Long ago when I made a ceremonial drum from a 36" diameter frame I used a huge piece of thinly skived elk rawhide.

First of all, it took 6 hours of soaking in a tarp lined pit I had to dig special in my backyard to get it to soak up enough water to be workable in the first place.... but, when it came time to stretch it out over the hoop for the frame, I used 1 clamp each 4 inches around the drum head. I put it, hoop up, on a lazy susan so that I could spin it around and roll, tuck and clamp as I went to get it as even as possible.

If your Tupan is 20" in diameter or so, invest in 3 or 4 dozen clamps. It will make a big difference, give you plenty of time to work with the skin, and give you a lot more ability to stretch it evenly.

The extra work you do during the stretching will really pay off in terms of good sound once you are done.

Good luck!

Do you have any Pictures?

Okay (please don't any of you Turkophiles flame me for what I'm about to say)............ The way that Tupans/Davuls/Daoullis have traditionally been made in the Balkans is inferior to how folks are doing it now. Trying to tuck the wet skin around a wooden hoop and then poking holes in the skin to lace it onto the shell is a pain and can lead to frustrating nervous break downs for the novice and will result in an inferior tuning anyway.

The way that West African drums are made now is much easier and allows for easier assembly and easier tuning.
You'll need four equal steel hoops that will fit around your drum shell with enough "wiggle room for the thickness of the skins. (For a 20" diameter shell, the inside diameter of the hoops(rings) should be about 20 1/4 inches. You will need a medium weight goatskin for the switch side and a light weight cowskin for the batter side (at least6" larger in diameter, the larger the better in the beginning to help you seat the skins and trim off later) Two of the rings will be prepared with a series of clove hitches connecting all around and they should be identical on both hoops. (you will use non stretch kevlar core rope 3/16" in diameter).
Soak both skins in cold water until they are absolutely limp (cowskin takes a much longer time than goatskin, so put in the cowskin first).
When the skins are sufficiently limp take out the cowskin first and center it over the bearing edge and slip one of the bare steel hoops over it. Pull up the excess skin and slip the rope prepared hoop over it so that you have captured the steel hoop and skin cinched together and the excess skin can be pulled up tight so that the two hoops and head are level with the bearing edge and the excess skin is coming up on the inside diameter of the roped hoop.. Carefully turn the drum over while holding everything in place so that the skin and two rings dont slip off and repeat the same process with the goatskin on the other side.
Make sure that the two rings are lined up so that the clover hitch of one side lines up with the center of the space on the other (see diagram attached). Now using the same 3/16" type cord weave in the verticals from top to bottom and not tighten the heads. (again see diagram) until they are pulled slightly taut keeping the two heads flush with the bearing edges, tie off the two sides of the verticals, and (now here comes the hard part) leave it all entirely alone for several days to a week until the skins dry thoroughly. Once the skins are dry thoroughly (that means under the hoops as well, you can begin the process of the "mali weave" and tuning the drum.
diagram here: www.silvercircle.org/yankadi/tuning.htm
For drum building supplies, try these folks: www.africanrhythmtraders.com
They are good for skins, rope, rings and all sorts of necessary stuff.
It is much easier to do (it's the same as making a dunnun) and it is easier to maintain and will not split as easily. You will be able to control the tuning better (not constantly pulling against those holes in a skin) and get the skins tighter and more uniform. This is the same process that you will see on most of the tupans/davuls that are around now including Neviks (which was done with synthetic heads) and all of the ones that I make and have sold.

how did you keep the goat from wandering off eating instead for reheading you drum ?
how did he tighten the verticals with his Feet ?
I want to meet your Goat Trainer!


Emyrs
serriously you shoudl contact Nevik
his web site is down atm but he hands around here on this tribe actionaly
Emyrs