As part of Cooperman’s Artist Innovation Series, each of these three unique drums manifests an aspect of Marla’s drumming that is immediately identifiable with her personal drumming style, her performance artistry, and her Academy teaching methods.

PURCHASE NOW at Cooperman Frame Drum Shop

The 12” drum ”Purple Haze” , with a  “rolled rim,” facilitates Marla’s exploration of finger techniques including Persian, Indian and Turkish drumming techniques on a frame drum.

The 14”(“Green Goddess”)  and 16” (“Marla Tar”), will be your “go-to” drum for the three main playing styles (upright, lat-style, and free-hand style) Marla teaches in her online Academy.  Both drums are super-portable and ergonomically designed for lightness in weight and and balance.

Learn more about Marla Leigh on her website:  MarlaLeigh.com

Expand and explore your drumming skills with Marla by joining her online Academy:Marla’s Frame Drum Academy

AIS Marla tar 16″:

As part of our collection of Artist Innovation Series drums (AIS), several special design elements were included at the request of Marla Leigh.

The Marla Leigh Tar drum is designed to offer both introductory and advanced players a drum that is easy to handle, and to provide effortless access to a variety of playing styles. The shallow depth (3.5”), mid-size (16”) diameter and Cherry wood frame is expressive while being light in weight.   A traditional thumbhole, facilitates playing the drum in the upright position.    The distinctive graphics and shell color reflects the spirit and energy of Marla’s approach to frame drumming. The henna-like graphic design incorporates ancient symbols for peace, reminding us about the powerful history of frame drums, and how they were used for wellness and healing in cultures all over the world.

The tuning range of this 16″ drum is G to B above Middle C, where the ideal pitch would be A.

about 700 grams

   PURCHASE NOW at Cooperman Frame Drum Shop

AIS Green Goddess Marla Tar 14″ :

The 14″ Green Goddess model offers a lighter and even more portable version of the original Marla Tar 16″ drum. The smaller diameters defines a slightly higher pitch range when compared to the 16″ version. Its name, Green Goddess, and its jewel tone green color honors Marla’s visits to the Green Mountain State, where the drum is sourced from local woods, and built at the Cooperman circa 1925 mill.

PURCHASE NOW at Cooperman Frame Drum Shop

AIS Purple Haze Marla Tar 12″:

The 12″ Purple haze model  is offers a completely different drumming experience than the other two drums in the Marla series.  Although the smallest diameter(12″)  in this series, the depth of the shell is significantly extended to almost 5″.   This added depth gives the drum surprising punch, and combined with a REMO Ebony Suede drumhead, it  extends the midrange tonal pallette.    We’ve dramatically rolled the exterior, playing-side edge (a “roundover bevel”) to give it a “fatter”, more mellow sound and to reduce overtones.  This rolled edge is designed to  facilitate fast finger-snaps and split-hand techniques, and facilitates the exploration of some doumbek techniques that Marla applies to the frame drums.

PURCHASE NOW at Cooperman Frame Drum Shop

video demonstration

In addition to the AIS Marla Series, Marla recommends:

video demonstration

-Cooperman model tars 12″-22″ with your choice of:     

     –REMO Renaissance drumhead: http://www.coopermanstore.com/12-22-Tars-with-Renaissance-head-20-drum-in-picture-P665.aspx

or

     –REMO Ebony Suede drumhead: http://www.coopermanstore.com/12-22-Tars-with-Ebony-Suede-head-20-drum-in-picture-P641.aspx.

To learn more about these various drumheads, see our Comparison of Head Materials page

ABOUT MARLA:

Marla Leigh Goldstein is a Grammy – nominated percussionist, flautist, composer, educator, sound alchemist and specialist in the frame drum. Marla has created her own signature series line of frame drums with Cooperman Company. She offers retreats, clinics and performances worldwide. A pioneer in online education, she is CEO of Frame Drum Academy, that currently offers two programs, Frame Drum 101 & 202.
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Marla is passionate about the healing alchemy of sound She composes cross-cultural “meditative” music for film, tv and healing arts DVD’s. Marla is currently writing new music for her debut album of medicinal world music orchestrations.

Marla holds a MFA from California Institute of the Arts, and has studied with Percussion Meastro’s Glen Velez, John Bergamo, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Poovlar Srinivasan and Randy Gloss.

https://youtu.be/mi6p3Kk5LDk