Tin hula drum .. sounds like hail stones on a tin roof "but faster"

Tin hula drum .. another Polynesian initiative, all you need for this is one tin of cabin bread biscuits, preferably the larger of the two tin sizes, a lot of coffee or tea to have with the biscuits, .. “no” you don’t have to eat all the biscuits, all you need is the empty tin.

Once you have done that you have just created another instrument that can be used and is still used today in Pacific island drumming. The tin gives a very unique metal sound, similar to hundrens of hail stones hit a tin roof, and the more you use it the more dull the sound can become.

Hula drums

Another interesting difference is that every now and then you will need to change the cabin bread tin, because the frequent playing on it does cause the tin to get badly bent out of shape, unlike a well-built roof that can last for years.

The Tin hula drum is the equivalent to the kaara or double wooden log drum, it is used the same way with two sticks at rapid pace in the wooden drum orchestra.

In the northern group of the Cook Islands they are the main tin drummer players, this is because of their drumming style which is a more stop start drumming skill, with very high small toned wooden pate’s, and the tin sound is what truly complements their hula dance music.

So the next time you are eating cabin bread especially from a tin, "listen" very carefully, you may just hear the sounds of the Pacific raining against the sides of the cabin bread tin.

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