Detune after playing?

[vasikgreif]

Hi everybody, I have a simple question - do you detune your batas/congas each time after playing them? Or only when not using them for longer period?

[Mike]

No, I used to detune a lot, but not any longer.
Just a slight tuning/detuning before and after playing is enough.
It is different with cranked up quintos, a few turns are advisable
to prevent overstretching of the skin.
I subscribe to the general idea that once the conga skin is seated,
i.e. broken in, it should "get accustomed" to the bearing edge.
And too much detuning would set the skin under stress by the friction.
SO all in all, it is not really necessary to detune unless you do not
have some weak shells or flimsy hardware.
Not detuning (much) might even improve the tone of the conga.

[bongosnotbombs]

I detune 1 turn per lug for the conga and tumba, 2 turns per lug for the quinto.
Bongos is a similar practice, 1 turn each lug for hembra and 2 turns per lug for
macho. Bata I don't detune at all.

Of course there are different philosophies regarding detuning congas, but I don't
think there is much disagreement regarding the bongo macho. If you don't detune that
you will run a risk of the skin tearing. That has happened to me twice.

[Congadelica]

I jave been following the ways of Mike on detune , I have found the drum sounds better when it has settled , i used to de tune all the time ,but as I play everyday the Tumbas never sound ed as good . I am mindful of weather changes though and will adjust when humidity changes in the UK at the moment its cold around 2 oC to -2 . as the months get warmer I will act accordingly .
I took this advice from a friend who is an established Conguero Rumbero and my Drums sound great . if you have strong hardware and well made drum no need to worry . ofcourse if you have Aspire or similar quality be careful .


M

[akdom]

Hi

I alway tune and detune my drums. Each time I play. And I have good hardware and thick skins.

I believe that keeping the skins tight will over stretch them in the long run.
But as you can read, it depends on what you believe is best.

B

[pavloconga]

Where I live the air can get very dry and hot in summer, so what you thought was a de-tuned drum could be pitched high and tight a few days later when the temp goes up and the humidity drops.
For this reason I always de-tune the conga and quinto (on the rare occasion I may use one). The tumba is usually not a problem.

[Derbeno]

I do not detune my Conga(s) or Tumba(s) after seeing Cuban pros not bothering. I discussed with them and have not detuned since with no problems whatsoever.

[burke]

Interesting. Last time this came up I was in the minority as a non de-tuner. I have never had it impact a drum in a bad way and with practice time being hard to come by, I don't want to spend part of it fiddling with tuning up.

[pavloconga]

I think a lot depends on the weather conditions and humidity in your area.
In places like Cuba the air is quite moist and I never saw people bother with de-tuning when I was there. But where I live, (where it can be really hot and very dry in summer) I learned the expensive way: I had to stop somewhere for an hour or so on the way home after a gig on a very hot, very dry summers day. I forgot to de-tune the conga on one of my white fibreglass LPs. Unpacking the drums a little later the skin on the conga was split. ouch!

[windhorse]

I keep them tuned. But for about a month in the winter, I detune several times going down about 5 turns as the winter dries out the Colorado air. Then, slowly for about a month as summer approaches, they go back up about 5 turns. The large one is the one I have to move the most. Really never more than tiny slight adjustments.