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I just put on new mules skins for 3 drums. They must have been applied to tightly, as the skins had sunk. They are cut and dried. Now they do not sit on the drum.

Should I put some water inside the head to re-wet them and re apply and retension?

Also what is the correct method of tensioning once the heads on mounted?

Should I throw them away and start all over?

Hello Valde!
Could you post a pic or two just to see what happened?
I hope you will be able to save your drum!

PimpS

Rats! I have been lucking tucking skins. Hang in there and post those photos so we can help.

GJS

Post some pics, be patient, don't throw them away, they can probably be salvaged, I have had skins sink when drying before, it has actually corrected over time usually as they get broke in. But we don't know until we see how much they have sunk. Isaac from JCR advised me once how to deal with this using a wet towel, I'll try and look that up.

Barrie

Thanks for the replies. I will take some pictures, it will be hard to see because of the quality of the camera and lighting.

Barrie, do let me know if you find something...

I also think that I fit the skins at a bad time- the weather was humid when I did them, then it cooled down really fast. Now they are hard and don't seat as well on the shell...

Please borrow a camera from a friend, and we can easier find a solution.
Doesn't soundlike something we can't fix! Don't throw them out!

If you lay a damp towel over the top only, Not to drip down the side,
the skin should soften up enough so you can re-apply some tension.
If more sagging occurs later while drying, slightly tighten the lugs
by hand.

Isaac

Inside and outside are not equally dry. Put them congas on their side for a while and let the skin dryness equalize.

I think that the edges have become unseated (I think that is the accurate term) and have raised a little. The sound is not the same awesomeness as it first was!

Thanks for all the help so far. This, like everything, has a learning curve. Want to get that sound again!

If you lay a damp towel over the top only, Not to drip down the side,
the skin should soften up enough so you can re-apply some tension.
If more sagging occurs later while drying, slightly tighten the lugs
by hand.

Thanks! Will do that today, and report the outcome.

When I mount a new skin, I choose a day when it is all I need to do, hopefully will be warm and sunny and i will be able to focus and tweak the process though out the drying process. Admittedly I'm a little obsessive over such things but it works well for me. I do tighten with a wrench, just loosely to start and then gently adjust upwards as the skins drys, not to second guess Isaac (who taught me most of what I know re skins), but I do think careful tightening with the wrench is fine (particularly with the tough mules skins) and if adjusted carefully throughout the process seems to help avoid the 'drop' that can occur. Mules skins are very tough and as long as you don't tighten much at all while they are freshly wet you will have no problems tightening carefully as they dry out a bit (in my experience), which is usually quite quick with some warm (not hot) morning sun.

Good luck,

Barrie

No.2-1820 wrote:When I mount a new skin, I choose a day when it is all I need to do, hopefully will be warm and sunny and i will be able to focus and tweak the process though out the drying process. Admittedly I'm a little obsessive over such things but it works well for me. I do tighten with a wrench, just loosely to start and then gently adjust upwards as the skins drys, not to second guess Isaac (who taught me most of what I know re skins), but I do think careful tightening with the wrench is fine (particularly with the tough mules skins) and if adjusted carefully throughout the process seems to help avoid the 'drop' that can occur. Mules skins are very tough and as long as you don't tighten much at all while they are freshly wet you will have no problems tightening carefully as they dry out a bit (in my experience), which is usually quite quick with some warm (not hot) morning sun.

Good luck,

Barrie

Yes, live and learn! From now on I will remount new skins in summer, where it is very humid here in S.C. I just chose to pick a bad time of year, I guess, to learn how to do it. The process went well all the up to the cutting. They sounded great for a few days before the weather changed. After that I think I goofed on the tuning process, there is not much info on actually tuning new skins as much as there is on mounting.

So for with the wet washcloths, the lugs have been getting loose with each re-wetting of the cloths (about 30 minutes each time). I guess so far, so good!

Life has returned to my congas! They really do sing now compared to the old stock skins.

Thanks especially to Barry and Isaac for the towel idea, and Mike for the reassurance. Kicking myself for not thinking about that earlier!

Now to finish the tuning process, I am going to continue to make sure the lugs sound even all around, and this time will keep the heads on.

Got to go! Got to make up for lost time!

Valde,

Another tip I got from the Esteemed Brotherhood (and Sisterhood) was to upend the drum onto a flat plastic bag once you have put the wet skin on. This means that the skin on the flesh hoop dries quicker fixing the edge of the skin and allowing tensioning. The playing surface will then still be supple enough to flatten under tension.
Doesnt help you present problem but worth considering for the future.

Dice