Depending on how thick your rings are (some are more flexible then others) you can slip the flesh ring inside of the top ring without too much difficulty. If unable to do it that way you can go to plan B. Plan B is take about just enough verticals to slip the flesh ring under the top ring from the side. You then lace the verticals back as far as you can without pulling the head tight.

I start pulling the verticals down from where the head is up the highest. You always want to pull the slack in the verticals, in the correct direction. When you tie the drum off through the end of the verticals with a loop, all the slack you pull will come through that loop. So the loop so basically stationary and the other end is where the slack goes.

Some drums, like Ivory Coast drum, have a notch in the bottom for the ring to fit into. If this is the case you do not have to worry about keeping the bottom ring level. Do not pay attention to the next step (keeping bottom ring level) if that is the case. You do NOT want to try and pull hard to start with. I will go around a wet head pulling vertical 6 times or more. This insures you (well, almost insures) of getting the head level.

Keeping the bottom ring level.

The bottom ring has to stay level also so you need to pay attention to it. It takes a fair amount of tightening to seat the bottom ring in before it stops moving up. As you start pulling the vertical I do not use gloves. The reason is I do not want to pull hard. At this point I am only trying to get the top ring level and not tight. You also have to keep the rings in the center of the drum. They have a tendency to move around a lot so pay attention to that. When you have the top ring pulled down about level with the rim, I turn the drum over to make sure that the bottom ring is level. By this time I am wearing gloves and I will pull fairly hard to get the bottom ring level. I will switch back and forth checking the top and bottom rings to make sure they are both staying level. The end goal for me in pulling the verticals on a wet head is to have the top ring about 1/2 inch below the rim. It will go down further once it dries and then you really crank the verticals.

The end goal for me in pulling the verticals on a wet head is to have the top ring about 1/2 inch below the rim. It will go down further once it dries and then you really crank the verticals.

Verticals relatively loose, but snug, sinew cut, skin up. Level rings.

After you have the ring down 1/2 down from the rim I usually stop at that point pulling verticals. At this time I cut all the artificial sinew, if I had not previously cut it to allow the head to go down further, and pull all the extra skin down the side of the drum. I use an ace bandage to hold the skin that is hanging down. I cut off this extra skin after the skin has dried in a few days.

Wrap Ace bandage around skin that is hanging down.
(this photo shows a strip cut from a t-shirt. The point is for it to be breathable fabric)

If you do not hold the skin down, when it dries it will stick up and be in the way. The ace bandage works well because it allows the skin under it to dry along with the rest of the drum. I use to use masking tape. It worked to keep the skin down, the only problem was the skin under the tape stayed wet longer.

Next step: The dreaded shaving