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Hello congueros,

as I mentioned in my post about the 5 drums, I just got new super tumba.
I bought the set of drums over a few years and the drums are the same but the bauer skins have changed four times. The two oldest are great skins and of course the quality went down after.
I will probably change all of the skins when I can find my way to the mysterious places far in the Rio suburbs where the good skins are apparently to be found.
In the mean time, those skins I have, seem to be good to begin with but the chemical treatment has made them worse.
The quinto has a very white skin, extremely hard and smooth. It is hard to get a tone by rubbing the finger on it.
One tumba has a similar feel but less so. It definitely sounds inferior to the other identical tumba.
The super tumba has a different problem, it sounds great but the surface has been completely stained by that white glaze. It is hard to describe. The sides of the drum don't have that white stuff. It is as if the treatment had been applied to the skin after it was mounted.

What could I do to make them a bit smoother and get rid of the white stuff?

Hi there

the only solution is to buy hide from the same animal for your all set.

I purchased mine with Galou (he is somewhere on this forum) and I told him exactly what I needed: Thick even skins. I like thick skins because I am used to that and eventhough it is harder to get sharp sounds, once you are used to your new skins, they sound soooooo great.
Anyway, change all the skins in order to get an even sound on all your set. It is a bit of an investment, but you will keep your skins forever.

Keep the old ones as backup or for other drums.

Good luck.

B

TONE,
YES, I DO AGREE WITH AKDOM IN AS FAR AS PURCHASING SOME EXCELLENT SKINS FOR YOUR ENTIRE SET WHEN YOU CAN. COW SKIN, OR MULE SKIN, IS YOUR BEST BET.

NOW AS FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS WITH YOUR CURRENT SKINS.

IT'S HARD TO SAY WHAT TYPE OF CHEMICAL TREATMENT WAS USED ON THEM. BUT LET'S JUST TAKE A SECOND HERE, TO THINK OF AN APPROACH, WHICH MAY DO YOUR SKINS WONDERS. OR AT LEAST, HELP THEM SOME. THERE ARE CHEMICALS THAT WILL DRY, OR CAUSE SKINS TO GO OPAQUE, OR MOSTLY WHITE IN APPEARANCE. LETS JUST, FOR THE SAKE OF HAVING A STARTING POINT, SAY THAT THIS IS WHAT HAS OCCURED TO YOUR SKINS. TONE, THIS IS WHAT I WILL RECOMMEND FOR YOU TO TRY:

REMOVE THE SKINS FROM YOUR DRUMS, CLEAN BOTH SIDES OF THE SKINS WITH JUST CLEAN WARM WATER AND USE A SOFT SCRUB PAD. ONE THAT WOULD BE GENTLE, YET HELP SCRUB THE SUFACE OF THE SKIN. DO NOT DRENCH, OR OVER WET YOUR SKINS. JUST A DAMP STYLE CLEANING IS WHAT YOU WANT. DO A GOOD JOB ON BOTH SIDES, THEN GO OVER THEM WITH A CLEAN AND DRY CLOTH. NOW WHILE THE SKINS ARE STILL A LITTLE DAMP, PLACE "EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL" ON THE PALMS OF YOUR HANDS AND MESSAGE THE OIL NICELY AND EVENLY INTO BOTH SIDES OF THE SKINS.

USE YOUR HANDS, AND NOT A CLOTH, TO APPLY THE OIL. BECAUSE IF YOU DO, YOU'LL USE, AND WASTE MORE OIL THAN YOU HAVE TO. DON'T DRENCH THE SKINS IN OIL, BUT, MAKE SURE THERE IS A NICE HEALTHY LAYER ON BOTH SIDES. LET THEM SIT THIS WAY OVERNIGHT. THE NEXT DAY, IF IT'S SUNNY, PLACE THE SKINS IN THE SUN, FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS STRAIGHT. THEN ONCE YOU'RE BACK INSIDE YOUR HOUSE, USE A CLEAN & DRY CLOTH, TO WIPE OFF OFF ANY OIL FILM.
ONCE THIS IS DONE, REINSTALL YOUR SKINS AND TUNE THOSE BABIES UP. THEN BEFORE YOU'LL GO TO BED, THAT EVENING, PUT A LITTLE DAB OF OLIVE OIL ON YOUR HANDS, AND RUB THE TOPS OF YOUR SKINS, ONE MORE TIME.

USING THIS SENARIO, THIS APPROACH SHOULD HELP, AND CERTAINLY WILL NOT HURT ANYTHING. OLIVE OIL, IS AN EXCELLENT OIL, AND IT'S PURELY NATURAL. IT IS ALSO EASY TO APPLY AND REMOVE.

TONE, IF AND WHEN YOU DO TRY THIS, PLEASE DO IT EXACTLY AS I HAVE OUTLINED, THANKS.

THE EXCEPTION OF OF THE STEPS OUTLINED ABOVE, WOULD BE TO HAVE THE SKIN ALREADY BACK ON THE CONGA WITH LIGHT TENSION ON THE LUGS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE BEARING EDGE TO SKIN MATING SURFACES INTACT. THIS IS MOSTLY THE CASE WITH SKINS THAT ARE VERY CLOSE TO THE SHELLS, LIKE VINTAGE GON BOPS FOR EXAMPLE.

GOOD LUCK, AND TAKE CARE
CHARLIE.

Hey Charlie,

thanks for the advice. I am going to try it and report.

TONE,

JUST A QUESTION FOR YOU. ARE YOU SURE THE SKINS ARE NATURAL ANIMAL, AND NOT SYNTHETIC?
BEAUSE, MY RECOMMENDED TREATMENT, WOULD ONLY HELP NATURAL SKINS.


JUST A THOUGHT, JUST MAKING SURE, THANKS.

CHARLIE

I don’t really have any experience in maintaining Conga skins or if I even need to maintain them in any way. I know that some people apply some type of oil evry so often, can some one please confirm? Thanks.

The method that I seem to hear fairly consistently around here is to apply a SMALL amount of PURE shea butter (or similar substance) all over your hands and fingers before you begin playing and that's it. Let nature take care of the rest. Too much goop on your skins will deaden the sound.
If you have naturally treated skins that were shaved clean then you might not even need to worry about any kind of treatment at all, just take care of your own skin! The natural oils from your skin will gradually transfer to the skin of your drum over time and a lot of playing.

Hi Charlie,

of course they are natural. They are quite rugged really but they do this shit treatmentto them.
Any way I tried your method on the super tumba skin and really worked very well. It is back to being a completely natural looking skin. I still find it a tad too smooth but it sounds and looks great. I wish I had taken before and after pictures, the chnage is pretty dramatic!
Thanks.

I think the other two have a slightly different problem and I will probably change the whole skin. I have got one I brought back from Cuba, a few years back, that I will try for the tumba, as for te quinto I will have to wait to come across the right stuff. Which is not so easy in Rio. In havana it was a lot of work too!

Thanks for the advice

Abraço

HELLO TONE,

GLAD TO HEAR THE OLIVE OIL TREATMENT HAS HELPED YOUR TUMBA'S HEAD. REMEMBER, OLIVE OIL IS EASY TO WORK WITH, SO USE IT WHEN EVER YOU THINK YOUR CONGA'S SKIN CAN USE ANOTHER LIGHT COAT.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR QUEST, FOR SOME GREAT SKINS.

CHARLIE.