Archaic Roots is a manifestation of many years of study, practice and passion for hand made crafts/artistic media combined with knowledge of indigenous instruments and traditions. The custom made drums and instruments, indigenous instrument education presentations, drum circle facilitation and instrument building workshops provided by Archaic Roots are all inspired by the traditions of our global ancestors.
Offering one of a kind experiences with our unique workshops, retreats, and personal instrument building immersions. Additionally, we can provide an awesome private guest room or primitive artist cabin on the Archaic Roots property (located in the Southern Appalachian wilderness within the largest dome community on the East Coast of the United States). We can host and offer a unique experience while you’re here in the Southern Appalachian Mountains! Focus on yourself, delve into true wilderness areas, connect with our Mother Earth, hike to waterfalls, create art and instruments with a variety of media, and so much more!!
Looking for repair services for a variety of indigenous instruments such as drums, flutes, whistles, didgeridoo, and more; we can help! We can also create hand crafted custom instruments on a commission basis based on your vision and requirements.
Combining the elements of earth, water, air, and fire to produce functional art with a purpose of making music that transcends the art you are accustomed to seeing in most galleries. There’s no other place like Archaic Roots, come see visit us and see what we do!
The Owner
My name is William Rodriguez, Cahubaba Calata (Sacred hands spiritual healer in Taino). I am an active member of the Taino/Arawakan community, and an officiated behike (ceremonial leader).
From a young age, I was always intrigued with ancient cultures and my more “primitive” and distant ancestors. I wasn’t raised in a tribal community, but the stories and cultural aspects were evident. I knew my Cuban ancestors were native, and that I had some native ancestors that were part of the Muskogee nation before the removal.
That tribal connection, and the unique cultural perspectives, called to me from the past, almost as if my DNA demanded it. At around 10 years old my interest in learning about ethnic traditions blossomed, which led me into finding “the zone” in karate, meditation, yoga, running and so on.
As a teen I was entranced by the ancestral heritage ingrained in many of my ancestors cultures, and a few years later I found the drum. The drum started me on my path of learning about a multitude of ancient instruments, then learning to repair and make those instruments, which then led into education and workshops.
It was the struggle to afford to repair my first djembe; that struggle led me into learning about the construction and repairing drums. With a few kids and other “adult problems”, it was almost impossible for me to afford a repair on my only large djembe drum at the time, so I started to learn the process of rebuilding djembes (which led into repairing them for others).
That same dilemma (minimal funds) led me to building my own flute, didgeridoo, and other instruments that I couldn’t afford to buy for myself at the time. After learning about building so many instruments, I just kept learning and expanding my knowledge in the broad field of indigenous instrument making.
I started teaching about indigenous instruments when my oldest son was in pre-k and asked me to bring some instruments in for show and tell, which started as a few drums and other instruments being brought to his school. This simple request led me to bringing larger collections of instruments and more detailed presentations in the later years as he aged, and for my other children’s classes (or sometimes whole grade levels).
Now I teach groups (scout groups, festivals, private groups, retreats and at various venues), facilitating my instrument education presentations and instrument building workshops. These events braid culture, traditional knowledge, myth, and science into each presentation/workshop. My passion for learning and teaching about indigenous instruments constantly evolves and integrates new instruments, history, techniques and cultures. Each event is facilitated in an organic nature, with no two events exactly the same.
Now Archaic Roots includes a number of services such as:
- Indigenous instrument repair and building events (workshops, retreats, classes); for many different instruments from around the world.
- Custom instrument commissions for clients looking for unique instruments for their collection.
- Private immersions for individuals wanting to dive head first into learning about specific instruments with personal workshops and private accommodations (primitive artist cabin).
- Our site includes articles related to various instruments and instrument makers. We also offer fair trade indigenous instruments and my own hand made instruments in our shop.
Workshops – Drum Circle Facilitation – Educational Presentations
Percussion and music are very important to me. For many years I have learned about various indigenous instruments and shared that knowledge through ethnic instrument education presentations & instrument building workshops at local schools or other groups such as Scout troops.
I have expanded on that by integrating group music making via drum circle facilitation and team building workshops. These types of workshops, group music sessions, and educational presentations let me help others through sharing knowledge & stories.
Indigenous Instruments
I love to make and teach about indigenous instruments, but I also specialize in repairing them. I have spent over half of my life playing drums and learning about indigenous cultures. While I also learned how to repair the various kinds of indigenous instruments like drums and flutes.
One of my passions is to create custom instruments for clients. I honor the ability to create functional art via musical instruments. Working with the elements and my own hands to produce valued partners in music making.
Do you have an old instrument that needs repaired or tuned? Contact me and I would love to help!
Studio & Property
The studio is located in the beautiful North Georgia mountains, the oldest mountains in the world. This is where some of the events (workshops and retreats) and drum circles are held.
Tucked away down a dirt road sits my dome home/studio and farm. At my studio you may find yourself surrounded by free ranging goats and chickens while making an instrument, or enjoying the fire while engulfed by the beating of drums, the sound of flutes or didgeridoo, during a drum circle.
