at the slightest tap, from center to edge. Very consistent from center to edge. It looses some edge sensitivity at high tension.

Comments: Very consistent sounding drum. Possibly limited for some people because of the consistency of the sound.

By Greg Gaylord & Robert “Tree Hugger” Bowler.