Galway musician comes up with wooden variation on the drum

Lorcan Mitchell has combined a love of music and carpentry to develop the Mitchell Drum, a novel handmade percussion instrument made from wood.

The 31-year-old carpenter was always immersed in music growing up in the family home at Aughrim – his parents, Betty and Gerry, drummed the importance of music into him and his siblings, Gearoid, Sinead, Fiona and Áine, from an early age.

The Mitchell drum

And it was during his school days at Garbally College in Ballinasloe where he developed a grá for carpentry. In his Leaving Cert year, Lorcan made an electric guitar for his woodwork project.

Fast-forward 13 years later, he has established his own business based at his father’s garage, where he produces for sale the Mitchel Drum, a portable drum, which he designed.

The idea came to him while volunteering abroad.

Lorcan studied carpentry at FÁS, and completed his apprenticeship, before travelling the World in 2011. He was in New Zealand for a time, then spent a year in Australia, and onto the Philippines before returning home to County Galway.

When the devastating typhoon hit Philippines in 2013, he decided to return to the Southeast Asian country, and volunteer his carpentry skills to rebuild houses.

While volunteering at a village about two hours outside of the main city of Tacloban, Lorcan used to play guitar for local children, who were fascinated by the sounds he produced.

The music gave them so much pleasure, he decided to use some of his fundraising money to purchase fifteen guitars, and he built ten drums.

“That’s when I realised what I wanted to do, so I came home and took over my dad’s garage and started making the Mitchel Drum,” he recalls.

It took about three years to perfect but the result is a simple, elegant, innovative musical instrument.

It’s a bit like the keytar, a portable keyboard or ‘piano guitar’, the Mitchel Drum is roughly the size of a laptop computer and weighs about as much as a regular bag of flour.

It is obviously constricted in the range of sounds it can produce compared to a regular drum set, but it’s unique selling point is its lightweight and portability.

“You can just put it in the bag, throw it over your shoulder and away you go. It’s lightweight and compact and it allows for unlimited freedom and portability. Using the waist strap you have the freedom to move and dance. It has been designed to create crisp, clear tones and a high quality drum effect free from rattles and echoes,” he says.

They’re made from Baltic birch and walnut, both imported woods, because, “they produce the best sound” but he hasn’t ruled out sourcing timber locally, and even growing his own.

It has an inbuilt microphone, pickup and preamp, which allows it to be used in live settings, in studios and to DJ sets. The drum is made for musicians but Lorcan has been working with organisations who deal with adults with intellectual and learning disabilities and it is an area ripe for expansion.

It is easy to use and is suitable for learners as well as professionals, he says.

The drums retail at €245, which includes handmade bag made from recycled coffee bean bags.

■ For more information visit the Mitchell Drum website