African Djembes is also known as jembe, djimbe, jenbe, yembe, jymbe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered hand drum and shaped like a large goblet and meant to be played only with bare hands. Information from the Bamana people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes directly from the saying Anke dje, anke be which means and translates to everyone gather together and defines the drum's sole purpose.

In the Bambara language, Dje means gather and be translates as everyone. Africa is a multi cultured continent. Its culture is rich with so much uniqueness to it. One such aspect of its distinct heritage is with its music. African music is characterized by chants and dance steps. However, its musical instruments are also unique. One such instrument is the Djembe.

The djembe has a very rich history, originating in West Africa. There it was used in ceremonial rituals and sometimes even as a means of communicating and sending messages over long distances. All djembe drums have a basic shape, and resemble huge goblets, with a relatively very slim base widening out to a large drumhead.

A typical djembe drum is about 24 inches in height with a drumhead diameter of around 12 up to 14 inches across, but these sizes do differ considerably. The drumhead is traditionally tightened with ropes, although there is a vastly growing trend toward the modern key-tuned djembe which saves a lot of drummers tuning time and head replacement hassles.

The traditional djembe is a goblet like hand drum with an authentic goat skin playing surface affixed with rope runners on the side. African djembe drums are traditionally hand crafted from a solid piece of hardwood with inner carvings that will make and produce a wide range of tones. Originally came from in West Africa, the djembe was used as a communication and gathering drum and today is popular worldwide for people of all ages.

Most hand carved Djembes comes from one piece of hard wood. African hard wood such as mahogany, iroko, and lenge are great materials for Djembe drums. The sound quality of the drum is mainly attributed to the wood used to make the drum. The harder the wood used to make Djembe, the better its sound quality. Its drum skin come from animal skins. However, goatskin is known to give better sound quality especially African goatskin.

However, modern times also gave way for Djembe drum heads to be made of synthetic materials. Djembes has its origins in West Africa. It was used on ceremonial dances. It is also used as a means of communication. Thus, while Africa may seem so distant, it's always near with the Djembe. You get to see Djembes used nowadays in the music industry. This simple yet great instrument is a testament to the colorful culture of Africa.

Mechanically-tuned or Key-Tuned djembes tend to have a more recent and modern feel than the African style rope djembes, and are tuned using a screw or wrench to tighten the bolts around the djembe head. The shells of the key-tuned djembes are also made of synthetic materials such as Acousticon, which replicate the timbre and strength of a traditional hardwood djembe drum surprisingly well.