Frame drums are among the most common musical instruments in the world. They are present on every continent -except for Australia- featuring different shapes, sizes, materials and aesthetic qualities. The common denominator of all frame drums across the globe is a drumhead spawn over a frame. For many Euro-Asian peoples the frame drum is an important paraphernalia of the shaman. Rather than as a mere musical instrument, they consider it as a living entity and a constant companion of its owner.

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... s such, the shamans' drum has a manlike life-cycle or biography: it goes through several lifestages such as conception, birth, initiation, adult life, death and in some cases rebirth. During its lifecycle, the shamans' drum assumes sundry roles and functions, whereas all of them carry cosmological and mythological meanings. This essay is an attempt to outline a biographical model of the shamans' drum out of a comparative study, which considers different scholars' insights in various local traditions of so-called Eurasia.