bata makers - BATA

[ralph]

i was wondering if anyone was familiar with the work done by Felipe Garcia Villamil, i am torn between buying bata with rope, and bata with metal hardware, i have heard that lp bata, and pearl bata are good choices, my teacher tells me that a bata with metal tuing lugs would be a good choice be it that they are easier to tune, and so forth. Although this may be true, rope tuned bata are very intriguing, does anyone have some experience with these rope tuned bata?

[ricky linn]

Hi

I play the pearl bata and can fully recommend them. When I had lessons in Havana I was using rope tied bata and the tuning is variable with the weather, climate, etc. Even my havana teacher moaned about how he has trouble keeping them soundinng the way he wants due to this. Pesonally I would stick with a big company make as replacement skins are available whereas with hand made, rope tied drums if you break a skin your in trouble.

Hope this helps.

[ralph]

thanks Ricky...
Yeah my teacher told me the same, and that since i would be getting them to learn, than thats what he recommended i just thought i would get a consensus. I heard that on the pearl bata the iya does not have a hook for the chaguoro, is this true?

[ricky linn]

Yeah, thats true. The sizes are great though. I have a couple of handmade bata that I picked up in Havana and the dimensions of the pearl ones are exactly the same in every way.

[ralph]

sounds good to me, and they are cheaper than LP's too.
thanks Rick!

[gilbert]

i've got the meinl fiber batas they are great but heavy to carry

[ralph]

i've played the meinl iya, it has a big enu, but the one i played did not have anything on the skin so, it has a deep annoying ring. Any fardela on yours?

[Ivan]

handmade bata that I picked up in Havana and the dimensions of the pearl ones are exactly the same in every way.

Really? Wow... I have heard from not too many but a handfull of bataleros tell me that the bata Toca makes are closest to the cerimonial drums... That's interesting. I own a set of Pearl as well... It's so funny when they are sitting next to a set of LP batas... The size of the Pearl are so huge! It cracks me up. After replacing all the skins on the Pearl batas they DO sound great, though! That little missing loop for the lap strap and chaworos is pretty annoying though... All in all they are great bata drums.

In reference to your question about Rope or Metal gear, Ralph... I think this is another one of those things that you are going to get a different answer from everyone... I will agree that being able to tune up and tune down the skins on the batas is great and easy with the metal gear though... Some of the bataleros I know prefer the roped drums - it seems they prefer them because most of them are hand made and for the sake of tradition, but that's all... Like any other drum rope or no rope it all depends on the weather, structure and skins that determine how good a drum sounds...

A friend of mine is using the Toca's bata dimension to have some made in Nigeria... I can't wait to see and hear how they sound...

be well...



Edited By Ivan on 1111615429

[ralph]

Ivan:
thanks for the input, its a tough situation because a wood bata with rope tuning, would be my preferred choice, but since i would be using these to learn, it may work against me...in any case i'll probably go with mech tuned bata for now. LP's used to be way off on dimensions, the iya used to be even wierd looking, but now they got the dimensions right, as far as pearl bata i was not aware that they were that much bigger than LP...
Toca bata are nice, made a little bit longer too.

[gilbert]

i've played the meinl iya, it has a big enu, but the one i played did not have anything on the skin so, it has a deep annoying ring. Any fardela on yours?

i dont have anything on the skin but i think that the annoying ring is from the fiber shell but when playing with the music i find them so perfect i dont hear any annoying voice

[ralph]

yeah i guess the ring may be more to do with the acoustics of the room i play in, who knows...
in any case i seen these afro percussion bata on ebay, and was wondering if they are of the same quality that pearl is making now?
they look the same.

[Assaf]

My friend has Toca fiberglass Bata, but the Iya sounds TERRIBLE. More like a brazillian base samba drum (surdu?). We want to try fixing it with a heavier skin and maybe some Fardela. The Ok and It both sound good though.

I've also played the massive old LP fiberglass ones, which I would not recommend.
The newer LP wood ones sound very good though, and are a better shape.
The handmade ones I've come across brought over by friends from Cuba were all good too.

On the question of Fardela, I need help. I've posted elsewhere on CongaBoard a question of how to achieve some kind of Fardela substitute as real Fardela seems a lot of hassle, and I don't know how to do it. If you've got any suggestions, then maybe you could respond on that post?
Here: http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....&t=1215

Thanks a lot
Assaf

[Assaf]

My friend has Toca fiberglass Bata, but the Iya sounds TERRIBLE. More like a brazillian base samba drum (surdu?). We want to try fixing it with a heavier skin and maybe some Fardela. The Ok and It both sound good though.

I've also played the massive old LP fiberglass ones, which I would not recommend.
The newer LP wood ones sound very good though, and are a better shape.
The handmade ones I've come across brought over by friends from Cuba were all good too.

On the question of Fardela, I need help. I've posted elsewhere on CongaBoard a question of how to achieve some kind of Fardela substitute as real Fardela seems a lot of hassle, and I don't know how to do it. If you've got any suggestions, then maybe you could respond on that post?
Here: http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....&t=1215

Thanks a lot
Assaf

[ralph]

Assaf,
Real, traditional fardela or ida, is comprised of various herbs, ingredients, even rituals. Most likely only consecrated drums should have traditional fardela....if wanting to put fardela on aberikula drums, i have seen people put duct seal, duct tape, putty, Thomas Altmann has even devised a fardela recipe on his website (I hope he doesn't mind me putting it on here) http://www.ochemusic.de/ ohers with knowledge of how to concoct traditional fardela have put it on aberikula drums as well..........seems like a tedious process nonetheless if you are going the cooking route...



Edited By ralph on 1204038863

[Assaf]

Yes, i saw Thomas's recipe and it's far too much trouble. I'll just try putty or something.
thanks