Largest size Conga to sound like Quinto

[claveson]

A question.......what do you think is the largest size a conga could be to be able to tune it up for a quinto sound ?

[thomas newton]

In what line up? For what genre of music?

[KING CONGA]

A question.......what do you think is the largest size a conga could be to be able to tune it up for a quinto sound ?

Poncho Sanchez tunes his 12.5 conga to a quinto, it sound great as I have heard him live multiple times, in fact he does not use a quinto for that same reason.

[RitmoBoricua]

I do not know about tuning a 12.5" tumbadora to sound like a quinto, an 11 3/4" conga maybe.

[KING CONGA]

I do not know about tuning a 12.5" tumbadora to sound like a quinto, an 11 3/4" conga maybe.

I stand corrected. You are absolutlely right, it is in fact a 11.75 size conga which he tunes to a quinto. Thanks Ritmo Bori.

[claveson]

In what line up? For what genre of music?

.......mainly latin, salsa, son montuno.... etc. Together with a Tumba.
But be able to tune high and solo like a quinto when playing with just two other drummers.

[pavloconga]

In what line up? For what genre of music?

.......mainly latin, salsa, son montuno.... etc. Together with a Tumba.
But be able to tune high and solo like a quinto when playing with just two other drummers.

Hi claveson,
You can easily tune a 11" or 12" drum extra high to the range of a quinto, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that in combination with a tumba – especially in 'latin, salsa, son montuno etc'. Could sound a little weird.
I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say 'tune high and solo like a quinto when playing with just two other drummers."

Do you mean playing in a rumba situation, like playing a guaguanco or columbia with other drummers playing single drum parts?
Or something else?
ciao
just my 2 congas worth
Pavlo

[goingquinto]

I like the 11.75 for a high conga when I am playing 3 congas, and I like a smaller drum for lead drum in guaguanco, columbia, etc. I think that the higher you tune a conga above it's natural range, the thinner the sound gets. There are a lot of different ideas on how to tune, and several posts on congaplace. I personally keep mine pretty low. Like a previous post, it depends on what kind of music you want to play.

[jorge]

The larger the skin diameter, the more tension it takes to tune it to the same pitch. When you tune a larger drum up high you get several unwanted effects. First, it puts much more wear and tear on your hardware, you can deform the metal ring, cave in the bearing edge, wear out the threads on the lugs faster, wear out the skin faster at the bearing edge, stretch the skin so the distance from the bearing edge to the metal rim gets too big, and break the glue joints between the staves in the area around where the lug plates are attached. I have seen all those happen. Worst of all, the skin gets really hard and hurts your hands more than a smaller drum tuned to the same pitch would. One upside of a big quinto is that it is a little louder and you don't have to hit it quite as hard. However, the high pitched drums usually cut through better than lower pitched drums anyway and playing volume is usually not a problem for a quinto. The slaps will be easier because the skin is tighter, but the tone may have a lot more overtones, especially if the skin is thin. I have even tried to tune an 11" conga up to a high quinto in rumbas, and it won't go as high, and is subject to all the problems I listed. In a salsa band, Barretto used to sometimes play a huge conga, and got a big sound. I never asked him, but I think he must have stopped doing that because it was hurting his hands. When I tried it years ago, my hands would be stinging after 1 set trying to be heard over an amplified salsa band. If you really want a high quinto sound with a pure tone, I think you would have to seriously abuse an 11.75" drum to get that and after a while would have some of the problems I listed above. Once you have your playing technique so you can get nice clean slaps on any size drum, I think you will prefer normal size quintos.

[RitmoBoricua]

Once you have your playing technique so you can get nice clean slaps on any size drum, I think you will prefer normal size quintos.

Exactly. Why does anybody want to tune a "tres dos" or a "tumbadora" to sound like a quinto?
Is like wanting a bass trombone to sound like a trumpet playing them hi "C" notes. You have to
study the history of the drums and learn the role/function and sound of each drum.

[claveson]

In what line up? For what genre of music?

.......mainly latin, salsa, son montuno.... etc. Together with a Tumba.
But be able to tune high and solo like a quinto when playing with just two other drummers.

Hi claveson,
You can easily tune a 11" or 12" drum extra high to the range of a quinto, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that in combination with a tumba – especially in 'latin, salsa, son montuno etc'. Could sound a little weird.
I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say 'tune high and solo like a quinto when playing with just two other drummers."

Do you mean playing in a rumba situation, like playing a guaguanco or columbia with other drummers playing single drum parts?
Or something else?
ciao
just my 2 congas worth
Pavlo

Pavlo and everyone thanks for your thoughts ...When used in a band situation I would tune it as a conga. When playing guaguanco with two other drummers playing single parts I would then tune it higher like a quinto. Just getting some ideas on a versatile setup. I definitely would not tune it like a quinto in a son or salsa band situation. Although I have heard some Timba recordings where the conga sounds very high pitched. I am starting a new thread. " What 3 sizes would your ideal 3 drum setup be"

[yambu321]

A STANDARD 113/4" CONGA, IS THE MOST LOGICAL SIZE, FOR A CLOSE MOCK OF A QUINTO.

INFACT, IT CAN ALSO BE USED TO MOCK , THE SOUND OF A TUMBA AS WELL.

BECAUSE OF THAT FACT, I CONSIDER THE 113/4" CONGA, THE UNIVERSAL ONE OF IT'S KIND.

WITH PROPER TUNING.

CHARLIE.