Hi all, Ive really enjoyed following this topic, as it seems so open to discussion and innovation. Personally, Ive always liked playing with three congas as it opens the music up to lots of melodic possibilities, but Ive never settled on any one arrangement. When working with traditional latin/jazz outfits, Ill play in the more well known format [ conga = left, quinto= mid, tumba= right] but with funk or crossover styles I often swap the conga and tumba- no real reason except the desire to experiment and come up with new grooves! I also have the conga tuned quite low so that the rhythms tie in more with the bass [ a result of listening to too much Patato!]. Anyone interested can check out an example of this at http://www.thehatband.com by downloading Blessed which started life as a bossa before literally getting turned on its head!:D