Out of the Box - New Conga Owner

[118-1167941386]

you can also try you tube for now, there is lot of videos good for beginners. another source of info is here in the conga book in which you can absorb a lot of diferent rhythems for free...

[windhorse]

If you're in a cold weather area and your congas were shipped in the cold,, it's most likely that your congas came over-tightened.. That is if they were pre-tuned.
If so, you'll need to loosen the head quite a bit to get the right sound. If you were careful about keeping the amount of the turns the same all the way around, then they'll be close to "in tune". You can further tune them by tapping on the head about two inches away from the bearing edge (side of the drum) and holding one finger down in the center. Listen for the overtones as you tap right in front of each lug around the head. When you get two higher sounds that from tapping straight across the head from each other, you've got a pair to loosen. Or if you get three that are higher or lower in a triangle, you've got a triad to tighten or loosen. This way, you can "fine tune" the head.

They should generally be tuned in fourths - DO ra me FA
So, its Do - Fa from drum to drum.

Hope that helps...
Dave

[verticalgil]

jc check post num 16....

[Sakuntu]

I'm in agreement with issac about the videos. Bobby sanabria is a great teacher and breaks it down really well. Close up on congas worked for me!