Well, I did it...

[bongoron]

I brought my studio congas home and now I have six drums configured to play as a set. I couldn't resist. After an afternoon of fooling around, I can honestly say I can play five in some very nice patterns, but not six. still, a slight shift to the left and a new four drum pattern is possible in a different key, a different two or three drum pattern can be had from any standing spot and the drums really sound awesome together. I still haven't decided if it will be worth all the hauling to get the sixth drum to the gig and back. I really enjoy five, and it comes pretty naturally in our Christian rock genre. The sixth one does add variety, but probably not that much to the audience ear. I'm glad I did the experiment, though. I'll keep them here for a week and really dig in as I have wed-fri off this week before the friday gig. It's pretty cool having six notes to pick from. All the other sounds are unique for each drum, so the variety is truly endless. Probably not that important to the untrained ear though...what do you guys think? Does the audience care if you play different pitches from song to song in typical rock songs? Will the extra variety keep the songs from sounding the same just by having more options? That's how I use my shakers and other hand percussion...thinking I can make the songs sound fresh. I realize lots of folks use two or even one drum ( I use on wednesday nights, and only use two on Sunday now.) with great skill. I just kindof like having an "office" so to speak on the stage for a gig. My own little place to play. In our first gig, I only had three...when I aded the fourth, it was like a new world of sounds to me...five was unbelievable! Six isn't knocking me dead like four or five did.

God bless!

-Ron

[CongaTick]

Congrats bongoron onthe 6 drum setup. If you enjoy playing the six (or four, or five) that's all that matters. And if you don't mind the huge schlepping of that many instruments-- all the more power to you. I personally work with 3 (tumba,conga, quinto) + a big djembe and bongos, and find them more than enough. My challenge has been/and always will be to sharpen my skills sufficiently to get the sound of AT LEAST 6 drums ----from one.

[yoni]

My challenge has been/and always will be to sharpen my skills sufficiently to get the sound of AT LEAST 6 drums ----from one.

I like it... I LIKE IT!
:angry:

[bongoron]

After I posted last night, I went back to practicing...as I got loose, the sixth drum found its way into the mix of some very melodic patterns i stumbled onto. I told our lead singer/guitarist today at church, and he's very excited about the potential for fattening our sound with this setup. He liked it with three, four and five, and says he'll help move it all to and fro with me to get the sound.

I work tomorrow night and tuesday night, so i can practice for a few hours each day...then off Wednesday -Friday...lots of time for practice on the set list he gave me today. 20 songs, and now I make it a goal to do each one a little differently without anything overdone. Not too likely a six drum pattern will work, but a five might ...hey who knows. Today I played quinto and conga in church for senior citizen Sunday. Wednesday will be conga only for bible study worship music. Friday's gig will be the icing on a busy week of hard practice.

[bongoron]

Here's the setup I decided works best for me...the tripods for the bongos and woodblock/cowbell/stickholder are video camera tripods people threw away when I was in the trash business. The head areas are the places usually not working so I took that off and made the appropriate brackets or whatever to hold my stuff. All scrap material around the house or garage. The bongo tilt mechanism is made from a golf cart piece and some steel angle welded and covered in felt. I splurged on a good folding music stand after one of the house stands tipped over at a gig. Needed a little wider base when sitting near my tumba. Another mike goes on a regular stand between the conga and bongos, and I also use a vocal mike on the boom you probably see in the pic. I'll probably get a small mixer for the drums to reduce the number of inputs if the need ever arises. We use a 16 channel mixer, and so far the house mixers have been that big or bigger, so it's not a problem yet. We only need 10 inputs between the five of us, even with me hogging up 4 of them.





God bless!
-Ron



Edited By bongoron on 1147052505

[ABAKUA]

Congrats on experimenting, however that looks like a fairly unconventional, uncomfortable set up.
Also, one just doesnt from one day to another 'play' 6 drums. ??? I would not encourage any of my students to play a 4th drum, let alone a 3rd till they have well developed 2 drum technique.

How do you find those conga stands? I think if I had to do a gig with them they would last perhaps till the second song, if that! :laugh: And the bongo stand would prob only be standing till the first montuno lead up in the first tune!

Also, the mic placement isnt the best, it hinders you from advanced technique and gets in the way of travelling between your drums.


