Bovid Percussion
Hides
Our rawhide drumheads offer warm, exceptional tones on any drum, while the feel and sensitivity you achieve are unlike any plastic head. Further dial in your personal sound by selecting from the following available hide types:
Calf – This is the traditional hide used for drum set heads. Its durability is matched with an open, resonant tone that drummers love. Our unbleached/broken white calf heads are great for a slightly dryer sound that is reminiscent of classic calf drum set heads, while our clear/unbroken calf heads provide a resonant tone that hearkens back to classic orchestral calf drumheads. Bovid’s calf heads are also available with fur, which creates a tone and visual aesthetic unlike anything else available today.
Goat – This hide produces a slightly drier tone than calf and can serve many uses. Goat can be shaved exceptionally thin for snare-side use, and it’s also the standard choice for djembe. Available with or without fur.
Camel – Even slightly drier than goat, camel is a beautiful material with a very smooth surface that lends itself perfectly to snare-side heads.
Steer – This material is made from the skin of mature male cows. While it’s too thick for drum set use, it’s a great choice for both conga and bongo heads.
We work diligently with our suppliers to ensure every hide meets our strict quality standards, rejecting anything that doesn’t meet specific requirements. Since rawhide is a natural product, it’s impossible to 100% guarantee against potential defects. As such, we offer a warranty of 30 days on every head from the date of purchase.
Sizes & Thickness
Bovid Percussion offers heads in standard diameters ranging 8 to 28 inches, and we'll create custom sizes by request.
Have an odd-sized drum? Whether it's a 6" tom, an odd-sized 23.5" bass drum, or anything else, we’re more than happy to accommodate you with exactly what you need! Please note that if we cannot work with the drum in our shop, your drum head will ship flat. Seating the head is as simple as wetting it down a bit to help it conform to your drum. We're happy to walk you through this process!
For drum set use, we offer four thicknesses (gauges) of hide:
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Snare-Side: 1-5 mil (.01-.05 mm)
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Light: 6-8 mil (.1-.2 mm)
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Medium: 9-11 mil (.2-.3 mm)
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Heavy: 12-14 mil (.3-.4 mm)
For congas, bongos, djembes, and other percussion instruments, we use hides up to 3.5 mm in thickness.
Flesh Hoops
The same way a plastic drum has a counterhoop, we create a “flesh hoop” on every drum head. Vintage calf drumheads often utilized steam bent wood, but our cold rolled solid aluminum counterhoops provide greater strength, durability, and ease of tuning.
Snare and tom heads have 1/4" flesh hoops, while bass drums get a thicker 3/8" flesh hoop.
Have a hide of your own and simply need a flesh hoop? We do sell these separately, so give us a shout to complete a head of your own!
Percussion Services
Bovid Percussion isn’t just a head manufacturer. We’re here to help with all your percussion and service needs.
We offer re-heading and repair of djembes, frame drums, tambourines, congas, bongos, djun djun, banjos, and just about any other type of instrument using a rawhide head. From the Brazilian cuica to the Tibetan damaru, we’ve got you covered.
The only instruments we do not currently work on are tabla and mridangam, as this requires a lifetime study in and of itself.
