... instrument, he set out to replace it himself and curiosity took over.

Through trial and error, dad spent the years that followed teaching himself how to tune wood and learning what made one board more musical than another. From the very beginning, Michael has been inspired by the question of how these instruments worked and motivated by the challenge of making them better. Today, we continue this journey of discovery together.

Hardwood Drums and musical furniture are a modern version of an ancient Aztec device known as the "Teponaxtli" or log "tongue" drum. In our modern take on this age-old tradition, we aim to create pieces that are finely tuned and aesthetically beautiful versions of their distant cousins.

The quality, clarity and pitch accuracy of our work has attracted a long list of some of the world’s best musicians, celebrities and composers. You might not have recognized it at the time, but you've likely heard our work before on a movie soundtrack or two, or as an accompanying instrument on a record.

Michael and Joah Thiele and family currently reside in Flagstaff, Arizona.