After carefully watching the finished drum, Xu Chen guided several carpenters to process it again, mainly around the mouth of the drum. After using a plane to make it very smooth, he then carefully polished it with fine sand and gravel to make it round and smooth.
After handling the drum, Xu Chen brought two pieces of cowhide that had been prepared.
This is a half-sized bison hide. Xu Chen found it specially from the warehouse. The hide is smooth and smooth with no wounds.
Take the two sides of the abdominal ribs, cut off two large pieces with a knife, scald them with boiling water, and then use a knife to scrape off all the hair on them. Of course, the fat layer attached to the back should also be scraped off vigorously. The thinner the scraping, the better.
However, this speed is difficult to master, and because Xu Chen did not have special leather-making tools, Xu Chen had never made a drum skin, so he processed it randomly according to his own ideas.
Of course, it is not entirely correct to say that it was processed indiscriminately. After all, he had never eaten pork and had seen pigs running away. When he was a child, he had seen pigs being killed in rural areas.
After the pig butcher kills the pig, he pokes an iron poke pole through one of the pig's hind legs repeatedly until a large number of holes are formed between the pig skin and fat, and then blows air into it to make the whole pig skin swell.
Get up, tie the air inlets of the pig legs, rinse them in boiling water, and then use a planer to quickly scrape off all the pig hair.
Although the cowhide has been peeled off and processed, the principle of hair removal is the same. It can only be scraped and washed after being scalded with boiling water.
In addition, the layer of fat attached under the cowhide will soften when soaked in boiling water, making it easier to scrape.
Write a book
Xu Chen soaked the two pieces of animal skins repeatedly in boiling water, nailed them to a wooden board with copper nails, and then scraped them repeatedly with a copper knife until they felt very thin.
In fact, the cowhide still looks very thick, but Xu Chen no longer dares to continue scraping because he is afraid of accidentally scratching it. In addition, he is also worried because these savages are very strong. If it is too thin, he can't help but beat it.
Maybe you'll get addicted to hammering and break it in a few strokes, and then all your hard work will be in vain.
Besides, for a formal gathering like the Witch Lords Conference, it would be extremely unlucky to break a magic weapon during a performance.
After hearing Xu Chen's plan to install cowhide on the barrel, the group of carpenters looked at each other, but none of them refuted, but all helped honestly.
Xu Chen has never made cowhide drums. The ones he has seen are those grass-stage teams used for weddings and funerals in rural areas and towns. A suona, a drum, and a gong are basically the same thing. Anyway, no one cares whether it sounds good or not, and the bells jingle.
Just be lively.
Therefore, how to stretch the drum skin up so that it does not fall off when beaten is the most difficult part.
However, now the Ba tribe is not the primitive tribe that had nothing before. Instead, they have all kinds of tools. As long as they find a way, they are not without limits.
First, use a copper awl to drill a circle of holes around the cowhide, then pass a hemp rope through these holes, and have people pull and tighten it until it is almost impossible to pull anymore.
At this time, apply heated and melted isinglass around the smooth drum mouth, cover it with cowhide while it is hot, and tie the surrounding hemp ropes to the drum, and at the same time adjust the uneven areas to be smooth.
The drum skin is not over after it is stretched, because isinglass alone cannot guarantee that the drum skin will not come off when beaten, so Xu Chen also specially prepared copper bars and copper nails with holes.
As for the origins of copper bars and copper nails... they are naturally smelted, but the content of tin exceeds copper, so this kind of copper bar is soft and has similar properties to wrought iron. It can also be heated and slightly forged into shape, which is considered a kind of
Very special bronze.
The copper hoop on the outside of the drum is actually made of this slightly softer copper strip.
Use this kind of copper strip to hoop a circle around the outer edge of the covered drum skin, and then use copper nails to drive into the small holes. In this way, the isinglass and the fastening effect of the copper hoop and copper nails will increase the adhesion strength of the drum skin.
Big.
Although Xu Chen didn't know if the hammer would fall off, this was the best he could do at the moment.
What he was even more worried about was not falling, but being beaten by a group of idiots.
After all, there is an old saying that no heavy hammer is needed to make a drum sound.
Xu Chen didn't know whether the drum would ring or not, but it would definitely break if he beat it hard.
Following the same pattern, it took a group of people two hours to finally install both drum heads successfully.
Carefully cut off the excess leather on the outer edge with scissors, and then use isinglass to dip the remaining cowhide on the drum. In this way, the cowhide drum is basically completed.
Of course, Xu Chen naturally did not allow this shocking artifact to appear in front of everyone in such an ugly way, and further beautification processing was needed.
But these have nothing to do with a group of carpenters.
Seeing the cowhide drum being carried to the dormitory by Xu Chen and Gu He, a group of carpenters were confused, puzzled but did not dare to ask.
I don’t know what the purpose of this strange thing they have worked hard for several days to make is.
But looking at Xu Chen's style, this thing must have very magical effects.
Because everything Xu Chen wants to complete while hiding in his room has mysterious properties.
In the next two days, apart from eating and drinking, Xu Chen basically dealt with this cowhide drum.
