All about African Drums / Djembe 

A Djembe (pronounced 'jem bay') also known as an African Drum, djimbe, jenbe, jembe, yembe or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin covered hand drum, shaped like a large goblet and meant to be played with bare hands.

It is a member of the membranophone family of musical instruments: a frame or shell (in the djembe's case it is a shell) covered by a membrane or drumhead made of one of many products, usually rawhide.

The djembe originated in West Africa and is an integral part of the region's musical tradition and culture. The djembe is now popular all over the world.

Djembes are commonly about 12" (30 cm) in diameter and 24" (60 cm) in height, varying a few inches. They can also be found at many smaller sizes, from 5" (13 cm) up to 18" (46 cm) in diameter, As a result of the goblet shape, the density of the wood, the internal carvings, and the skin, there is a wide range of tones that can be produced by the djembe. The rounded shape with the extended tube of the djembe body forms a device known in physics as a Helmholtz resonator, giving it the deep bass note. The primary notes are generally referred to as "bass," "tone" and "slap", though a variety of other tones can be produced by advanced players. The slap has a high, sharp sound and the tone is more "round" and full. The bass is the lowest.

Technique (How to play the African Drums or Djembe)
The proper sound is achieved with minimum effort for maximum effect. The key is to either focus or disperse the hand's energy and position the hand in the correct place. The bass and tone notes require focused energy (a beginner will have the most success by holding their fingers firmly together), while the slap requires dispersed energy (fingers are relaxed).

Striking the skin with the palm and fingers toward the drum's center produces a bass note; striking the skin near the rim (with the fleshy part of the palm just above the rim) produces the tone and slap. Beginners may think of the tone and slap as fingers "together" and "apart." Advanced players will not take the time to make that obvious physical change, but rather make a less visibly obvious change from "focused" to "dispersed". It can take months to years of practice to consistently create distinct sounds on the African Drums!

Origins of the African Drums
The djembe is a Mandé drum, found in all of West Africa, where it is one of the most common instruments. There is general agreement that the origin of the djembe is associated with a class of Mandinka/Susu blacksmiths known as Numu. The wide dispersion of the djembe drums throughout West Africa may be due to Numu migrations dating from the first millennium A.D. Some modern players trace the djembe back 3,000 years to the Bamana ethnic group from the Wosolo region of what is now Mali. The Bamana people have a word "jebebara" or "unity drum" (Abdouli Diakite). Despite the associations of the djembe with the Numu, there do not appear to be hereditary restrictions upon who can play the djembe as occurs with some other African instruments. Spelling "jembe" with the "dj" comes from the fact that French has no hard "j" sound like that found in English. The "dj" is used to indicate the hard "j" pronunciation. The French were instrumental in studying and describing African drumming to the world. However, colonization by the French is a sore spot for many West African people and spelling jembe with the "d" can be a painful reminder of that. Since independence (1958-1960) African governments have been working toward indigenous ways of spelling their local languages in accordance with international standards of phonetic transcription.

(research taken from Wikipedia.org)