Favorite Natural Skin for Hembra

[Thomas Altmann]

I measured my hembra skin: 2 mm. It could have 2.2 or 1.5 mm somewhere. I am usually picky regarding even thickness of skins, but I just had this otherwise fine skin lying on my shelf and thought I might try a thicker head as an experiment. I think I'll keep it.

This summer I needed for the first time the help of a friend to mount a bull hide on my new 10.75" Gon Bops oak conga. That beast was so stiff, it gave even the two of us a hard time! And it measured less than 3 mm ...

Thomas

[mpags]

The calf skin in installed and it is much more lively than the stock LP one. But is also has a little bit of a ringing tone at times. Is that overtones? Any suggestions on how to moderate that? Possibly place some tape and if so is there a ideal place to put it?

It was much more of a struggle to get this one mounted than the macho. It is a lot stiffer. I was also using a new flesh hoop and it was hard to keep it centered. It kept wanting to slip to one side a little as I would tighten the legs slightly. I´m going to loosen it and try retightening it now that it is dry and see if I can get centered better. That doesn´t seem to affect the sound.

Advice is welcomed!

Edited to add: In taking the hembra head off, it looks like it is the thickness difference that caused the slipping to one side. The thinner side hangs over more than the thicker side. Normal?

[Mike]

As to the overtones: you will need a little patience until the hembra skin has broken in, the ringing is partly due to the freshly mounted skin, it will decrease over time.

Edit: hembra hangover? Never heard of that. You ought to to drink less while mounting skins then Just kidding
Seriously, uneven skin thickness is something you usually try to avoid, as tuning can become a hassle.

[mpags]

As to the overtones: you will need a little patience until the hembra skin has broken in, the ringing is partly due to the freshly mounted skin, it will decrease over time.

Edit: hembra hangover? Never heard of that. You ought to to drink less while mounting skins then Just kidding
Seriously, uneven skin thickness is something you usually try to avoid, as tuning can become a hassle.

Thanks for the input Mike. I will be a little patient with the overtones. Probably in my inexperience, I did not look over the skins closely enough. There is more of a difference from one side to the other than on other skins I have mounted. Hasn´t proved to be a problem with tuning so far but the thin side definitely goes down a few more threads to produce the same tone. Might be more of a problem as the skin wears more...

[Chtimulato]

I think the ringing can (at least partially) come from the unevenness of the skin.

You now know that :
1. you'll have to deal with it and your crown won't sit exactly horizontal any more ;
2. you'll have to be careful the next time you'll buy a skin and check the evenness.

But as long as you can play, it is not dramatic.

You can try to "kill" the ringing by taping something on the inner side of the skin : for instance 2 straps of tape, crosswise, or cut out an old skin in a small circle and stick/glue it on the inner side of the skin. Or a Remo Falam pad :

https://www.thomann.de/fr/remo_ks0002ph.htm

But as Mike said, first wait till it's completely dry.

[mpags]

Yes Chtimulato, you are correct on all points. It really does not affect the play at all. The skin is dry but has not been ¨played in¨ yet. We´ll see how that goes and adjust from there with some tape if necessary. It does sound much better than the stock skin. Overall both skins have been a great improvement.

[Thomas Altmann]

Yes, uneven thickness of skins leads to problems. Both of you have mentioned them. I had to discard quite a few skins in my life that I had bought without any experience - especially no experience with people who are not ashamed to sell you stuff that is close to unusable. The worst thing happened to me when I tried to string an uneven Cuban skin on a batá drum. It meant five hours of work in vain before I realized it was impossible. Since then I pay particular attention to evenness.

If you feel annoyed by the ringing of the head, you may either use a heavier skin or apply tape, as Chtimulato suggests. However, as I have mentioned repeatedly in various threads on this forum, some ringing gives your drum timbre and character. If you don't hear that ring on recordings, it is probably because it is absorbed or overshadowed by the ensemble sound. The ensemble sound, in turn, is enriched by the ring in a drum head, it adds flavour to the sound of the band. I don't like dead sounding drums. I can always control the overtones by my technique - especially by positioning my hand on the head accordingly and by leaving the hand on the head for a split second before preparing for the next stroke. But a bit of ringing is rather sabroso.

Thomas

[mpags]

Interesting thoughts about overtones and ringing Thomas. When I just play an open tone I can hear it clearly. But when playing a martillo pattern, or anything else with accompaniment, it is not that noticeable. Many lessons learned. But it hasn´t turned out that bad. I will check the next skin I buy for the hembra more carefully.

On the macho skin, there was some difference in thickness from side to side. But not as much and it seated fairly evenly. All good and moving forward.

[Thomas Altmann]

This is "Blue Malibu" by George Shearing: https://youtu.be/AmsiQzPFmFU . It's most likely the deceased master Armando Peraza on bongos. Listen to his articulation and colorful sound. Try to imagine how the bongos would sound alone. He even hits the hembra near the rim once, something you would more typically do on the macho. This guy was a MUSICIAN.

Sorry for having you listen to this exotica-type production. I confess there is a very primitive chamber in my musical heart, where my kitsch collection is stored ...

Thomas

[Thomas Altmann]

I can always control the overtones by my technique - especially by positioning my hand on the head accordingly and by leaving the hand on the head for a split second before preparing for the next stroke. But a bit of ringing is rather sabroso.

I'm quoting myself here ... I forgot yet one technical parameter more: The harder you play (which is often inevitable when playing in larger and/or amplified ensembles), the more the attack dominates or supersedes the tone of a drum, and less ring or sustain will be perceived by the listener.

TA

[mpags]

This is "Blue Malibu" by George Shearing: https://youtu.be/AmsiQzPFmFU . It's most likely the deceased master Armando Peraza on bongos. Listen to his articulation and colorful sound. Try to imagine how the bongos would sound alone. He even hits the hembra near the rim once, something you would more typically do on the macho. This guy was a MUSICIAN.

Sorry for having you listen to this exotica-type production. I confess there is a very primitive chamber in my musical heart, where my kitsch collection is stored ...

Thomas

Even with the overly lush production typical of the era, you can still hear the bongó come through. Very well played!

[Chtimulato]

Armando Peraza ist one of my favourite bongoceros.

While still in Cuba, he recorded this, between 1944 and 1947 :

.

And this too :



Patato plays congas on the album.

https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/8219105-Conjunto-Kubavana-De-Alberto-Ruiz-Con-Carlos-Patato-Valdes-Rumba-En-El-Patio-

[Thomas Altmann]

Yesss - I got the CD. Tumbao Cuban Classics.

Armando was at first the conga player in that band. When the bongocero split to join another band, Armando decided to switch to the bongos and suggested Patato as the new tumbador.

I have perhaps a dozen of these Tumbao CDs with various conjuntos. I'm glad they made them. What's especially interesting is that I found several of my favourite salsa tunes on them - as the original versions! On the Kubavana CD is the original "Corta el bonche", later recorded by the Grupo Folklórico y Experimental (featuring Manny Oquendo on timbales).

Thomas

[mpags]

You 2 and Mike are giving me the master level course on bongó! It is so appreciated how you share your knowledge and experience.

[Thomas Altmann]

It is so appreciated how you share your knowledge and experience.

You are welcome, Michael. I appreciate that you appreciate it.

You 2 and Mike are giving me the master level course on bongó!

And Juaort and caballoballo. And in the old times we would have been even more. Back then I would have been the one who rather chose to have others respond first.

Best,
Thomas