SAN FRANCISCO--To some, San Francisco International Airport is synonymous with delays. But that's okay with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart [ tickets ]. "San Francisco is probably the worst airport to get out of," Hart said, laughing. "But that's great for the exhibit."

The exhibit Hart speaks of is "Journey into the Spirit of Percussion," his personal collection of singular and unusual percussion artifacts on display in the airport's United Airlines terminal.

Curious travelers stop to examine the African djembes, maracas, Indonesian Kedang Lanang conical drums, as well as photographs of drumming pioneers like Tito Puente and Buddy Rich. Hart, author of historical reference books like "Planet Drum" and "Spirit Into Sound," was the tour guide for this interview.

"It's a journey," he explained. "It starts with the origins of percussion--the stones, the sonorous rocks, the bones, the concussion sticks, the tubes, the Karab rattles. These are the first things we did when we gathered around the fire pit--there were no drums then."

The tour continued, examining different places (Indonesia, China, Russia, Brazil) and people (Ginger Baker, Billy Cobham and Ustad Alla Rakha), and then Hart stopped at a curious looking instrument.

"Here is one of the rarest drums in my collection," he said. "The Tibetan skull drum, the Daimaru. Two skulls, the crania joined at the head. These were probably seven, eight or nine year-old twins, a brother and a sister, perhaps."

A few more inquisitive onlookers stopped to listen. "This is a ritual instrument," he continued. "Tibetans don't care much about the bones, it's the spirit they're interested in. It's part of the dance of death, dancing to conquer fear. [The two skulls] show the impermanence of life. From dust, to life, back to dust again. Nothing lasts. That's why we play with bones: not to fear death, but to embrace death. Because it's inevitable. If you fear it, you'll spend your life fearing the inevitable. So you have to come to grips with it, and this Daimaru drum is part of that.

"That's how important rhythm is," he concluded. "And I hope that people come away with that fact, that they understand that this is more than just a bunch of skins, bones, wood and metal--that it stands for something a lot deeper and a lot more important than that."

Hart said it was frightening at first to have these on display, away from home.

"It's true," interjected Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally. "It was a big deal for him to haul them out and let anybody see them."

Hart continued, "Sue Carole DeVale, Ph.D., curated this, along with the magnificent people at the airport, so it's a first rate exhibit. It took months to assemble and write the captions and tell the story. Then putting these instruments up in a way that these civilians can understand and enjoy it took a lot of work."

"Journey into the Spirit of Percussion" runs through December of 2000.