How Long l let the leather dry

Hi :-) At the moment we are in Kafountine, in the Casamance, southern Senegal. We also spend time teaching in the UK and France but for now we will only be offering kora making in Senegal where we are building a new workshop. We are out here for 8 months a year now. We left the cottage in Wales, where Jirka's kora was made, back in 2014. We will offer kora making at the same price as a kora holiday - so you are either being taught how to play kora or making one - some of both each morning :-) The cost of the kora would be the same as on our website - and depends on what timber you use etc. www.thekoraworkshop.co.uk Send me an email on info@thekoraworkshop.co.uk and I can send you more information. Hope that helps! Kath :-)

Hi thanks :-) You can find a document on our How to Tune Your Kora page that shows the gauges we generally use. It may need to be lighter r heavier for your kora and for the feel and sound you want. These sizes are using standard nylon fishing line (not fluorocarbon which breaks more easily) thekoraworkshop.co.uk/about-the-kora/how-to-tune-your-kora/

Hello Ivan. They don't grow in the UK. The very best come from Mali and though we have been able to grow one or two really good ones in Senegal on our land there, we prefer to get the ones from Mali. We have been fortunate in recent times to buy them from a specialist supplier in France, David Thille at La Cases à Gourdes.

Thank You very much for the answer. Keep doing great job, and greetings from Croatia!

Hey you're the second person from Croatia I have been talking about koras to this week :-) Delighted to know the kora is spreading it's wings far and wide, we're doing our best to help it! Best wishes, Kath

Wesley Cristian Hi Wesley - yes we can make you a kora. We have just arrived in the south of France for our May residential workshop. We have several kora orders to complete and very happy to add you to the work list :-) Send me an email kath@thekoraworkshop.co.uk and we can find out more about what you need and how we can get your kora to you.

OK, I've forwarded the email to you. :-) Thank you.

Hi my name is Shakur; I would like to find out about purchasing one of these instruments. Please email me @ shakur.forbes@gmail.com

MANGAYI DAGOLOH the origin is west African. If you want authentic try there

Hi - it depends on where you are in the world and also the weather at the time. Unless you have a specialist drying room with ventilation etc, you are dependent on the weather, like us :-) Note: you put the cross bar and handles in before it is dry but not immediately after the skin goes on. Also you don't want it to dry out too fast initially. You need to make sure the body is really dry before putting the pressure on the skin with the bridge and strings. You cannot hurry this process. Good luck!

@@ThekoraworkshopCoUk hello thank you for your Response l live in Ohio United states l bought a kora that has the broken leather l changed it and a month after softening the leather in the part where the bridge goes l put hot water to harden the leather and after 3 days the leather broke l knew what was the error so that was my quedtion how Long should l stop driying the leather if you can help me step by step l would appreciate it because where l live it is not very easy to find leather and l do not want to leave the instrument of ornament.

@@romel7622 Hi, sorry I haven't replied before - I didn't get a noticfication from KZfaq! WIth the skin (Note it should not be leather - instead you should use rawhide that has had the hair removed. Leather is skin that has been treated and softened and that is the opposite of what you want!) Also cow wkin will take longer to dry and harden than deer skin. What skin are you using? Also you need the skin to dry without pressure on it - then once really dry and hard it will take the pressure of the strings on the bridge. You should only wet the skin if there is no pressure on it, or you will stretch it.