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I am not sure this hasn't been posted before, but here it is, an excerpt from Hell Harbor (1930) with some nice bongos playing:



And for those who do enjoy vintage films, here is the full movie version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIwOcMwu_t4

I knew this scene, but it's always a pleasure to see it again. Thank you!

I’m so intrigued by the tuning of the Bongo with an open flame. I have a few questions….does anyone know if the skin was wet or damp before the flame was applied? How much could you tune your set with the flame? Meaning…how high of a note can you get from it? Thanks for sharing Beatnik, it’s always great to see the early pioneers play.

I’m so intrigued by the tuning of the Bongo with an open flame. I have a few questions….does anyone know if the skin was wet or damp before the flame was applied? How much could you tune your set with the flame? Meaning…how high of a note can you get from it? Thanks for sharing Beatnik, it’s always great to see the early pioneers play.

Juaort wrote:I’m so intrigued by the tuning of the Bongo with an open flame. I have a few questions….does anyone know if the skin was wet or damp before the flame was applied? How much could you tune your set with the flame? Meaning…how high of a note can you get from it? Thanks for sharing Beatnik, it’s always great to see the early pioneers play.

They did it by ear. The skins were dry, logically, but could get quickly out of tune, according to the temperature or the humidity level of the place (either in a room or outside).
Some players could have had 2 sets of bongó to prevent this. And they had to do so because there was no mechanical tuning yet at the time, and the skins were very thin (mostly goat, I believe, but I could be wrong), so heat tuning should have been relatively quick (there again, it's a supposition).

Juaort wrote:I’m so intrigued by the tuning of the Bongo with an open flame. I have a few questions….does anyone know if the skin was wet or damp before the flame was applied? How much could you tune your set with the flame? Meaning…how high of a note can you get from it? Thanks for sharing Beatnik, it’s always great to see the early pioneers play.

They did it by ear. The skins were dry, logically, but could get quickly out of tune, according to the temperature or the humidity level of the place (either in a room or outside).
Some players could have had 2 sets of bongó to prevent this. And they had to do so because there was no mechanical tuning yet at the time, and the skins were very thin (mostly goat, I believe, but I could be wrong), so heat tuning should have been relatively quick (there again, it's a supposition).