More power to you brother. :;):



Edited By ABAKUA on 1147056389

[bongoron]

I can reach everything very easily, in any order I choose. I can also step to one side and play a four drum diamond on the left or right end of the setup. Two, three and five drum patterns are readlily available from there, and from the center position. Unconventional...maybe. Uncomfortable...not in the least.

The bongo stand barely moves at the gig or at practice with hard play. The mikes are not even close to where my hands transition between drums. Granted, my patterns don't require me to go across between the front three drums, due to the intervals I tuned them at. The stands don't rock, are extremely solid, and don't walk around at all. They are solid steel and bolted together. Thanks for the encouragement though.

I play rock genre and pop...not traditional. Maybe that's the difference...I just don't care about "well developed", or "advanced" techniques (GASP)...only the actual music and how it sounds to the audience or congregation, or on a recording I use to critique myself with. You see, nobody is looking at me with a critical eye for everything i am doing wrong...only listening to the music we make... and it is very tight with solid vocals and instrumentals. I am self-taught, very dedicated, and able to play complex patterns of my own making, as well as a few "traditional " patterns I find rather limited in usefulness for our band's style of music. I can "play" these drums melodically, as harmony, or as simple beat-keeping devices. I place my fill patterns tastefully using a "less is more" approach, and have been told i fatten the music inconspicuously until I miss a venue and the difference becomes apparent. I don't showboat, play every tone I believe a conga can make, and mix them at will into patterns of all speeds. Each sound is clearly recognizable as different from the others and My fingers don't even look like they hit the head on my open tones. My bass tones move huge air, and my slaps sound like two pieces of wood paneling slapped together. I can play one drum in an acoustic set using all the tones, and have served as the only percussion in a three peice electric band (except for me) to rave reviews from the college aged crowd at our first Friday gig on three drums. I played two in church today, and found myself wanting another open tone a couple times...no problem, I just did something else. I have gigged with four and with five. This isn't rocket science, I'm playing six this Friday. SO I guess maybe "one" does just play six drums from one day to another, if "one" practices enough. My set up makes it easy for me to remember which note is where, so I can play tunes within our music. I am not restricted by convention or tradition. I practice alot, and have plenty of confidence in what the results are. I also have feedback from honest sources who will tell me when something isn't working. That's our band in a nutshell, and it works. We watch ourselves on video, listen on disc, and critque each other brutally as needed.

At my age I don't expect to become a professional musician, but even if I did I'd encourage everybody like me to keep up the hard work and work within their means to accomplish their musical goals. I would speak only from actual experience with equipment I have actually used, not from speculation concerning what I perceive to be inadequate when I couldn't possibly know.

To those of you who do this, thanks.

I would not engage in any form of gear snobbery, knowing some folks are fortunate to have any instruments at all. Finally, I would simply keep to myself any potentially hurtful comments. After all, why would I even try to offend anyone? BTW, offending me requires my permission, and nobody has it. I just don't get offended. It goes back to the not caring about convention or tradition, I guess. I'm aware of my limitations, and my abilities, and simply share what I actually do and know in case others like me can benefit. You know, the folks living far from instructors, low on cash...still with music in their hearts fighting to get out.

God bless!

-Ron



Edited By bongoron on 1147063374

[Bataboom]

Im sure he's not playing all 6 at one time but rather 3 or 4 I mean how many licks can you do in one measure, also Ron those drums must be a tuning nightmare but if you dig it and get all the use out of them you say then hey Im glad for you nothing wrong with doing what works.

Myself i use 3 congas and a djembe in my set up and get use out of everyone during a song. I wouldnt go for more then that in number because Im happy the way it is and I wouldnt want to have to fight getting and keeping more than that in the right tuning.

Keep up the experimenting ron your doing a fine job Im sure!

[ABAKUA]

those drums must be a tuning nightmare

:laugh:

Tuning six should be a breeze if you know your drums and have good pitch recognition...

Now this was a tuning nightmare!

Here's me checking the tuning...



And now, making 43 congas sound 'not busy' :O :laugh: :p
If you look to the far right of pic, I have a bell there, I play quarter notes on bell with my left hand while playing congas with my right hand... :p

[bongoron]

I love that pic! Now that's alot of conga.

