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Hey Guy's Iv'e been playing more conga's now and when i play on my friend's Matador conga's i have to really work on getting a good slap. Is it my technic gotten bad of those water buffalo head's the problem. Thank's.

It has nothing to do with the water buffalo heads. Some of the most wicked sounding slaps Ive heard were on water buffalo. Its mostly technique. Now some guys want a dryer slap etc thats where skins make a difference. Water buffalo should yield great slaps of they are executed correctly.

Could be tuning as well. Does he tune his drums lower than what you are used to playing?

Both reply posts are valid points. Nothing wrong with decent quality water buffalo heads.

Thank's guy's: I guess i need to play alot more cause i lost my touch, gotta slap those skin's!

It's all about technique imho.
When I was in Cuba I heard some congueros get the most incredibly loud (almost deafening) slaps out of very old beat-up drums with the slackest, most worn skins I've ever seen.

One good think is to practique whit a lower drum,like a tumba.In the begining you will find impossible to make a slap on that ,but when you get a good slap on a tumba,you will blow up in a quinto.

I have a comment that points in the opposite direction relative to some others here. Now obviously no one can come to any particular conclusion about the condition of your skins without more information and/or pictures. But, despite what others have seen expert players do with drums that looked to be in bad condition, a quality instrument in good condition is just easier to play than other instruments.

I've never played a piece of water buffalo hide that made slaps as easy as the premium steerhide skins I play now. What's wrong with easy? I looked into upgrading both my heads and my drums a few years ago when I began to feel that my old Matadors, which had served me well, weren't the right instruments to get my playing to the next plateau. I feel like better drums and better heads have improved my playing, at least by upholding their end of the bargain with regard to inspiring me to advance my hand technique to reach into the capabilities of the instruments.

With the improved playing in my hands gained on my better drums, I can play lesser instruments with poorly tuned heads all the better.

If you'll suffer a metaphor:
I learned to drive using my dad's old beat up Karman-Ghia. It was tough to find gears in the worn transmission. The engine had little power. For some reason the idle always needed adjustment so the engine would kill if I took my foot off of the gas pedal at lights. And of course it had electrical problems so the lights might suddenly dim or go out at night. The thing had almost 400,000 miles on it. You could look down at the passing road in the foot wells of the back seat. While I have said that having learned to drive that thing prepared me to drive almost anything else, the bottom line now is that I can drive better with a better car. What's wrong with better?

I HAVE TO AGREE WITH PRACTICING YOUR SLAPS ON A TUMBA. THATS HOW I WAS TAUGHT [PRACTICE, PRACTICA Y PRACTICA MAS]. NOW WHEN I GET ON A SEGUNDO OR QUINTO MY SLAPS ARE DEAFENING.

vinnieL wrote:It has nothing to do with the water buffalo heads. Some of the most wicked sounding slaps Ive heard were on water buffalo. Its mostly technique. Now some guys want a dryer slap etc thats where skins make a difference. Water buffalo should yield great slaps of they are executed correctly.

I agree with that. But I side with the poster in that I was in his position and felt the same way. Of course a badass mofo can rock on buffalo but really, buffalo? Por favor brothe! To the poster: change your skins bro. I bet %90 of the people on this site have changed their skin heads as have I and I joined recently. Do it and stop hesitating. Dale!

The question is not about the quality and useful life of water buffalo it is whether or not the buffalo skin is impeding his ability to execute a good slap and the answer is no it is not water buffalo will yield great slaps it's about execution. Now wanting a higher quality longer lasting skins that will better suit an individuals tonal preferences is a different story.

vinnieL wrote:The question is not about the quality and useful life of water buffalo it is whether or not the buffalo skin is impeding his ability to execute a good slap and the answer is no it is not water buffalo will yield great slaps it's about execution. Now wanting a higher quality longer lasting skins that will better suit an individuals tonal preferences is a different story.

Very true. Execution is first. This thread is old as hell!

tigre77 wrote:

vinnieL wrote:The question is not about the quality and useful life of water buffalo it is whether or not the buffalo skin is impeding his ability to execute a good slap and the answer is no it is not water buffalo will yield great slaps it's about execution. Now wanting a higher quality longer lasting skins that will better suit an individuals tonal preferences is a different story.

Very true. Execution is first. This thread is old as hell!

It seems to me that the question(s) to ponder is(are) whether better technique or other skins will improve the sound of congas.
My opinionated answer(s) is(are): Yes ... and ... Yes.

Cheers,
BMac