MOUNTAIN RYTHYM
NEW PREFABRICATED REPLACEMENT HEAD INSTRUCTIONS

Note: Rings may shift slightly during head replacement. It is a good idea to mark where your rings are positioned on the drum by using a small piece of masking tape (use knots visible in Diagram #1 as a reference). This allows you to shift the rings back to their original position before you add tension back to your drum.

replacing
  1. Remove all pegs from your drum. This will cause the head to become very flimsy and warped, but don’t worry – it’s broken anyway).
  2. Untie the handle and first knot (this is the knot you untie when tightening your drum as well).
  3. Remove rope from 2 or 3 hitches (see Diagram #2).
  4. Pull some of the slack or excess rope through the drum so that you are able to lift the top ring and broken head off the drum (see Diagram #3).
  5. Lift top ring and head off the drum and separate old head from colored ringed rope if necessary (Diagram #3).
  6. Sit new head on drum and pull colored roped ring over so that colored roped ring sits on top of drum skin and supporting ring or flesh hoop. (Diagram #3).
  7. Once the new head is in place, the drum with head on should appear as shown in Diagram #2.
  8. Begin removing slack by pulling rope from where it is still tied to the colored roped ring. (Don't apply too much tension yet as it will cause your head to go crooked.)
  9. Re-thread the rope from where you removed it in step #3. (Diagram #4)
  10. Retie knot and continue working around drum to put tension back on the drum head and up-and-down ropes.
  11. Re-insert twist pegs.