Quinto vs conga

[bongosnotbombs]

Hey, a conga tuner (similar to how a guitar tuner works) is a great idea! You might want to seriously consider inventing one, if there isn't one already. You might just end up becoming filty rich! :;):

you guys are talking about a drum tuner

http://www.drumdial.com/

they work on congas too.

[JohnnyConga]

If u taught yourself by "ear" to tune u dont need a pitch pipe..."JC" Johnny Conga....

[JohnnyConga]

Next we'll have "programmible congas" in the sense of u sitting down with them and u put in the conga program patterns for the tune and the drums play themselves...is that what its coming too? Or has that program already been invented,if not would sombody like to do it with me?., we'd make a bunch of money, and no more need for us to be playing.....NOT!....I don't think so!...."JC" Johnny Conga....

[Tonio]

JC, sad part is, yes there is Virtual Instruments - to inclued Afrocuban drums, there's even one just for a Darbuka. There is one program that uses Michael Spiro's sampled congas and bata etc.
Though there is some "loop" snippages for some sequencers - jeez.

Not to worry, most of these folks that use them don't know much about really playin, so the patterns are awful.

Thats what we are for!!

T

[109-1176549166]

If u taught yourself by "ear" to tune u dont need a pitch pipe..."JC" Johnny Conga....

JC,

I've been playing guitar since I was a kid. I used to tune my guitar by ear for almost 4 decades. Now I use a chromatic tuner.

I can guarantee you that the chromatic tuner is capable of detecting tonal variations way beyond the frequency hearing capabilities of the human ear (similar to the way dogs can hear certain frequencies beyond human hearing). Thus, my guitar tuning has never been more accurate, not to mention how much faster I'm able to tune my guitar--a big help during live gigs in case you break a string, have to replace it and tune as fast as possible.

One of my consolations is that the best guitar players in the world now tune their guitars with the aid of tuners, too.

Isn't living in a 1st world democracy just absolutely wonderful? You have so many more equipment options available to you. More importantly, you don't have to have others make your choices for you! :;): :laugh:



Edited By mjtuazon on 1187740414

[109-1176549166]

Next we'll have "programmible congas" in the sense of u sitting down with them and u put in the conga program patterns for the tune and the drums play themselves...is that what its coming too? Or has that program already been invented,if not would sombody like to do it with me?., we'd make a bunch of money, and no more need for us to be playing.....NOT!....I don't think so!...."JC" Johnny Conga....

JC,

With all due respect to you, your foreseen scenario sounds so pessimistic (almost cynical), but thankfully there's nothing out there that says that it has to happen or that it'll automatically become a reality.

The reality is that out there there are already drum and conga loops available. In addition, there are tons of midi sequence programs out there for keyboards, horns, strings, other instruments, countless sound effects and even the human voice.

For one, these loops are for people who play mainly just one instrument but would like to incorporate some of these sounds in, say, a 1-man, 2-man or 3-man lean band setup in order to simulate the sound of a bigger band.

Obviously, musicians are paid for their skills. But audiences are reasonable in that they generally expect you to play only 1 instrument at a time. And if you're an expert in 1 instrument, then you have a service that's marketable and there are people out there who'll likely be willing likely to pay for your services. So, if you add loops of other musical instruments that you don't play to the instrument that you do play, then many audiences find that OK.

However, if you're not able to play any instrument at all (including, maybe, your human voice) before an audience (in other words a "fake", as in the case of the Grammy-Award Winning duo, "Milli Vanilli", who were later discovered to really have no singing talent but were merely lip-synching), I can guarantee you that your audience will soon enough walk away from you and you won't be having any more musical jobs in the future.

So, absolutely have no fear about even just the possibility of your pessimistic scenario coming true! Competition is such a great sifter of genuine talent! :;): :laugh:



Edited By mjtuazon on 1187777164

[congamyk]

I want to mention a CD that you might want to listen to. It is Titled..." Los Ritmos Calientes" by Cal Tjader. What a loss that was when he passed away. Anyway, on this cd you will hear early Armando Peraza, and Mongo Santamaria playing what I believe is a Conga/Tumba combination tuned low, but the tones, slaps, etc are so beautiful that you will probably want to play the tunes over and over. It might not be Salsa, but more like Afro/Latin/ Jazz, but I think that you will get some of the answers that you are looking for.

Listening to it now... wow!

I haven't played rumba group in my life, but I imagine that I'll just be bringing my quinto should I ever play in one.

The quinto is used by only the most experienced rumberos as it is the lead/solo drum in rumba.

JC, sad part is, yes there is Virtual Instruments - to inclued Afrocuban drums, there's even one just for a Darbuka. There is one program that uses Michael Spiro's sampled congas and bata etc.
Though there is some "loop" snippages for some sequencers - jeez.

Not to worry, most of these folks that use them don't know much about really playin, so the patterns are awful.
Thats what we are for!!
T

Yes there are a ton of sampled percussion kits out there and I agree few are any good.

I use conga/tumba, tune them right and it is perfect.
You can get great slaps out of the conga, you don't need the quinto in a band setting.

