ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

[windhorse]

You're right Barrie! They look just like Valje's!
The others with bands looked more barrel shaped in the middle like Gon Bops...
I thought when I picked up the banded ones that they played at the Afro-Cuban camp this sumer that they were lighter than any drums except maybe the lowest budjet old Mahogony Gon Bops.
That aircraft aluminum they make on the hardware just seems like the coolest thing ever!

[Chapo]

Congratulations Tonio. They look exactly like mine. Enjoy.

Luis

[yambu321]

.

[Tonio]

Vinnie , thanks bro !!

Olsongo, yeah I thought of getting rid of the LP's LOL But I use each set for a purpose, so I doubt I'll get rid of em.

Barrie, windhorse - the bands are cosmetic. Band do look cool and cubano, but I wanted to be different and show the wood. Thats cherry heart wood with no stain whatsoever. The belly is THE biggest and pronounced in existance. That shape is what gives the bass tones and projection vs Gon Bops they are lower, Valje is in the middle but the roundness kills the bass as Mario eloquently desribed. Its soo true.
In the pics, the sun makes it looks lighter in tone. In actuality its alot darker-brown.

Chapo, thanks bro, Mario told me about someone from FL has a no banded set. I'm sure your lovin' them.

Charlie, thanks bro!!, when I 1st called Mario, I told him El Coqui sent me!! You led me no wrong.

T



Edited By Tonio on 1193797001

[No.2-1820]

I much prefer the side plate hardware on this set, again closer to the valje look then the bulkier rectangle hardware on the other sets. Aesthetic are all down to taste though, they are for sure all gorgeous drums.

Barrie

[jorge]

If they are tight enough, I don't think bands are purely cosmetic. If they are loose, clearly they offer no support to the drum. I just had 7 cracks fixed on a 32 year old bandless oak Valje. While 2 of my 4 Skin on Skin banded oak drums have cracked and been fixed, each had only 1 crack, and neither has cracked again after over 20 years. Both SoS that cracked were finished with Watco oil and no polyurethane, the 2 that did not crack have polyurethane finish. I live in NJ/NY where the annual hot cold cycles cause major seasonal changes in humidity.

Now on all my drums, I wait until mid winter dry season when the wood shrinks and move the bands so they are tight and put the screws back in. In the summer, the bands get really tight, but they stay tight through the winters as well. I think the Valje cracked in so many places partly because it had no bands or alma, and oak shrinks and expands more through the wet/dry humidity cycles of NYC. Incidentally, none of the 5 banded cherry SoS drums I know of have cracked over a 15-20 year period. Jay Bereck told me he started using cherry because it has the lowest coefficient of expansion with humidity of all the common woods.



Edited By jorge on 1193801268

[vinnieL]

On the Isla drums in particular the bands serve absolutely no purpose other than looking good. Mario's staves are carved to shape rather than bending them to shape. This method of construction eliminates the need for the bands as the wood does not want to straighten out to return to its original state. Tonio's drums are absolutely gorgeous! Mario seems to hit the nail on the head with every customer we know of on this forum. I am incredibly happy that i ordered a set from him.

[harpman]

those cherry Isla's look great! I wished I spent the extra $300 I have a set of four Islas with early american that I got in june. Like everyone says they rock! My requinto has a very thick skin on it much thicker then I'm use to I've talk Mario and he says he'll send me the DVD which I think will help getting better sounds from it

[windhorse]

My new Isla percussion video arrived yesterday, and it was awesome! There are a few things I'll study from it, but one of the things that grabbed me immediately was that the shaker player only plays on the "one" and not the one and three. This gives the whole rhythm more space.. What a wonderful concept, and so simple that I feel stupid for not really recognizing and "knowing" it before this. Also, they play halves of a rhythm several times, giving it space - especially on the guaguanco.. It sounds wonderful when the rhythm breaths with sparseness..
I find myself wishing they had a coro in the video, and not just the soloist, but the percussionists are top notch! Pili is of course awesome,, but I was amazed to see that he was surrounded by great guys that are just as accomplished as he is!
They play mostly Guarapachangueo - the first one is "traditional" or recognizable, the second is an interesting blend I've not heard before where the big box does some soloing along with the quinto.. The way the guys are communicating on their respective drums is obviously very advanced and quite beautiful.

Good stuff you guys!! Thanks a bunch!
Dave

[Tonio]

Dave,
you know that those big boxes are called cajon right?
Mario will be making a line of cajons soon.
The DVD is great. Good performances. Mario was sounding good on quinto for sure.
T

[bongosnotbombs]

Yeah just got my copy of the dvd a few minutes ago at work, took a peek during lunch, sounds good and the video quality is'nt bad either.

I noticed they advertised the dvd on craigslist all over the country, pretty good advertising if you ask me.

So those are cuban cajon's? I've seen them but they are different than the ones I'm used to seeing, the ones you sit on thta are so popular for flamenco now.

btw does'nt cajon mean box?

I think I'm going to have to make one of those wooden palito boxes Pili is playing on with spoons. That's thing is cool...
any special way to make that box? is it closed on all sides? open on one? Wood type? Come on Tonio I know this is just your kind of thing.........



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1194038015

[windhorse]

Dave,
you know that those big boxes are called cajon right?
Mario will be making a line of cajons soon.
The DVD is great. Good performances. Mario was sounding good on quinto for sure.
T

Of course,, but I consciously didn't give it a name to avoid any confusion since I was going to call it the Bajo, which is the big box's name when it's made by Fat Conga.
So, were those cajons being played the ones that Mario makes?

[Tonio]

I thought so Dave. Mario has the cajons on DVD and are prototypes so far. They do sound good. He specifically does not want to compare to Fat Cajons.
Naturally ISLA cajons will be of traditional cuban style.

BNB, yeah that palitos box does sound good. At one point I thought it was being played with forks on the DVD. That style I've seen around but not familiar of actually seeing one in person, so I couldn't tell you the construction. Though it looks like a seperate peice of wood on top ? Mario didn't have it around the shop when I was there. Or I totally missed it. Guess you can call and ask?

T

[vinnieL]

The Palitos cajon was built by Pili. Mario has some very talented people around him. I have my copy of the DVD and it is beautiful. In speaking to Mario they purposely left some angles more grainy then others he wanted that look. You'll notice on the video one angle is very clear and sharp one is grainy this was all by design.

[JimG]

I've been watching this Isla thread since it started in February. I was 6 months into my conga "comeback". I started with the Gon Bops Tumbao and knew I could inch my up the conga food chain over several years and spend plenty of money each time. I called Isla because of the great praise of these drums from this thread.

"Hello" Yea, Mario answered the phone. Well, I get to ask the designer craftsman himself my questions.... not a salesman. This should be interesting. I asked my measley little questions about construction, skins and hardware. Then, Mario asked me, "what do you want these drums for?" I answered, "to play for the rest of my life." He immediately knew what was in my heart. He asked me the styles I play, the forums, etc. It was like he was matching me up to the drums before I even said yes. It was his passion that convinced me. He contacted me throught the construction phase, sent me pictures. When they arrived, (my son opened the boxes before I got home, cause he was so excited too), all I could do was just smile.

I have had these drums for 5 months now. I have waited until now to post about them, because I didn't want it to sound like a sales pitch (not that you other Isla owners do...because I know your joy!). I play them daily in my home studio. They are beautiful to listen to. All the construction details are uncomparable. And for 30 mintues every day, I am completely joyful.

Not every players journey is the same. The paths are different. The ends are different. For me, these drums finish the cirlce.

Jim

Isla Percussions Conga, Tumba Canoe, Rosewood

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