Robert Watson (Redkite Shamanic Drums)

A drum sounds simple until you sit inside a circle of them. Robert Watson works under the name Red Kite Drums, and he’s a drum birthing and drumming circle facilitator who describes himself as a shaman of the Northern Tradition, having walked the shamanic path for thirty years.

Two threads run through what he does: helping people make a drum of their own, and holding the circles where those drums get played. He’ll be at the Guildhall across both days in September for anyone curious about either.

What “birthing” a drum means

The word sounds odd the first time you hear it, but it’s deliberate. In this tradition you don’t buy a drum off a shelf, you make it, and the making is treated as a small ceremony rather than a craft session. A frame drum is built from a wooden hoop and a skin, and traditionally the maker laces the skin to the hoop by hand, so the whole thing holds together as one piece. People talk about “birthing” because you’re bringing an instrument into being that’s yours from the first beat.

You don’t need to be musical or handy to do it. The point isn’t a perfect finish, it’s that you sat with the process and made the thing yourself. Most people leave with a drum that has a voice unlike anyone else’s in the room, which is rather the idea.

The circle

A drumming circle is exactly what it says: a group of people drumming together, usually to a shared, steady rhythm. There’s no performance and no audience. You keep the beat, you listen to the people either side of you, and after a few minutes the separate drums tend to settle into one sound. People often describe it as steadying, a way of quietening a busy head without being asked to sit still and empty your mind.

Steady rhythmic drumming has a long history in shamanic practice as a way of shifting attention inward, and Robert works from that Northern Tradition rather than treating the circle as a fitness class or a jam. You don’t have to believe anything in particular to take part. You just have to be willing to make some noise with other people.

Who it suits

Come along if you’re drawn to the sound and want to try it with your hands rather than read about it. It suits complete beginners, people who find sitting meditation difficult, and anyone who likes the idea of making something they’ll actually keep and use. If you already own a drum, bring it.

Something to try before you come

You don’t need a drum to feel why the rhythm works. Sit somewhere quiet, rest a hand flat on your chest, and tap a slow, even beat, roughly one tap a second, for a couple of minutes. Keep it steady even when your mind wanders off, and just bring it back to the beat each time. That’s the whole mechanism a circle uses, one simple repeating pulse to hold your attention, and trying it on your own hand first means the real thing will feel familiar rather than strange when you sit down with Robert.

Robert is one of over 70 readers, healers and stallholders at the Mind Body Spirit & Wellness Weekend, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026, at Stockport Masonic Guildhall. His sessions, like every session across the weekend, are included with entry.

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