a few questions on heads? - heads?

[emmett]

A few questions:
#1 A few years ago I bought a used Matador tumba. Being a newbie in every since of the word I didn’t know exactly what to look for. When I got the drum home I noticed that the top of the drum wasn’t a perfect circle, it was more like the shape of an oval. I have no complaints with the sound of the drum, but I’m wondering if there is anything I can do about this now?
#2 Also, more recently (maybe two years ago) I bought new a matador conga. The conga sounds good, but I’m wondering would I get a more balanced sound if the heads were the same age?
#3 The bodies of both my tumba and conga are wood. If and when I change the heads, if I were to put a synthetic head on a natural body would this produce a poorer sound? Also, any suggestions on heads both natural and synthetic would be greatly appreciated.

Peace

[Isaac]

Most natural cow or water bufalo heads last about 3-4 years tops. It sounds
like you need some new ones. Keep in mind, the skins are at least
half of you instrument , not only the drum shells.

Isaac:blues:

[akdom]

Emmett,

Here are a few comments:
#1 A few years ago I bought a used Matador tumba. Being a newbie in every since of the word I didn’t know exactly what to look for. When I got the drum home I noticed that the top of the drum wasn’t a perfect circle, it was more like the shape of an oval. I have no complaints with the sound of the drum, but I’m wondering if there is anything I can do about this now?

If the top of the drum is oval, it might have been stored for a while with a skin badly tuned. If you strech your skin un evenly, this i what happens, the top changes from round to oval. Also, you need to losen your skins after playing to avoid oval head and to keep your skins in good condition. So if they were tuned in a store for a long time taht could be the reason why.


#2 Also, more recently (maybe two years ago) I bought new a matador conga. The conga sounds good, but I’m wondering would I get a more balanced sound if the heads were the same age?

If you want to balance the sound, change the skins of tha whole set. Try first to tune the set properly (1 to 3 or 1 to 5, listen to a guaganco, this helps)

#3 The bodies of both my tumba and conga are wood. If and when I change the heads, if I were to put a synthetic head on a natural body would this produce a poorer sound? Also, any suggestions on heads both natural and synthetic would be greatly appreciated.

The skin has a lot to do with the quality of your drums. Synthetic skins are great for concerts (they stay tuned longer during play) and in humid weather (they don't "move" if there is heat or humidity changes. Purists tend to say that synthetic skins don't have as good of a sound as natural.... Then why are most of the pros playing with them?
I still personally prefer natural skins even if I almost bought synthetics many times. Find brand natural skins to be sure of the quality, or if you can, go pck a skin at a slaughter house. I did that and I ended up having great skins and great sound.
I hope this was helpfull.

See ya

[JohnnyConga]

what has happend to youir drum is called "egging" because the drum has no "alma" or inner hoop to keep it "redondo" round. You can't do anything about it but maybe put an inner hoop inside at the top,maybe. I am a "Pro" and I dont use artificail skins, I can't feel them,like playing on some kinda paper to me. I gotta have the real deal on my drums,it's natural all the way around. Artificial skins are for "lazy" drummers who don't want to have to be bothered with tuning,or having to deal with mother nature and the heads. they have their place of course and they do sound nice on some model congas but not all. This is my opinion of course..... :;): JC Johnny Conga....

[akdom]

#### it JC, you are on top of everything ah ah ah!:D
Nice to see you in here once again!
If egging is what is happenin ti his drum, I agree with you, find a way to put a ring inside it, but I guess there is not much to do and this might not be enough. Just try and let us know.

B