It was a very mysterious thing to the tribesmen, but to him, it was just a pretense.
First, use a carving knife to carve some shaman symbols and hieroglyphs on the drum, then add crushed malachite to rosin and heat it, then fill it in and smooth it out, so that the drum has a very mysterious atmosphere.
In addition, adhering to Xu Chen's usual tycoon character, he also punched holes and inlaid several colorful gems and gold on it, making it look even more luxurious. It has the same nouveau riche temperament as the horn, the witch's scepter, and the dragon's tooth scimitar.
It's not over yet after finishing this.
Finally, the entire drum needs to be given an appearance treatment.
Stir the lime slurry and cinnabar repeatedly to form a red putty-like mud paste. Use a pottery scraper to carefully scrape the outside of the drum twice to remove the gaps on the surface of the drum and the uneven gaps between the drum skin and the drum.
Fill in the place.
After drying, it was simply sanded and polished with fine sand and gravel, and finally the outside was painted with boiled leather glue. After drying, the cowhide drum was completely completed. What appeared in front of everyone was a strange shape.
, a mysterious item with a reddish appearance and a mysterious and luxurious temperament.
However, although the treatment looked good, Xu Chen also knew that it was just the outside of the donkey shit balls, and he could barely look past it.
The drum barrel is not round, the drum skin is too thick, there is no real good glue and paint, and the treatment is not satisfactory both inside and outside.
Originally, it was best to use real paint and tung oil to treat the drum. He had already found both of these, but he was too far away to get them.
But no matter what, this cowhide drum is completely finished.
"Winter~"
There are only four days left before the Witch Lord Conference, and the entire Ba clan is even busier.
But around noon that day, a dull and strange sound suddenly came from Xu Chen's room.
Although the sound was not loud, everyone in the yard felt their hearts beating, as if someone had suddenly knocked on their souls. The men and women who were busy working or the children who were chasing and playing stopped for an instant.
He made a move in his hand and ran around to look around with a nervous and frightened face.
Winter~
Dongdong~
Dongdongdongdong~"
Another burst of the same sound came from Xu Chen's room, and the panic and tension dissipated instantly. Many people rushed to the door of Xu Chen's room with faces full of surprise and excitement, and crowded to the door to have a look.
What kind of strange thing is this that can make such a terrifying sound?
Xu Chen was trying out the drums in his room at this time.
This is also the first time the drum has been beaten since it was completed.
He didn't try it before because he knew that as long as the drum head didn't fall off, it would definitely sound, so he was not in a hurry to try it.
In addition, he was worried that the isinglass was not dried thoroughly enough and that it would be deglued in advance.
It's been four or five days since it was finished, and I think it's done.
If you don't try it in advance, you won't be able to deal with it in time if you encounter a situation when you wait until the Witch Lord Conference.
But fortunately, the drum sound is not bad, at least it is not broken, it is just dull.
Xu Chen was already very satisfied with this result.
But just when he got excited, the door of the room was quickly surrounded by a large group of old women and children, and those at the front were the two little witch sisters.
Because the two of them lived next door to Xu Chen and almost never went out. They spent all day reading and writing in their room, trying to digest and study Xu Chen's various essays and diaries.
They also knew that Xu Chen had been making something strange in his room in the past few days. They and Ye had also seen it, but Xu Chen had never said what he was making. He just said that it was something new prepared for the Witch Lord Conference.
of magic weapon.
And seeing that Xu Chen had carved words on it and was inlaid with gold and silver jewelry, several girls also felt that this thing was very important and mysterious, so they didn't dare to ask.
It wasn't until today that this thing really revealed its true identity. It was originally used for beating.
And the sound is so shocking.
"Dong~dongdongdong~~"
Standing at the door of the room, coupled with the echo of the narrow room, the drum sound is even more intense. Every time Xu Chen knocks, everyone feels as if it is beating on their own souls, making their hearts pounding involuntarily.
Jump.
"Chen Ga, Mosi Ga Ga?"
A man asked nervously with a pale face.
"Winter~"
Xu Chen knocked slightly harder again, and everyone trembled. Xu Chen held an animal tooth that was more than a foot long in his hand and said, "This is called a drum!"
"Drum!"
Everyone suddenly realized.
Xu Chen waved the little witch sister into the room, then handed the animal tooth to the big witch sister and said: "Drums and trumpets can make loud sounds and can be transmitted far. There are many people attending the witch masters conference, and they are sounded during sacrifices."
, can help inspire people, come and try it..."
Sister Dawu held the animal tooth and her face turned red. She looked at Xu Chen nervously and said, "Can I do it?"
"It works, it's very simple, just tap it lightly and it will ring!"
Xu Chen held the little witch's soft little hand, raised it and tapped it gently.
"Winter~"
A dull sound shook the room, and the little witch's hands shook in fright, and the beast's teeth almost fell to the ground.
"Don't be afraid, it's just like a trumpet, only louder."
Encouraged by Xu Chen's smile, the little witch clenched her teeth again, lifted it up and gently landed on the drum surface.