congaplace.com

Posted: **Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:46 pm**

I own 5 Armando Peraza signature seriea congas and I love the sound they make, having them for many years and taking care of the I did'nt need new heads untill now. I was on ebay and saw Issac's ad for mule skins and did'nt know Issac from the next congero, still I called him and inquired about the mule skins, Issac was very professional with me, but still not knowing weather to trust his opinion (could have been my first mistake) I decided to purchase cow skins from my master percuccionist friend who placed 12 skins in front of me, of course I could'nt resist the oportunity of getting it dont quickly, so I purchased 3 skins. He professionally installed them for me. They looked beautiful and cleaned as far as clean means for heads.
The problem: first, I waited 5 days till skins cure, then I tuned them, Oh boy that does'nt sound right, went through my mind, so I retuned them, Please do'nt say it so, i tough. I have this important gig coming soon this can't be. anyhow I call my master percussionist friend and told him of my newly aquired problem, he told me that I chose the thinner skins and they were prone to that. Yes I did chose the thinner skins and caint blame anyone but myself. OK WHAT CAN I DO. Picking new skins is easy , picking the right sound is VERY DIFFICULT. If u can help me on this topic please feel free to do so time is of the essence. Oh by the way it was Issac who turned me on to this congaboard and now i can interact with other Percussionist, Thank You Issac .[B]

Edited By TonyTumbador on 1089907604

Posted: **Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:09 pm**

TT, when you talked to Isaac, did he say wheather or not he had his new shippment of mounted muleskin heads in yet?
Thanks, Mangorockfish

Posted: **Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:07 pm**

Negative, I did't ask for availability at that time, so I don't know if he had any o not.

Still I wait to get some advise on my situation.

Posted: **Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:34 pm**

Well, there's no question about it...

Get conga heads from Isaac. Trust me, he is no B.S'r - he knows his stuff. I purchased two heads from him when I was in New York and both myself and and Johnny Conga are happy with them. They sound warm a beautiful. Not sure if you asked, but see if your teacher can place thicker skins on the congas for you for the interim...

Get on the phone and call Issac... I love mule skin heads - they are extremely thick and they have a warm sound. Most importantly, they are durable. Hopefully you are in reach of each other.

If your asking what to do about a gig this weekend or coming up soon - see if you can borrow congas from a friend or teacher - just for the gig then you can take your time in picking out heads.

Good Luck

Posted: **Fri Jul 16, 2004 3:09 pm**

Thanks for the reply Ivan,

I just got of the phone with my instructor and I will take them to him first to see if I'm over reacting or they're out of tune.
I'm hoping it's just me. Then if I'll need to make decision to purchase new heads I'll call Issac.

Drumming for Jesus

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2004 2:33 pm**

You may not have time for this for your upcoming gig but I wouldn't totally panic about your heads. When I bought my timbas i was a little concerned about the initial tone even though the heads were clearly high quality thick cow hide with uniform thickness. It took some time of playing them and tuning them for them to "break in". Once we got to know each other and they got comfortable on the bearing edges they now have a warm predictable tone. With the proper care and consistent down tuning I anticipate they will last a long time.

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2004 2:01 pm**

thanks for the reply JD . I did go to my conga friend and he did tuned out some of what he calls " twang " out ot the heads , and to concur with what you are saying he also said to continue to play aggressively and break them in. and so I have.

Playing for JESUS
Tony Tumbador

Posted: **Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:00 am**

I'd have to concur with JD - it takes time for the skins
to arrive at their optimum sound potential. You should break
them in and then decide down the road. They're probably
different than what you had before, so there's that factor also.
Thanks for your feedback on my advice. It's not "mule" or bust.
I happen to prefer their resilience and hardness, which
also takes more of a toll on your hands, as JC has mentioned.
I hope to get more of the premounted by the Falll, but have
new supply of unmounted which are excellent. I started mounting
my own heads out of neccesity - growing up in Winnipeg, Canada. There was no hand drumming scene to speak of - only a "hockey" scene. There were two good conga players in town. One from Detroit, Bill Stokes from Detroit had that unique flare
of combining swing, bop and Congolese with the latin sound.
Then there was my teacher, Amos Bisseck, a former boxer from Cameroon, Africa, who used to play with Manu Dibango in Paris. He repaired drums, mounted his own skins, smoked fish in his backyard and was a great role model. He's in his 70s now and still there drumming.
It would be super useful if any congaboard members could
collect whatever info about mounting your own heads
and post it here. I'm planning a workshop in skin mounting where I live (New Brunswick, New Jersey) with a weekly drumming group
I'm in that includes children , teenage and and adult
drummers. Its called the "Black Circle Symphony" led by percussionist Ras Ujima.
With everything else in our life pre-processed for us its
very gratifying to put on your own animal skin and then get to play it. You'll make some minor mistakes, but with a little help
it'll come out right and you'll appreciate drumming even more. I
encourage all to try it or help someone else do it.
ISAAC
funkytradition@yahoo.com :p

Posted: **Fri Jul 23, 2004 1:19 pm**

Issac thanks for your info. I love this site , I'm new to it but slowly I'm feeling my way through it . most of the time spent is reading the open discussion. if there some thing I should know more about how to use this site let me know. I know I could just look around but sometimes having some help you check something out in the site gives you more reason to go there.
YES!YES!YES! I've been playing my congas hard and every night, and can appreciate what you guy are saying, the sound is sounding better to me ,even though I feel they still need to SUBMIT( my congas of couse) to my desire of this Master.
Tony Tumbador
Playing For Jesus

Posted: **Fri Jul 23, 2004 4:45 pm**

Hi Isaac
First of all, if I was stateside, I would definately be sending drums your direction for remounting- its an art in itself, and requires love for the instrument, which you seem to have in abundance!
We were chatting the other day and Gafro who is the MAN in my part of the world when it comes to tuning drums passed on some really good titbits. His premis was to really get the ideal sound, you should start with the frame, taking into account density and thickness of wood, height from floor, diameter at the bottom , how distended the "hips" are, and smoothness of the interior: these all effect the pitch. Start by tapping your unmounted shell and see what tone it produces- to get the optimum sound, then put your skin on and try to tune it to the shell- if both are in sync, the drum will really sing with its own individual voice. [He went on to tell me about going to warehouses and walking up and down tapping shells until he found the one he wanted!!!]
Hope this is useful
love Stu

Posted: **Mon Jul 26, 2004 1:49 am**

hi my name is ken melendez i'm a percussionist working in puerto rico,i played in different salsa,folckloric,and jazz groups.i have lots of videos on salsa,rumba,bomba and plena,jazz and lots more.i will trade for other music videos on the same topic. please contact me at melendez1969@aol.com or call me at 787-448-6890

congaplace.com

panic/ new skins / lost great sound/ - Skins for my congas