Man, I've been missing out!

[mrhands]

I've been playing my Remo Crimplock Fiberskyn heads since june 2010. I appreciate the fact that they stay in tune and are brighter sounding. Great for the music I play. Well, yesterday I had the pleasure of recording some congas for a pop band who is expecting big things in this new year. They had me come in and record some conga tracks to 3 songs. I found more than usual, that the congas were really ringy during the slap. So I taped them up, but that didn't help much. They liked what I played, so hopefully they can get rid of the ring in post production...unfortunate, but necessary....Anyways, I got back home and decided to put my cow hide skin from Moperc back onto my quinto just to see if I should have used that for recording instead....There was still some ring, but damn, my congas just got their balls back!!! I never realized how much I missed raw hide heads!

My playing has grown exponentially since june 2010. Not saying that I am great, but just that I've been playing alot more and practicing. I didn't appreciate the raw hide back then. But my technique has gotten much better. I almost found no difference in the way raw hide and synthetic felt on my hands. I actually enjoyed the raw hide more. I've been missing out big time! If I start to do more recording, I've been thinking about getting some drums built, some MOPERC's specifically for recording. Quinto and Tumba.

It's finally hit me...I now know how conga drums are supposed to sound!! Warm, rich, ballsy, and with raw hide heads!

Sorry about the long post, but I had to express the way I felt about the epiphany I had. But I'm sure most of you already know how congas are supposed to sound

[vinnieL]

Everything has it's time and place but nothing beats real skin heads.

[Ernesto Pediangco]

Yes my Man ! Plastic heads are all same thickness regardless of drum brand or size. Those heads on any quality drum will sound the same. Plastic does not produce warm conga sounds, only brilliance of the high tone & harmonic ranginess which is very hard to control in stage & studio settings. Every raw hide ( cow , steer, mule or Asian Bison has differing qualities & every head offers slight thickness variation etc which adds color to the sound, provides wither more tonal rebound & resonance variations so each drum w/ a particular head , will have a unique character but at least sound like congas & not just big deep tom toms played with conga player hands. I have often had to add thin foam rubber adhesives tape to the underside of the plastic heads, to act as tone controls or I some times paint on some rubber cement to add weight & to muffle over tones. It sounds far better than generic plastic tones. Also, plastic has little no elasticity & is hard as a table top when tuned high. You cannot bend notes well or alter the character of the head by using certain oils to the heads. I prefer cow hide over the stretched ( softened ) steer hides or the Mule hides which are as firm & hard as plastic, but thicker & having some elasticity...but not much. Ever notice while on stage or in studio....plastic heads make the congas bright w/ a short sustained high over tone & the second conga or tumbas, sound like tom toms w/ booming ringings that requires EQ adjustments to compress the over rings & tonal resonance etc ? Its so hard to balance the drums as a set. Natural heads are more controlled. If you need a weather proof cutting conga sound, Plastic heads are good but not sounding full bodied ( like a thin watery cup of coffee ~ it's still coffee...but its not that rich " Cafe con Leche " ! The difference between NOISE & Music...is controlled organization of sounds. Plastic is not as controllable and is less musical to my ears, but I experiment to improve the sound of any plastic heads I may use ( wet / cold seasons & environments ). But I prefer skins & the microphone does the rest.

[Jerry Bembe]

Ernesto,

Again I agree with you. I love the tone of a properly selected and matched animal hide and shell. I also love the stability of synthetics. If hides could be treated to have the synthetic's stability there would be a perfect product. Unfortunately this does noe yet exist.

I live in a region that temperture and humidity are issues for tuning hide heads and because of this I personally perfer synthetics for some drums. Most times the synthetic heads need to be carefully installed to have the correct tonal qualities. On the underside I use clear duct tape and foam weather stipping with adhesive backing. Then I tune the head to test the tone. Usually this process is repeated with more or less dampening to achieve the tonal quality of skin. It takes time but it can be done. Last night it took 2 - 3 hours to achieve the sound on my Valje drum. I was also able to adjust the aluminum outer ring to fit the tight Valje crown. I have altered several other aluminum outer rings with Resolution, Valje and Gon Bops with great success when I tune the head to the drum.

Right out of the box most synthetic heads are inferior to hide. If the synthetic head is tuned to match the drum then this is a different condition all together.

Regards,

Jerry