I first got introduced to hand drumming and the connection it brings to modern life a fews years ago. I had played with a few djembes and had enjoyed the heavy bass and abitlty to get funky, but was disappointed with the portability. Then I was introduce to the Doumbek. While generally they are constructed from more fragile materials, they are considerably smaller and have a nice high pitched wrap that really brings them out in the mix, allowing to make bold statements amongst your drumming friends. Of course they are alot smaller and therefor make for a very nice backpacking drum usually about 12-20 inches tall.