OK I bought a natural, but not "fresh" goatskin head. The one I got had been de-haired, which I recommend, but if you REALLY want a shaved drumhead, you can do it. It's not very authentic, but you CAN do it.

Mine was de-haired.

OK, so cut the skin roughly to shape. Be generous, You'll be mad if you cut it too small! Now, soak the goatskin in warm water for about a minute. That will loosen the head significantly so that you can tack it onto the drum. Work quuickly, now!

Pull one edge of the skin over the edge of the drum and drive one furniture tack in place at the rim to lock it in there. Go about a half an inch to each side of that first tack, and drive in two more tacks. Now you have three tacks, sorta close together, anchoring the skin on one side of the drum.

Move diametrically opposite to where you were for the first three tacks and pull the drumhead tight. Don't be IronMan, here, you're not trying to make it utterly rigid, the drumhead will shrink as it dries out. Just pull it firmly tight. Drive in three tacks, exactlyu opposite to the first three. OK, OK, it's a quarter of an inch off...big whoop.

At t his point you might need to re-dampen the drumhead.... you don't want it to start drying out and shrinking. Don't SOAK it, you already did that...just dampen it if you feel that it's shrinking.

OK, your next three tacks the thrid set of three tacks) go in at 90 degrees 'round the circle from where your first three tacks went in....and your fourth set of three tacks go in diametrically opposite from where the third set went in.

So now you have a circle of drum body with the skin tacked on a four points...North South East West, on the compass, right? Your next step is to put tacks in at Northwest-Southeast...and Northeast-Southwest. When that's done you've got tacks in at eight places, evenly distributed around the drumhead. You do it this way to even out tension on the head.

Now take a pair of needlenose pliars (you'll need them to grip the drumhead as the tacks get closer together. And start putting in tacks one-two at a time, working your way around the drum....two go in here, then two go in opposite...two go in here and then two go in opposite, until you've circled the drum head with at least 50 tacks and 75-80 is better. When this is all done, trim the excess goatskin off with scissors and put the drum down for 4-6 hours to dry the skin.

come back, and mate, you've got yourself a hand drum!

If you want you can use a dowel-crosspiece (I did) to brace the back of the drum. You can make this out of 1-inch hardwood dowel from the hardware store. Glue it in place, either a single piece or a pair of crossed pieces. Lash the cross together with some leather thong for a cool look. Finsh your drum body with a little bit of oil or varnish, or even paint if you want, taking great care not to get any on the drumhead.

Basic beaters can be made from more of the same hardwood dowel that you used for the crosspieces.

I made a drum just like this and used it for eight years. I left it at a gig about 3-4 years ago, and howled when I realized that I'd left it...it was gone. Someday I'll make another one.