Congas and an apartment

[Mr. NoChops]

First of all: Hi everyone, I'm new to the board! I've been playing djembe for 4 years and on the side I have played some bongos and darbouka etc..

I desperately want to start practicing playing the Congas. I absolutely adore the sound! However, my problem is this:

I live in an 150 square foot apartment with rather thin walls. Do you guys have any practice tips as to how I can muffle the sound of the congas, but still retain some tone for practice purposes? I don't want to splash out a thousand buck on a pair of Congas if I won't be able to practice with'em.

The djembe isn't such a practice-problem becasue I can always do that outside. But Congas just aren't very convenient to just hop on my bike and ride to the closest park.

Any advice?

Peace

[Sonorito]

??? First: Have guys abolished the winters i Finland since you're always able to play the djembe in the park? I live i Norway and we still have winters

But seriously: I also live in an apartment. To really mute the sound of congas (and other handdrums) you will need a soundproofed room, or a cubicle built for the purpose. Soundproofing is a science which is about stopping soundwaves from travelling through materials (from air to solids), which will mean walls, floor and ceiling cut off from the resonant materials in the building. I have not done that, but I think I have reduced the noise (what is what neighbors usually call congadrumming).

If you have congas in a stand (or cradle) place the stand on something like the isolating material used underneath the sleeping bag for sleeping outdoors (liggunderlag). Etafoam was the name of the stuff in former years. This takes care of much of the vibration transmitted through the stand.

You can always put something into the drum (old clothing etc.), but it will dampen all the resonance, which is something of the charm with congas, and leave you with a boring "kick-kack" flat tone and no bass. You can,t do any sensible with the drumheads. So I think you must put something into the drum which mutes it. I have experimented with more of the etafoam and put in sheets of it in the drumbottom. And here is the area for (maybe) endless experimentation: How much can you put inside the drum before the sound turn flat? (Or is it any form of some materials - like the mutes used in brassinstruments - that will absorb excess soundwaves?) And how loud is that sound you will be left with? And then the question will be how tolerant your neigbors are.

That is about sosial relationships, and one thing that helps is to play the drums at certain times agreed with the neighbor: Not before, not after, and absolutely not at night and so on...

What I have come up with is not at all a perfect solution. To hit the drumheads really hard is still to be avoided. So if anyone out there have a solution, I'll be hungry for it.

[Mr. NoChops]

??? First: Have guys abolished the winters i Finland since you're always able to play the djembe in the park? I live i Norway and we still have winters

Hah! Of course the winter is a hindrance, but at least I can play outside for half the year.

I practice djembe indoors with a few layers of towels on the drum head. The thing is, my djembe technique is already ok, so I don't need as much to practice the basics (open slaps, muted slaps, tones etc...) because I can do that already. I just work on learning new rhythms mostly.....

But on the Conga I'm a complete beginner, and for technique training, it's pretty much essential that you hear exactly what you play. The foam thing sounds good. Thing is though, I live above a restaurant, so noise going downstairs isn't the problem. It's the walls that are most problematic.

Neighbours have never complained so far, but just knowing that they can hear everything limits the amount of time and the loudness of playing that I allow myself. IOW: It's a definite hindrance to my progress. If I had a proper space for practice, I'd probably be a much better player already. I take lessons once a week and meet up with friends to jam twice a month also, but still, practice time on my own is essential.

Dammit, I have to get my own house or start playing an acoustic guitar. :;):

[akdom]

Hi there,

If you play the djembe and your technic is "OK", you won't have much problem with the congas.
Here is a tip.
Put some towels or other thick fabric in the drums. It will leave a direct access to the skin and it will muffled the sound. Just add as many towels as you need (even if you have to fill completely the drums). This should do the trick.

Have fun.

Big B

[Mr. NoChops]

Hi there,

If you play the djembe and your technic is "OK", you won't have much problem with the congas.

Well, in my limited experience with congas, I've found a good slap a lot tougher to achieve on the congas. I think it might be due to the fact that the goat skin on djembes is thinner and easier on your hands than the (mule, cow, buffalo skin??) of congas, and a good conga slap needs a lot more toughness from your hand.

Moreover, heel-toe technique isn't really used in traditional, djembe playing. I'd imagine open tones and muffled tones are achieved similarly, but getting that fluid, not-have-to-think-about-it heel-toe movement going and some proper slaps will take quite some time. Also, there isn't much lateral movement of the hands in djembe playing, whilst with congas you can have up to 4-5 drums plus the bongos to deal with. I see it as a much tougher ball game.

Thanks for the advice.

Peace

[Juzzi]

Moikka Mr. NoChops!
Mulla on ihan sama ongelma. Naapurit eivät oikein pidä melusta. Virittelin just uudet timbalet kuntoon ja siitäkin sain vähän sanomista:)

Mistä päin muuten olet?

Terveisin,

Jussi Mäkelä

[straps]

For $120 American you can get the LP Giovanni Hildago Compact Conga. It's not quite the same as playing the lovely full drums, but you can put in your lap on top of a sweater or something. It won't sound great, but the feel is about right. I do this while I watch TV when I don't want to bother other people in the house but still want to work on chops. It is also handy to have on my lunch break, I can sit in my car and practice. This is just one option. I would suggest also finding a time in the day that you won't tick off the neighbors that you could play your congas uninhibited. You might have to talk to them, and if they say no time is good, at least you got to meet your neighbors and let them know you were being considerate.

[NaVajO]

Hah, liggunderlag, what a lovely word!:) Is it the same word in swedish, norwegian and finish?

I'm living in a "radhus" so I can play at anytime on the day, but later at night I'm a bit more careful.