Garden Rain Drum
Leave it out in the garden and the rain rings it for you. Numbered tongues and a songbook in the same numbers, so there is nothing to learn first.
Garden Rain Drum
30-day return policy
Free US shipping with tracking
- ☂It plays itself when it rains. Put it under the run-off and the weather sounds the tongues. No power, no batteries.
- ♪There is no wrong note. Pentatonic tuning means any two tongues sound right together.
- ☐No lessons needed. The tongues are numbered and the songbook uses those same numbers.
- ◆Made to stay outside. Powder-coated steel, through the wet months.
Why it is called that. Margaret is the grandmother it was first made for, by her granddaughter, because she had loved the sound for years and only ever heard it somewhere else.
It started with one grandmother and one wet afternoon
Margaret had loved the sound for years. Her granddaughter made her one so she could hear it from her own kitchen window. This is that drum.
Margaret is the reason this exists.
She had loved the sound of a rain drum for as long as anyone could remember. Not as a collector and not as a musician, she simply liked what it did to a grey afternoon. The trouble was that she only ever heard one somewhere else, and then went home to a quiet house and the sound of the gutter on its own.
So her granddaughter made her one. Teal, because that was the colour of the kitchen door. The tongues numbered, because Margaret had never read a note of music in her life and was not about to start at her age.
It went out on the porch rail that same week, and it stayed there through the autumn. Rain found it in the morning before anyone was up. By the end of the month Margaret had stopped describing it as a present and started describing it as the reason she liked a wet week.
Everyone who heard it asked where it came from. That is how it ended up here.
How It Works
The weather plays it. You play it when you feel like it.
A rain drum is a steel tongue drum built to live outdoors. Rain striking the cut tongues sounds them. There is nothing to switch on and nothing to plug in, which is why it works on a morning when nobody is awake to use it.
Why People Keep It
Six reasons it does not end up in the shed
It uses the bad weather
A wet week stops being the thing that ruins the garden and becomes the thing that plays it.
There is no wrong note
Pentatonic tuning means any two tongues sound right together. You cannot play it badly.
Numbered, not notated
No reading music, no lessons, no teacher. The numbers on the tongues match the songbook.
Built for outside
Teal speckled powder coat over steel, made to sit out through the wet months.
Grandchildren find it first
It is the one thing in the garden a child is allowed to bang on, and it still sounds good.
It travels
Small enough to carry out to the porch, into the car, or over to somebody else’s garden.
What Makes It Different
A rain drum against the usual garden gift
| Rain Drum | Wind chime | Garden ornament | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works when | It rains, which is most of the autumn | Only when there is wind | Never, it is only looked at |
| Can she play it herself | Yes, numbered tongues and a songbook | No | No |
| Can a grandchild use it | Yes, and it still sounds right | Not really | No |
| Sound | Tuned pentatonic notes | Random, often tinny | None |
| Comes indoors in winter | Only if she wants it on the windowsill | Usually taken down | Often stored away |
What’s In The Package
Everything that arrives with it
The Drum
Teal speckled powder-coated steel, cut tongues in a flower, each one numbered.
Two Mallets
Wooden handles, soft tips. Most people end up using their fingers.
Beginner Songbook
Written in the same numbers that are cut into the tongues.
Cloth Pouch
For carrying it out to the garden and back again.
Setup & Care
There is almost nothing to it
30 days to decide, and free shipping in the United States
Shipping is free on every order within the US, with no minimum. If it does not feel right in her hands, send it back within 30 days. We would rather it went to somebody who will leave it out.
Frequently Asked
The questions people actually ask
Does it really play by itself in the rain?
Yes, that is the whole category. Water falling onto the cut tongues sounds them. How much it plays depends on where you put it: directly under a downspout it is busy, out on an open rail it is occasional and quieter.
Can someone with no musical training play it?
That is who it is built for. Every tongue carries its own number and the songbook is written in those numbers, so there is no notation to read. The tuning is pentatonic, which means any two tongues sound right together and there is no wrong note to hit.
Can I leave it outside all winter?
It is powder-coated steel and made to stay out through the wet months. Plenty of people bring it onto a windowsill when the weather turns hard, which is a preference rather than a requirement.
Is it loud? Will the neighbours mind?
No. It is a soft, rounded sound closer to a wind chime than a drum kit, and rain only ever strikes one tongue at a time.
Is it safe for grandchildren?
It is a solid steel body with no sharp edges and no small loose parts on the drum itself. The two mallets are separate items, so keep an eye on those with very young children, as you would with any small wooden object.
What if she does not like it?
Send it back within 30 days for a refund. No forms and no explanation needed.
The Details
Product specifications
| Material | Steel |
| Finish | Teal speckled powder coating |
| Scale | Pentatonic, numbered tongues |
| Set includes | Drum, 2 mallets, beginner songbook, cloth pouch |
| Play method | Mallets or fingertips |
| Placement | Outdoors under run-off, or indoors on a sill |
| Care | Wipe dry with a soft cloth after a wet spell. Do not immerse. |
| Shipping | Free within the United States |
| Returns | 30 days |