I've only recently started playing drums again after many years of not even thinking about it.  I had never heard of a Djemba or many of the other things talked about on this board until I discovered this board.  But.. while reading a post from Mr A. on one of the other boards he suggested that a Djembe might be a good alternative to a standard kit in an acoustic setting.  This made me curious about it and I was wondering what types of music is it usually used on.  What kind of grooves can you play on it? and is something that relatively easy to pick up.  

Also, if anybody had any info on pearl had drums (quality and such) that would be much appreciated as well.

Thanks and have a great day.

A djembe is one of the most user friendly hand drums you can get.  You can use a variety of techniques on this drum, with great results.  A good one is a pleasure to play.

I'm not at all sure about that Mountain Rhythm stuff.  Djembes are typically tuned very tight,  and I would be suspicious of that tuning system unless I tried it myself, and decided it worked well.  In other words, try before you buy.

Also, be aware that a properly (tightly) tuned djembe can overtighten itself in very high temperatures, (like the inside of a hot car) resulting in a split head.  Cold (not heat) and moisture can make a natural drumhead go slack.  Heat and dryness will tend to make it tighten up.

Once you understand the tuning method for a djembe, you can tune up or down within a few minutes.  It's not hard to do, but not easy to explain online.  Find an experienced player to help you.

You can do traditional West African stuff (very disciplined, much training) if you want, or you can apply various techniques, such as conga/bongo or doumbek methods, and use the drum in circles or other musical situations.  It's very versatile.

Re: the djembe's tonal color and rhythmical significance, especially within a multi-percussive environment, like a drum circle, I would say I like how the djembe contributes to the bass tone color.  And rhythmically, I think the djembe often functions similarly to how a bass drum pattern interacts/relates tonally to its surrounding drums/cymbals.  
I've noticed some common basic djembe patterns implement accented 16th note combinations, <or slow triplets over 4's> <you get a good solid bass tone if you hit it just the right way, smack dab in the center.>. Sometimes in circles there are multiple djembe players who often begin the opening groove at a circle, drumming in unison <or attempting to >, while the other percussion instruments join in and begin to layer melodically.
Djembes can be mounted on stands, <and waist straps if you want to play it and wear it>---One can also lay the drum down on its side and sit on it --< very cool to do around a fire at night under the stars >

I have some cool djembes <made from hollowed, carved tree stumps> which I think are more like art pieces.  They don't project as well <as the Remos which project awesomely and get excellent, clear tones, in my opinion.>

I wouldn't suggest a djembe would be a good replacement in an acoustic setting. I personally would prefere something more melodic like congas and/or bongos (and I love djembe )

Djembe does have a fairly slight learning curve but as someone said when it's done by somone who knows what they are doing it's a big difference.

Getting to this level isn't that easy and I'd suggest you'd want to be fairly handy to acompany other instruments.

For more info on djembe, including videos you could check out www.djembefola.com