Congas: how to reduce overtones and ringing?

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Postby chris hansen » Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:30 pm

Tuco wrote:Chris,

I totally understand about money and drums; I've owned some cheap drums and some expensive drums, but I would have to say that there is not necessarily a direct correlation between cost and sound quality.

The other night, I was talking to a guy from NYC that's been playing since the 60's--he's played damn near everything out there. Yes, he owns some high-end drums, but for everyday gigs, he plays some used LP Matadors with new, thick steer hides. Says they are fine for him. No ring, good sound. And if somebody accidently kicks them over or decides to use them as a drink coaster, who cares? You can pick up used Matadors for about $120 per drum on eBay. Just an idea for you . . .

My preference would be to find some decent used drums but I looked around and just didn't see any, only cheap ones that were overpriced. At any rate the money is spent now and I'm not sure I'd be able to return them at this point so the Headliners are the ones I have for the moment. I'm still new to drumming but if I'm still going strong a year from now maybe I'll look for a good set even if I have to finance it or something. By then maybe I'll have enough experience to know what I'm looking at.

For now I think I'll play with pastboard and tuning and stuff. I bet I'll learn a lot in the next couple of months.
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Postby franc » Sun Apr 08, 2007 10:16 pm

guys,
how about when the head is synthetic??how to do you control the overtone and ringing?? i change my tumba 12.5 giovanni galaxy series natural head for a remo nuskyn. it has overtone and ringing and sort of higher tone than before. my best to all you rumberos!!! franc :cool:
ibúkún,ire,
Franc ♪♪
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Postby chris hansen » Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:18 pm

zwar wrote:ho

try this:

take some doubleside adhesive tape as it is used to fix carpets.
cut some pasteboard to about 2/3 the size of the playing surface.
fix it under the skins.
it will make the sound very dry, reduce ringing to zero.
just try what size of pasteboard offers best results.

greetings

zwar

I put some tape on the underside of the conga head and a moon jelly on the tumba and that seems to keep the ringing under control. Maybe deadens it a bit too much but I'm not playing gigs so it doesn't have to sound like anything in particular and I don't have that ringing that goes right through my head so at least I can practice in comfort. I think the conga is breaking in a little too, I think the ringing has gone down more than the tape alone could account for.
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Postby deadhead » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:39 pm

guys,
how about when the head is synthetic??how to do you control the overtone and ringing?? i change my tumba 12.5 giovanni galaxy series natural head for a remo nuskyn. it has overtone and ringing and sort of higher tone than before. my best to all you rumberos!!! franc



From my experience when it comes to ringiness, synthetic heads are by far the worst. I've used Evans Synthetic, Remo Nuskyn, and Remo Fiberskyns, and I wouldn't recomend them to anyone. Some people out there swear by synthetic heads, but expect to have those ringy "tin can" overtones. If your concern is sound, I would highly suggest switching back to the natural skin. If you're playing outside gigs all the time and your worried about having to tune due to weather conditions etc. then synthetic is what you want, otherwise stick with natural. In my opinion Fiberskyns sound the closest to natural, all other synthetics I've tried sound like ****.
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Postby KKonga » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:01 am

CH---I would suggest to tune your drums to where you like them or a little higher and then as CT stated start to de-tune a 1/4 turn at a time. As the heads age and you get better at tuning I think you will find they will sound fine on their own. Also use a little hand lotion with lanolin on your hands and play. The extra lotion on your hands will help with the tone of the drums.
You'll be happy with the results!
Practice, practice, practice!!!
KK
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Postby chris hansen » Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:58 pm

KKonga wrote:CH---I would suggest to tune your drums to where you like them or a little higher and then as CT stated start to de-tune a 1/4 turn at a time. As the heads age and you get better at tuning I think you will find they will sound fine on their own. Also use a little hand lotion with lanolin on your hands and play. The extra lotion on your hands will help with the tone of the drums.
You'll be happy with the results!
Practice, practice, practice!!!
KK

I'll have to try that. I'm curious how it works?. Does it simply help you find the best place to tune them or does it stretch the skins or something?
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Postby KKonga » Sat Apr 14, 2007 4:35 am

CH---What it does is make you more familiar with your drums and tuning techniques. It is always good to de-tune your heads to prolong life. Although I don't always do it because I like to walk in and play. You will find where your drum sounds best and with time the ring and overtones will deminish. Practice and technique have a lot to do with it. Also not leting your head dry out will help with tone.
Try it, you'll like it!!!
KK
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Postby conguero_blanco » Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:33 am

Besides playing congas, I'm a guitar player, as well. If a guitar is just slightly out of tune, you hear a slight disresonance, like "wah-wah-wah-wah" just below the chord.

Think of each tuning lug as a guitar string. As the head vibrates all over, and one of the lugs is a bit tighter or more loose than the others, that area of the head will vibrate (ever so slightly) differently than the others. This effect gets worse with higher pitched drums (quinto as opposed to tumba). Sometimes that difference will actually sound like what is called a harmonic.

I'd had the same problem. I mean, hell, I've just got a set of LP performer series. I bought a dial tuner. Put it this way: Concert timpani players use them.

$60 and they have replaceable parts.
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Postby chris hansen » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:17 pm

conguero_blanco wrote:

I'd had the same problem. I mean, hell, I've just got a set of LP performer series. I bought a dial tuner. Put it this way: Concert timpani players use them.


Sounds like a good idea. I saw there were a couple on e-bay but I'm a little nervous about just buying the first one I see without knowing anything about it. Is there anything to look for or to watch out for?
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Postby korman » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:23 pm

Sorry for the stupid question, but what's a dial tuner?
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Postby deadhead » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:02 pm

A drum dial measures the tension of the drumhead.
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Postby bongosnotbombs » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:55 pm

conguero_blanco wrote:I'd had the same problem. I mean, hell, I've just got a set of LP performer series. I bought a dial tuner. Put it this way: Concert timpani players use them.

Can you tell us more about using the Dial Tuner for congas?
I would have thought the skins too thick for one.

I thought they were meant for snares and tympani's, but they really work for congas? How about bongos?
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Postby bongosnotbombs » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:09 am

I emailed the Drum Dial company and they had this to say..

Geordie, thank you for the e-mail. Drumdial works very well
for tuning congas and bongos. The main consideration is to
make sure during head selection that the heads are shaven
as evenly as possible (on natural skins). Uniform head
thickness on synthetic heads is not an issue. I hope that
this answers your questions. Let me know if there is
anything else that I can do.


Sincerely,
Steve Fischer
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Postby bdrbongo » Sat Apr 28, 2007 3:48 pm

I would have to agree that it may be a tuning issue or a combo of everything else mentioned. I don't own a DrumDial but I have used them on my kit(in the studio) and they do work. It made tuning a breeze, which helps during costly studio time. I've never used it on my congas, but I do try to make sure the lugs are all around the same tension, going so far as to count the threads above and below the nut. Call me crazy but that's how I do it. Once you get the head tuned you should be able to tune up and down using the same number of turns each time and be right at or near where you like it. It takes minimal time to tune up my congas now.



Edited By bdrbongo on 1177775550
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Re: Congas: how to reduce overtones and ringing?

Postby Roka » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:58 pm

So, does anyone tried DrumDial tuner after this conversation ?
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