:laugh:



Edited By bongoron on 1147105941

[JohnnyConga]

Abakua that is hilarious...hahahaha whose drums were those and where??.....there was a guy who used to play on Venice beach who had built a stand that was pretty high off the ground and he was surrounded by at least 11 type drums...i can't remember his name but he would play whole tunes with the way he had the drums tuned, but hey weren't conga drums, they were something he had made and put together , he did release a CD too.....PS there is also a true story of a "Blind" african drummer that could play up to 10 drums on his own..... there are drum statues of him sitting on the ground with a row of drums in front of him....up to at least 8..."JC" Johnny Conga.....PSS..on the old Bobby Darin Show circa 1974, there was a conga drummer that he had that played 7 congas on his TV show...never found out who it was and stilltrying to find out.... ???

[onile]

"Now Grasshopper, as quickly as you can....snatch the "conga" from my hand!"

No, your playing six and eight drums (bongo included), may not be viewed as right in the traditional way of instruction, but dang! It's a lot of fun when you can make melodical sounds with them. It's also gotta get you tired after two or three numbers, much less keeping track of the melodic pattern you've chosen to add. I remember this from when I first played four drums on a gig many years ago. I wound up sticking to three drums, and on occassion drifting over to the fourth. Never the less, it's quite a bit of fun, isn't it Abure Bongoron?!

Just an idea! have you tried mounting your mics at the bottom of your drums? I've never tried that because I play seated, but looking at those stands, you may be able to avoid the clutter at the top playing surface! Just a thought!

Keep on drummin' my brother!

Many blessings on your drummin' journey!

Alafia JC!
I also believe that "George Jetson" played a circle of drums in one of his episodes!

Onile!



Edited By onile on 1147106159

[bongoron]

those drums must be a tuning nightmare

:laugh:

Tuning six should be a breeze if you know your drums and have good pitch recognition...

Now this was a tuning nightmare!

You are both right. Still, I have played the trumpet (off and on) since I was 10, been involved in vocal performance since a little before that, and don't find it to be that big a deal. The placement of the stands and orientation of the tuning lugs is much more complex for ease of playing...Have to use a diagram to save time. There are 18 legs to orient so they don't touch each other, or stick out into my feet, a boom mike stand that has to get close enough for the mike to reach my head, a music stand ( until I get all the songs memorized), and I am going to experiment with mike placement some more as per Abakua's suggestion.. I do see the advantage of putting them more forward, but can't afford another claw at the moment...maybe a stand will work like I currently use between the bongos and conga. I'm also concerned with losing my rear drums in the mix from that far off...maybe placement to the outside, and more mikes? I'll play around with it.

This is definitely a labor of love...but I love it, so it's okay

Last gig with five drums took about 15 minutes setup including tuning, not including transport/unpacking, or sound checks. Hoping to actually cut it down even with the sixth drum. Practice makes perfect.

God bless!

-Ron

[JohnnyConga]

If nothing else ...lugging those drums around will be enough to keep you in shape..... MOre power to ya Bro.... I saw Ritchie Flores try and play 7 drums with Eddie Palmieri ONCE it was a nightmare, he played them in a V(^) form 3 to the left 3 to the right and one in the middle....Tumbao is Tumbao and you can't play a serious tumbao on 7 congas and make it work....if you can..hey i could be from Missouri and then you'll have to show me!..... "JC" Johnny Conga....

[Berimbau]

Hey JC!!
I used to live in Venice back in the day, too. Was that guy on the beach a drummer who used to open for Steppenwolf back in the 1960's. Back then he worked under the name "Pulse" and played a twoocatave set of tuned boo-bams as well as a set of four tuned congas. I think his real name was Brent Lewis and that he eventually had a CD out called "Rhythm Hunter."
As to Bobby Darrin's conguero, could it have been the Bahamian Berkley "Peanuts" Taylor? He was a bandleader on cruise ships and at tourist dives in the early 1970's who specialized in a multiple conga set-up.
Anyway, I try to take as FEW of my 150 instruments out on a gig as possible. Who wants to haul ALL that crap around? I'm fat, 51, tired, got no roadies and even less patience!


Saludos,



Berimbau