Getting slap tone

[blango]

I studied technique from Babatunde Lea, who studied with Giovanni Hidalgo.

They strongly suggest the slap is played with a flat hand, relaxed hand in the same position as the tone and muff.

Cupping leads to injury of the fingers. Mongo's techniqe as Barrato and the oldschool players, with all due respect, is out of date.

Since i changed my technique, ive had to tape my fingers on very few occations, and havent missed a gig due to over worked hands.

The slap will come with strength and time. Watch Giovanni, he is the only one i watch for technique, as he is flawless.

suggestion: one hand at a time, very slow and very light/soft. if you can get the slap with very little force, that is what you are looking for.

Tony

[Whopbamboom]

Can I really get a good slap with a soft attack? I've kind of been beating my hands up trying to get a good one-handed slap. But then again, I also have LP Gio's with whatever buffalo skin is on them...

Should I change to mule and try softer techniques? Wait for the callouses to build up over several months??

[Mike]

Hi there,
I have just changed a Giovanni quinto´s water buffalo to MULE skin, and the overall tonal effect is brilliant. Awesome, it´s a new instrument now!
THe mule needs to break in though (Isaac says it takes 3 months), which also means that it is a bit hard on the hands at first.
But after all I´ve been through (mounting trouble is what I mean), it is DEFINITELY WORTH trying. If you can get hold of mule skin, do it! THe slaps will come crisp and without nasty overtones as soon as the skin has broken in.

Cheers!

[CongaTick]

Couldn't agree more with Mike on mule slaps. I'm a strong Isaac advocate and his mulies invigorated my Ardientes (don't laugh!) and an original Palisades, NJ LP glass tumba. Never had a hand problem on the supposed "hard" mules. Right from the start they were like "buttah" and with continual playing now do everything I want them to do. Slaps are primarily technique based. Start broad and overdo it till you get it and then compess the movement and streamline it to its essence until the movement of the hand on the edge of the drum is as imperceptible (or perceptible) as the movement you would use for an open. Correctly done there will be some sting to the fingers, but not PAIN.

[Derbeno]

Hey there =)

I really liked this brothers site and he has a video of a slap and some other interesting stuff too.

http://www.petelockett.com/pete%20new%20pages/Conga%20lessons.html

check it out maybe you'll like it too.

With respect Pete is talented and can play a myriad of percussion instruments

But you know what they say about a Jack of all trades?

I would rather say to copy the technique of those that have studied and play the conga as their primary instruments.

[burke]

Back in one of the many, many slap disscussions soneone talked about moving the slap further in towards the centre of the drum.

I tried it and moved my slap in about an inch - it really helped both my L & R handed slaps.

for what its worth...

Darrell

[blango]

If you can get the slap, muff and tone in the same position, it really helps with stamina and speed.

[blango]

re: working on slaps with little force:

This is just for working on your technique. if you can get a slap with just the weight of your hand falling with only gravity, then you can make the fattest slaps with force when you are playing out. also, it prevents you from resting on having to use much force every time you slap.

With the NY style of tumbao, one needs to be able to slap with the left hand right after a heel or palm movement. This is difficult to do with force, so if you can get the sound with less force, this helps.

Also, there is a place for a cupped hand - its in the 'rumba' slap. Its in a different place on the drum - closer to the rim, by your belly with the hand perpendicular to your line of sight. This slap is played with a cupped hand, according to Giovanni. Most people starting to work on slaps shouldn’t worry about this specific movement, it will be some time till you need it.

By the way, the players with the best chops still work on every movement, slap tone muff bass heel tips, just as the rookies should, almost every time they practice - this is why they have the chops they do.

Even Babatunde Lea, who gigs more than all of us together, works patiently and slowly on every slap. Ive watched him practice, he is so intent on the correct form, he stares at his hands, seemingly begging them to make a more perfect sound - he works on technique for 20 minutes at least, every time he sits down to practice - amazing.

Tony

[Whopbamboom]

I'm still having great difficulty getting crisp ONE-handed slaps on my LP wood Gio's. Can anyone recommend any videos that show good detailed instuctions on proper form for one-handed slaps?

[CongaTick]

boom,

Very common to feel frustrated with slap consistency for quite awhile. By all means hit the books/videos for hand positions, but you'll find that individual differences in hand shape, movement, ability etc will vary the strike dynamics of indivdual players. As previous threads have covered...once you have the basic hand shape/strike position, it's going to be like riding a bike... once it hits you'll try it again and again until your consistency increases and your muscle memory starts imprinting. Be gentle with yourself!!!You will get it because I can sense your serious commitment.

[Whopbamboom]

Thanks for the encouragement! Two-handed slap, where one hand creates a sound chamber and simultaneously dampens the head, while the other hand slaps nice and crisp, no problem at all.

And, I have discovered lots of potentially different sounds in my experimentation-- a nice side-benefit.

But if I could only get just ONE single-handed slap to come out nice and crisp , then perhaps I could try to get more consistent with it. I haven't produced even one that sounds like what I've heard in recordings, and I practice an average of about an hour a day every day of the week. I have NO idea if I'm even using the proper hand technique at all, or placing it on the drum correctly. I need to see someone doing it, I guess. So, are there any videos that show the one-handed slap up-close and personal?

[Sakuntu]

My slap sounded the best after I played for 6 months on beat up low tuned african drums (Ghanaian Kpanlogo etc...) Those drums make you really work for a crisp sound. When i got back home and jumped on a tuned up conga I thought I was Giovanni! :p Once you get the hang of how a slap should sound, practice on a low tuned drum, then when you do a gig, your slaps will sound that much better!

[CongaTick]

The low-tuned drum technique works for me too. I usually practice slaps on my un-tuned quinto before tuning up and moving on with other rudiments. Boom, the absolute best way for you to tune your slap technique is to get a teacher you trust who can coach you through it. I had two who gave me hand position advice that made all the difference (and saved my hands).

[Whopbamboom]

Yeah, I kind of figured I need some one-on-one coaching. I put in a request for an instructor in the teacher/student section, but so far nothing has surfaced near enough to San Bernardino, CA. Perhaps I'll have to save up some money for a trip into L.A. at some point. But if someone knows of a detailed video covering slap technique, then I'd be glad to try to obtain a copy in the meantime.

[Derbeno]

Yeah, I kind of figured I need some one-on-one coaching. I put in a request for an instructor in the teacher/student section, but so far nothing has surfaced near enough to San Bernardino, CA. Perhaps I'll have to save up some money for a trip into L.A. at some point. But if someone knows of a detailed video covering slap technique, then I'd be glad to try to obtain a copy in the meantime.

Here is something I put up a while ago hope it helps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7fA8abimD0

If you ever fancy a trip to San Diego give us a shout otherwise LA is not as far and tons of good teachers there. A lesson for an hour or so should do the trick.
Con permiso, I detect a certain frustration and impatience, your biggest enemies when you are trying to learn any new skill particularly on this wonderful but tricky instrument, take it easy and relax it will come and get better, practise and rest. The rest is also important as part of the learning process as it allows your brain to digest and assimilate. Take a recording or video about once a month and play it back as you go along, you will be surprised how much you are progressing without realizing it. Good Luck!