Name: Microberlinia Brazzavillensis (Zebrawood, Zebrano, Amouk, Zingana, Allen ele)

Growing Region: West Africa, primarily Gaboon and Cameroon.

Availability: Endangered.

Weight/Hardness: Lighter than Maple. Zebrawood weighs in at 3.2 pounds per board foot, compared to Maple at 3.4 pounds per board foot. Janka hardness scale score is 1575. Maple has a score of 1450 and Red Oak has a score of 1260.

Cost: Approximately 4 times the cost of Maple.

Comments: Definitely one of the most visually stunning woods. Grows along riverbanks, up to 150 feet in height. The bole is straight and cylindrical up to 50 feet, and the trunk can grow to 5 feet in diameter. Belongs to the Leguminosae family. Dust can cause respiratory irritation. It has an unpleasant order when felled, often similar to… well, a “bodily function”. It is also stinky when worked.

Timbre/Tonal Color: The zebrawood has a higher fundamental pitch than our maple comparison drum. It has an “open” resonance to it, with lower and higher frequencies than the maple drum. The principal note is shorter than the maple, but not as short as jarrah.

Dynamic Range : Cleaner and more defined than the maple drum The feel of the drum is also nice. Good stick response/rebound with no “mushy” or “tabletop” feel.

Tonal Range : The frequency range opened up slightly (more lows and highs) as the head strike position moved from the center of the head toward the rim. The zebrawood has more high and low end with fewer mid range frequencies than the maple drum.

Tuning Range: Tuning the top head only, the zebrawood went to a looser tuning than our maple drum, but choked sooner when we took it tight. At a tight tuning the zebrawood became “boxy”. Overall, the range is similar to that of maple, just lower.

Resonance/Decay: Dry. Clean. Not as much over ring and not as “pingy”.

Cross Stick: Consistent in pitch with a change in stick position. The maple was higher in pitch, then lower in pitch than the zebrawood as our stick (the part on the head, not on the rim) moved towards the center of the drum. The zebrawood had a larger usable area for cross stick. Like the head strike sound, the cross stick was cleaner, but also had a “woodier” sound than the maple comparison drum. Nice rich, full sounding cross stick.

Volume: Equivalent to our maple drum.

Sensitivity: Great sensitivity! The lightest possible tap produced a nice snare response. More articulate and sensitive to small dynamic changes than the maple drum. . The zebrawood kept its character sound from low to high volume.

Comments: Beautiful! A very stunning drum due to the natural beauty of the wood. “Mother Nature at her best!” (RB).

By Greg Gaylord & Robert Bowler (RB).