I’m a young French engineer passionate about designing and building innovative objects.
For six years, I co-founded a startup converting combustion vehicles into electric ones. That experience taught me how to take a product from idea to prototype, from supply chain to production and commercialization.
When that chapter ended, I left for Portugal in a van with my djembe, my handpan, and my surfboard.
In that new rhythm of life, creativity came back naturally. But something was missing: the drum kit. I had played a little as a kid, and the desire resurfaced.
While playing the djembe, I became obsessed with its versatility. With one single skin, you can produce deep bass tones like a kick drum and sharp slaps like a snare.
One day, the idea hit me:
What if I built a portable mini drum kit based on the djembe?
Four months later, in a small and barely equipped workshop, I started building the first prototypes. Bending steel between my knees. Crafting rough wooden pedals. Testing. Adjusting.
That first steel hoop became the key component of the kit: the “Noma – Hoop.”
The first time I fully assembled and played it, I knew.
It’s going to work, and musicians are going to like it !
I had created something that combined engineering, craftsmanship, music, and simplicity.
And more importantly, I had found my next long-term obsession.
What's coming in the next newsletters ?
- Why the Djembe Is One of the Most Powerful Instruments Ever Created
- How to Protect Your Djembe Head (Without Changing Its Sound)
- When a Touring Musician Trusts this Instrument… (Big announcement)
- Prototype barely finish, tested and validated by the local band (summer touring)
- How to build a simple, repairable, independent instrument : Made in Portugal