Evenki is a people of eastern Siberia and the north-eastern part of China. Living on reindeers that need to be grazed on fresh moss and grass in the forests, Evenkis lead nomadic life, changing their dwellings from time to time to seek their animals’ food. Like other minorities inhabiting the northernmost fringes of Eurasian continent, they believe in shamanism… That’s all I know about Evenki.
Evenki shaman uses a single-head drum, which is commonly seen not only among various ethnic groups of Siberia but also in Sami people of northern Scandinavia, “Eskimos” (Inuits) and the Native Americans. Although I have never visited Evenki people nor touched such a drum, in a museum in Irkutsk, Russia, I once saw an instrument that resembles those shaman drums, though I don’t even know if that was really Evenki’s. However, from that time on, I have been fascinated by the shape of the drum– the oval, or rather, egg-shaped rim with strange protuberances around it.
I really wanted to have one for myself; however, I was no shaman nor even close, so that it didn’t make sense that I would possess such a ritual instrument…. Nevertheless, I couldn’t stop being avaricious and somehow made up my own version of the shaman drum for myself. Similarly, I would be worried when I later made a parody of another ethnic instrument–
“Silent Electric Baidarka Tonkori” a light metal chimera of the baidarka kayak of Aleut and the tonkori of Ainu. I hope they will generously understand…
An awkward rhythm of poorly played percussion instrument is as bad as novice’s puke-inducing violin noise. In such a case, an electric instrument with headphones plugged in, which conveniently erase the noise, really helps… thanks to its soft sound even when unplugged, nobody around you won’t be bothered or annoyed… Oh, I’d like to add that if you plug this silent drum to an electric amp and put on a pair of headphones over your ears, the trans-inducing power of shaman drum dramatically increases for the sound throbs right in the middle of your head!