After a cyclone tore through Darwin last year, residents watched with sadness as huge toppled African mahogany trees, which had been growing for decades after Cyclone Tracy ravaged the city, were trucked away to be woodchipped or burnt.

Key points: Hundreds of African mahogany trees planted after 1974's Cyclone Tracy were felled by 2018's Cyclone Marcus

Hundreds of African mahogany trees planted after 1974's Cyclone Tracy were felled by 2018's Cyclone Marcus Carpenters and artists tried to save the trees from woodchipping by turning them into furniture, sculptures and log drums

Carpenters and artists tried to save the trees from woodchipping by turning them into furniture, sculptures and log drums Lungol Popeu from Papua New Guinea created 40 log drums in just one month

Some local lumberjacks, carpenters and artists saved a few trees from this fate, including musician Airileke Ingram.

Papua New Guinean drummer Lungol Popeu accepted Mr Ingram's invitation to carve 40 traditional log drums known as garamuts from one of these fallen giants.

"I started hearing stories of these amazing massive trees that were just getting chipped, and all kinds of wastage," Mr Ingram said.

"This was a good chance to teach our kids how to make drums, how to play them and … when devastation strikes like that, how to think resourcefully."

Trees planted after 1974's Cyclone Tracy

The tree donated for the project was lying outside Darwin Middle School after having fallen during Cyclone Marcus in March last year.

Planted across the city after Cyclone Tracy in 1974, it was one of many African mahogany trees that did not survive the storm's heavy rain and category 2 winds, which reached up to 164 kilometres per hour.

The drums crafted out of the destruction have been used by 40 drummers of all ages and experience levels to recreate the sounds of the storm during a Darwin Festival performance.

"We've basically known these beats since we were born, I kind of grew up learning them," said Mr Ingram's daughter Mea before the show.

Mr Popeu has watched his older relatives on PNG's Beluan Island make garamuts since he was a boy, but before this project had never attempted to make one himself.

Usually, garamuts are made from freshly cut trees, so the year-old dried Mahogany logs were a challenge to work with.

Lungol Popeu carves one of 40 log drums from trees felled by Cyclone Marcus. ( ABC News: Felicity James )

"I've seen them doing it, I've heard them talking about how to do it and I'm putting it into practice, but I haven't done any drums in my life; this is the first time," Mr Popeu said.

"Back on the island, we chop it down, we chop it to length and then we drag it to the beach and we start digging, so when it's still green it's much easier to dig the inside.

"I said, 'Airileke that's a very big challenge if you say six — normally six is in a set of garamuts."

Logs transformed into 40 drums in one month

In just one month, Mr Popeu transformed the logs into 40 drums, with help from a friend.

The drums used on Beluan are hollowed out to a different thickness on each side — a thicker side representing the female aspect and a thinner louder side that is struck with a stick, representing the male.

While the first part of the drum-making process can be done with a chainsaw, chisels and hammers must be used to carve out the centre of the log.

Log drums at Darwin Festival. ( ABC News: Felicity James )

"There are all different kinds of drums in the Pacific," Mr Ingram said.

"There's Papua New Guinean style, there's Manus drums, there's Fijian style, there's Cook Island style — we're doing all of those and trying out the techniques."

Three Fijian-style drums created by the group were buried in thick, black mangrove mud for several months along the Darwin coast to cure the wood.

"They came out sounding beautiful," Mr Ingram said.