Slaps - on big drums with thick skins

[rmajors]

Hey all. I have been playing congas for awhile and up until now have played primarily on an 11" and 12" set of fiberglass Toca Player's congas (thin skins, small sizes.) I'd gotten my slapping technique down pretty well on these drums, but now I've moved up to a standard size oak conga and tumba set with much thicker skins and am having trouble getting back my slaps. Of course, both the larger size and the thickness of the skin will make getting good slaps hard, but I'm wondering if there's any way I should change my technique on the larger drums to help me get a crisper sound, or will the same basic technique work on a small or large drum, and I just need to keep practicing? For instance, I've noticed that it much more difficult to mute the tone of my new drums with just my fingers and the front of my palm, (as opposed to the Tocas.) One way to get arount this is to slap with part of my palm touching the drumhead to mute the bass frequencies. Is this bad technique? Is there something specific that congueros do to help them slap with thick heads? Thanks for your help.

[zaragemca]

To get a crispy slap in a thick conga is require to use the cutting of conga technique.

[JohnnyConga]

Probably the hardest skin to get a slap out of is mule skin. Basically you really have to hit them a bit harder,plus your technique has to be reviewed. Unfortunatly we can't do it online unless we had cameras set up to see each other, which we don';t. I would recommend you try a "closed slap" first. that is where you keep your palm hand down on the drum, and slap the skin until the pop or slap comes around. Now on a bass tumba it is not necessary to slap, just for tones, unless it's a Bembe situation then you would use slaps of course, but in your case your practicing with 2 congas one high one low, right? It still boils down to technique and a little bit of power to get the sound you need and want out of a drum,and let's not forget practicing....At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA...

[JohnnyConga]

Zaragemca....what do you mean by "cutting of conga technique". I have never ever heard that term in my playing life. Could you be more explicit, please. Gracias...JC JOHNNY CONGA...

[zaragemca]

That was one of the technique developed by Tata Guines where you place the hand in an specific part of the conga to stress the slaping with the other hand(the same way of reaching down in the guitar for a higher note).Saludos brother.



Edited By zaragemca on Nov. 07 2003 at 16:14

[Tonio]

That was one of the technique developed by Tata Guines where you place the hand in an specific part of the conga to stress the slaping with the other hand(the same way of reaching down in the guitar for a higher note).Saludos brother.

Isn't that the muted slap?

[zaragemca]

some people might called the mute slap.

[rumbaman]

Slap that baby . Well i think that the tocas being smaller and FIBERGLASS are going to be easer to slap on , but hand position and technique will produce the notes you are expecting . The tocas are hard to play with since their size is compromized but you should be able to get a good slap out of your new drums . I think its hand placement , and thats a closed slap you are reffering to .
rumbaman

[zaragemca]

yes Rumbaman,as I said before hands positioning is one of the factors in Conga playing.The technique of reaching for differents pitches in the conga was called'cutting' initially(becouse what is doing is cutting the vibration in the conga skin which with the hand-attack produce the higher pitch),but through the times it is receiving some other terms.



Edited By zaragemca on Nov. 21 2003 at 17:05

[windhorse]

Maybe it's just me, but I noticed that on larger drums my slaps work better when they are closer to the edge and pointing inwards a bit more. Also making the hand more cupped.
Hope that helps..

[zaragemca]

It is not just you,those are some of the features of the technique in order to obtain the high pitch.

[RayBoogie]

To get a higher closed slap try the Cuban style closed slap. You must hit the drum with your dominant hand close the the edge of the drum, which give you a slap a octave higher than the regular closed slap. With the other hand of course, is on the drum. It very hard to get this Cuban style slap but with practice you can hear the difference.

[Conuno]

Hi People !

Happy new year . I want only to suggest, mainly for beginners but also for those who want to improve their sound, to practice all sound exercises (including all kind of slaps) in the lower drum (i.e. the Tumba). You will notice the difference when you play a conga or quinto.

Greetings

[muddy323]

My 1976 GonBop had those old thick Mule skins on them, producing good open slaps was hard, but possible if you hit the drum harder. I used all muted or cutting slaps. When i changed the skin on the slavedrum to LP handpicks. Open slaps are much easier to produce.

[rmajors]

Hey all, and thanks for the excellent advice. What does "slavedrum" mean, though? This is a term I haven't heard before.