An Expert Udu Drum Maker Shares Tips for Making Coil Built Forms That Can Take A Beating Frank Giorgini

Making an udu drum (narrow-necked, vaselike clay instruments) involves coil-building and hump-mold techniques and, as you can imagine, the forms need to be strong since they, literally, must be able to take a beating. Frank Giorgini first learned to make udu drums  in 1974 at a workshop taught by Nigerian udu drum maker Abbas M. Ahuwan and he has been perfecting his technique ever since.

Obviously, I can’t show the entire process here, but today I decided to excerpt a couple of Frank’s techniques because they are applicable to any kind of coil-built form. Whether you plan to make a drum or not, these tips will help you make forms that are both beautiful and structurally sound.  - Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor