BAD/STUPID Conga videos - not for the faint

[akdom]

Hi there

there is a concentration of incompetent videos posted by "expert village". Just look them up on youtube.

Here are a few:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XweubIH4Ldo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsDTo18t ... re=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6CPkyLA ... re=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9oDexkW ... annel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdvzPi9i ... annel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRPXPnh0 ... re=channel

and so on..

Please, shoot on sight lol


B

[Chupacabra]

I usually try to find something useful in what most people say and give them the benefit of the doubt. In this case, I would have to say that these "Expert Village" clowns are putting out the most ridiculous stream of piffle I've ever seen. And I'm a beginner in the art of percussion! They must be getting their hands on the BC bud and smoking too much of it! Stay away from the doobies, dudes!

[Johnny Conga]

Hi Guys believe it or not I am also on the site ... I hadnt seen it when they approached me as far as the others shown above doing whatever they think they were doing...I just did my thing and I have 17 learning videos there under How to Play the Conga Drums....hopefully one can learn something from mine..."JC" Johnny Conga

[akdom]

Yes JC, I saw that.. I am wondering if this is a good thing for you...

Anyways, these guys suck big time!
Hopefully, your videos are great!!!!!


B

[CongaTick]

At the risk of being raked over the coals, gotta say that SMOKE SMACKIN THE CONGOZ had some cool stuff going as well as some intense speed. Likewise, 20 MINUTES SAUCE was a groove I really liked. Granted, the rest of the videos were ridiculous, but I can't afford to be a conga snob and paint everything with the same brush. Though I appreciate the need to preserve and propagate the traditional I'm also open to hearing and appreciating new, experimental and non-traditional ways to use our instruments.

[congamyk]

^ yeah some of the videos have entertainment qualities to them.
I wasn't aware there was a style of music around the DC/Baltimore area called "go-go" that features conga players with funky styles. This sound gets old quickly to me si now that I've heard it I don't need anymore of it.
Some of the hand movements and embellishments are flashy - but the hand contortions and pain involved isn't worth it.

[taikonoatama]

there is a concentration of incompetent videos posted by "expert village". Just look them up on youtube.

Please, shoot on sight lol

Like many of you, I just can't get seem to get enough Ryan Larson (our favorite expert villager) and have wondered if he writes poetry and if he does then... well, by all means bring it on:

http://www.jazzmenrecords.com/zenPoet.htm

http://www.jazzmenrecords.com/

[Quinto Governor II]

Congatick wrote:

At the risk of being raked over the coals, gotta say that SMOKE SMACKIN THE CONGOZ had some cool stuff going as well as some intense speed. Likewise, 20 MINUTES SAUCE was a groove I really liked. Granted, the rest of the videos were ridiculous, but I can't afford to be a conga snob and paint everything with the same brush. Though I appreciate the need to preserve and propagate the traditional I'm also open to hearing and appreciating new, experimental and non-traditional ways to use our instruments.CongaTick

Quinto Governor II wrote:

Congatick, did you see the Old-School Tree video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrUj-0GwE8I IMO This was by far the best. Maybe the sound track he is playing to as a lot to with it, but I believe his playing ability, and especially his technique, is far greater than the others. It is certainly unconventional, but you can see by the cleanness in his playing and the timing that he has that he certainly knows exactly what he is doing, and has honed is skills well.

Congamyk wrote:

yeah some of the videos have entertainment qualities to them.
I wasn't aware there was a style of music around the DC/Baltimore area called "go-go" that features conga players with funky styles. This sound gets old quickly to me si now that I've heard it I don't need anymore of it.
Some of the hand movements and embellishments are flashy - but the hand contortions and pain involved isn't worth it

Quinto Governor II wrote:

For anyone who has never heard of Go-Go music I think its only fair to present the best representation of the genre.

Chuck Brown - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSfIDec_JqE

Experience Unlimited - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37VoiwOV ... re=related

Trouble Funk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogHxqd5t ... re=related

Congamyk wrote :

This sound gets old quickly to me si now that I've heard it I don't need anymore of it.

Quinto Governor II wrote:

I think this could be said of a lot music, by anyone who does not respond to that particular music. I've heard the same said about Blues. The people who appreciates any genre of music, does so for the subtleties in the music, for again, on the surface, most if not all music of the same genre, sounds similar. I do get your point, it ain't your grove, and ain't nothin wrote with that.

[congamyk]

Apparently LP Junior congas are a staple instrument of go-go music

Quinto, I noticed most of the bands came from the DC/Baltimore area.
Was this genre invented there and how did that style of playing "the congos" come about?

[CongaTick]

Quinto Gov.

Old School's timing seemed way off to me until he finally settled into the pocket.

Congamyk,

Have to agree that it doesn't take long for this style to get "old" for me, though I enjoy playing it from time to time as if adding a different spice to a meal. I appreciate your considered comments. Just wanted to say that amongst all the REALLY BAD instructional crap, there may be a few performance nuggets for appreciation.

[congamyk]

I agree, it has entertainment value. Go-go congos probably deserves it's own thread.
Congas definitely add a flavorful element to the drumming.

There's a guy in my city that plays this style, I didn't recognize it as a style until youtube.
I thought he had made it up on his own.
This guy does all kinds of acrobatics and even juggles a scarf while playing.

[Derbeno]

Go-go Funk Smackin da Congaz

Man, I never knew this existed. So I watched quite a few of the vids, for sure they have a definitive uniform style, tuning, set up and technique; including moose calls, cross over arms for no reason whatsoever, elbow harmonics and karate chops.

They appear quite talented in what they do. Wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnAdxQEbpIQ&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxYgt4Zklg0

[Quinto Governor II]

Congamyk, Sorry if I came off as an authority of some sort on Go-Go, far from it. As far as I know it is central to and began in D.C.. Chuck Brown has always its seem to me to been its greatest ambassador, if not the originator. Don't know if it ever spread outside of D.C., even to Baltimore. If there are Go-Go bands here, I've never seen them or heard of them. Don't travel in that circle so can't say for sure. I've come to learn of a few music subcultures so to speak that exist, that I wasn't aware of in my city 'House' music is one example. I don't know anyone who listens to a lot of it, if any, but I'm sure they are people here who like it. After all, it is simply funk, and came about during the tail end of the funk era.
As far as Junior LP's are concerned, That was a revelation to me that they used those drums. I actually have a set of an unknown brand of mini congas, that I got in a trade for a fiberglass Toca Player series conga. I was giving the drum away but a friend insisted I take the mini congas. I've had them a few years and have only played them once seriously. Sometimes I sit them next to my timbales after watching a video of Tito Puente play 4 timbales, and play them with ticks for a minute or two - fantasizing you know. :>)
Don't know when this style of playing came about, but have run into a few drummers in the park - guys in thier 50's or so like myself, who play with that technique. One of our regular park drummers uses that Karate chop technique to get a slap. Someone pointed out in another thread some time ago that the modern Cuban technique was not known to most drummers of that generation. There is a whole school so to speak of funk/rock conga drummers who play with the finger technique and that back-beat style.

[JohnnyConga]

Well guys this style called "Go-Go" is Not new....there is a brother named "Big Black" who was one of the first type of conga drummers in this vein as far back as the 50's...he was primarily a "jazz conga" drummer but his style was very much like the guys today...Yes its a bit different today, of course... I was also the first ones to do what they are doing today when i started back in the 70's, but we didnt call it Go Go, we had no name for it... we just played...but watching them play hurts cause they have no technique as they are just wailing away on the drums, though they can be very creative in their approach...my 3 congas..."JC" Johnny Conga

[umannyt]

I've often wondered how the early Africans played (technique or lack thereof) congas when they were made out of hollowed logs and how the early Cubans played them when they were first adopted in Cuba.