Cosmic Percusion question

[Jerry Bembe]

King,
Thank you all is well. I like skin but I currently like the idea of the heads like guitar strings. A drum can get a wider range of tones with a different head. I am currently experimenting with my congas to find the tone that I am looking for in each individual case. I will catalog which head is matched with what drum and move on from there. I still like skins but I have my reasons.

I am in Chicago and the climate can be very unforgiving in the winter and I have found that non-synthetic heads can sound dead due to humidity. This is very important to me because the Lake Michigan Lakefront is a vibrant historical drumming scene. The entire lakefront is a park and all kinds of music occurs here.

Another reason I am choosing synthetic heads is I am assembling a chromatic set of congas. I test the shells for their sympathetic frequency (like a marimba key) and tune the head to a tuning that is complimentry. I have had great success here with harmonics. I would like to see congas go beyond rhythm only and would like to hear how this could work with a live band settings. Using non-synthetic heads would be problematic for this application.

Previously in an Afro-Cuban based percussion ensemble, I have played bass with tuned Floor toms and Surdo drums (2-5 at a time).


Keeping it fun,

Jerry