by Isaac » Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:28 pm
CONGA TUNINGS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FROM LATINJAZZ GROUP on Yahoo, Oct. 30/05
Bobby Sanabria <nujackrican@...>
Date: Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:43 pm
Subject: Re: [latinjazz] Re: Question to all congueros and bongoceros nujackrican
Candido utilizes the tuning D, C, A with his lowest
tuned drum, the D to his left with the C in the middle
and the A to the outside right. He always plays
standing up and does not use drums of different sizes
but rather three congas/llamadoras (the middle sized
drum) and tunes them accordingly. He has experimented
utilizing up to six tuned drums in concert.
Patato utilizes F, G, Bb, C. The lowest drum to the
outside left is the F. Then to the extreme outside
right he utilizes the G, then the Bb to the inside of
that with the highest note, C to the inside of that.
Patato utilizes two tumbadoras, a conga and a quinto
and occasionally even a requinto, a 9" drum. He has
experimented utilizing up to 12 tuned drums which he
did many years ago at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe' in
NYC.
Jerry Gonzalez tunes his lowest drum to a G or an F
and then tunes the other drums in intervals of fourths
or fifths up from that depending on how he feels.
Chembo utilizes the same tuning as Patato but with the
F tuned drum directly in front of the C tuned drum
which is between his legs. The drum to the right of
the C tuned drum side is a G and the drum to the
extreme outside left is a Bb. If he wants a brighter
sound the tuning is G, A, C, D based on Candido's
concept but with the obvious extra note which is the
G. If you want to hear an example of both tunings
simultaneously check out the version of "Manteca" from
my "Live & In Clave" Big Band CD which was nominated
for a grammy back in 2001. Chembo and Candido are
playing simultaneously on that tune. Chembo uses the
F, G, Bb, C tuning and Candi' used the D, C, A tuning.
Candido' drums are brighter and blend beautifully with
Chembo's drums. Chembo utilizes two tumbadoras and two
congas. Check it out on Chembo's "Portrait in Rhythms"
CD.
Another example of two congueros playing
simultaneously to great effect can be found on the
Mario Bauza' CD "Tanga" which was also nominated for a
grammy. There Patato and Papo Pepin are playing at the
same time.
When I play congas I utilize a tumbadora tuned to a G
or F (like Jerry) and employ his same system. The
drums I use are two tumbadoras, a conga and a quinto.
The conga is between my legs the lowest tumbadora is
directly in front of that, the other one is to the
right of that and the quinto is on the outside left of
the conga. All of these positions for everyone
mentioned are from the perspective of one
sitting/standing behind the drum.
For the bongo', Louis Gonzalez for Tito Nieves used to
tune the hembra (the low drum) to an A and the macho
to a D. It's not as bright, but really funky and fat
in a conjunto context. For a big band you usually want
to tune to a brighter sound to cut above all those
horns.
If you're utilizing just the standard two drum set-up
the conga and tumbadora, G for the tumbadora and C for
the conga is a really standard tuning. But Milton
Cardona sometimes uses a an F for his low drum and a C
for his lead drum. For three drums you can use another
popular tuning which is G, C, Bb. The G being the
lowest, the Bb in the middle and the C is the highest
pitched drum. The C is the lead drum between your
legs, the Bb would be to the left of that, the lowest
drum would be to the right of the middle drum
Orlando Marin is another fanatic in terms of tuning
but on the timbales. He utilizes calfskin heads and
tunes the macho (high drum) to a Bb and the hembra
(low drum) to a G which is a very interesting tuning.
Jose' Madera has a really nice tuning for el timbal.
Woody can address that.
Now if you get into the drumset? Oofah!. I use various
tunings but want a fourth between all of the toms and
snare (with snares off) to get a real open sound. You
will get (from low to high) the typical bugle call for
a horse race which is a tuning Tito utilized to great
effect with a standard set of timbales and timbalitos.
You can hear that on the duets we did on my "NYC
Ache'" CD back in 1993.
You can utilize a pitch pipe that is easily carried in
ones pocket.
Wnat to get crazier? Start talking about the pitches
for cowbells?!!!
Mucho ache',
Bobby Sanabria
--- raphaeltorn <raphaeltorn@...> wrote:
> I believe Candido tunes his drums to G (hembra),
> Bflat (tercera) and C (macho).
> This is a standard tuning that allows him to play
> certain melodies like the first few notes of
> Manteca.
> Patato uses thoses same pitches and adds a lower F
> but I'm unsure about his 5th drum.
> Does anyone know how Jerry Gonzalez tunes his
> Congas?