Now if I was gigging with a touring act and money and loading (having roadies ) was not an issue sure all 3, why not! :p :p



Edited By congamyk on 1187742170

[bongosnotbombs]

I want to mention a CD that you might want to listen to. It is Titled..." Los Ritmos Calientes" by Cal Tjader. What a loss that was when he passed away. Anyway, on this cd you will hear early Armando Peraza, and Mongo Santamaria playing what I believe is a Conga/Tumba combination tuned low, but the tones, slaps, etc are so beautiful that you will probably want to play the tunes over and over. It might not be Salsa, but more like Afro/Latin/ Jazz, but I think that you will get some of the answers that you are looking for.

Listening to it now... wow!

Yeah that album is really good, one of my favorites.

[Tonio]

I'm listenng right now !! 1st track "Cubano Chant" Armando killin on the bongos!!
defnately conga/tumba scenario here.

T

[vinnieL]

I will try the pitch pipe method i mean i get the tuning alright with conga/tumba but no I'll have a quinto to contend with also.

[109-1176549166]

The quinto is used by only the most experienced rumberos as it is the lead/solo drum in rumba.

congamyk,

Oh, but I've known this for a while already. With lots of practice, experience and some talent, I'm confident that I'll eventually get there. We all started somewhere, right? :;):

[JohnnyConga]

Just for the record yes i have been known to be 'pessimistic' about some things, aren't you? Second I never like the idea of being replaced by electronic technology, like what happened to the studio musicians in Los Angeles back when the first "Emulator" came out.back .in teh early 80's..within weeks 95% of the studio musicians were replaced by this machine for almost 12 years with only a small handful of musicians actually left to record....I know, cause I was replaced as well....."JC" Johnny Conga...

[109-1176549166]

If u taught yourself by "ear" to tune u dont need a pitch pipe..."JC" Johnny Conga....

JC,

vinnieL is probably a beginner percussionist, so for him, tuning with the help of another instrument is more necessary for him than for me who am probably an intermediate percussionist. Tuning by "ear" can come later on. vinnieL and I obviously may not have the same length of experience that you have. But, in time both vinnieL and I can eventually learn to tune by "ear".

In my case, though, having worked for only computer companies in my almost 2 decades of work experience here in the U.S., I have no reluctance or resistance against technology. On the contrary, I'm very open to it and oftentimes embrace it. I recognize that for the most part, technology is able to do things beyond the capabilities of our human senses. Hence, my present continued use of the pitch pipe. But, I can also use recorded music, especially the sound of another conga as tuning aids.

I'm speculating that before you learned and honed up your tuning-by-"ear" skill, you used another instrument or a recording of an instrument as a starting point. Then, over time you got memorize to a certain pitch or pitches.

In other words, even with tuning by "ear", you probably couldn't have learned it without resorting at first to the aid of some other instrument or recording of an instrument in the beginning.

I'm very curious, though, to know if a percussionist, who's COMPLETELY deaf since birth, can learn to tune by "ear". Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf. Yet, he was able to write timeless classical symphonies. But, he's the extremely rare exception to the rule.

At the same time, I realize that there's such as a thing as "internal" hearing (inside the brain) which, as a professional solo vocalist and harmonist, I'm very well aware of. I'm able to hear not just pitches but a series of numerous whole chords in my brain. This skill enables me to usually assign up to 4 parts of a harmony (sometimes 5 or 6) when I'm teaching the vocal harmony of a song to a band or singing group.



Edited By mjtuazon on 1187773859

[vinnieL]

Yes I am beginning percussionist. with some really nice congas coming! :p LOL

[109-1176549166]

Just for the record yes i have been known to be 'pessimistic' about some things, aren't you? Second I never like the idea of being replaced by electronic technology, like what happened to the studio musicians in Los Angeles back when the first "Emulator" came out.back .in teh early 80's..within weeks 95% of the studio musicians were replaced by this machine for almost 12 years with only a small handful of musicians actually left to record....I know, cause I was replaced as well....."JC" Johnny Conga...

JC,

I now and understand better where you coming from.

There's nothing terribly wrong about being pessimistic, except that, from my own past experience many years ago, worries oftentimes turn out to be unfounded and just a waste of emotion and energy, not to mention the potential damage that they can do to one's health.

You may have read some of my negative critique about certain historical events or actions by people on this forum that may have led you to get the impression that I get pessimistic sometimes. But that's me looking at things retrospectively or hindsight. Pessimism involves looking at something prospectively. And looking at things prospectively, believe it or not, for many years now, I no longer get to feel pessimistic.

The explanation is a long one and discussing it here would only be deviating from the topic of the thread.

Anyway, regarding musicians being replaced by machines, first of all, personally I don't think it's ever going to happen--at least not until they're able to exactly replicate the function of the human brain. But, if I'm wrong, then it's probably not going to happen within our productive years. So, why worry?

There's no stopping the march of technology. So, we'll inevitably be having more and more cutting-edge musical tools coming our way. But I strongly believe that they'll still need a human being behind them to operate them and operate them well.

Come to think of it, if we adopt technology with a positive and fearless attitude, we can actually even make it an extremely powerful tool for us, as well as our ally or friend which can even give us a big competitive advantage over other musicians who stubbornly cling to their old ways and refuse to adopt it.



Edited By mjtuazon on 1187777427