Shifting to a Higher Conga Set - How important is the tumba?

[Bachikaze]

Increasingly, it seems, I'm seeing videos of groups, especially Cubans, playing what appears to be a conga, a quinto, and a requinto. It seems to be more common when each player has one, rather than multiple drums. Is this a matter of folklorico vs. salsa style?

I rather favor the higher drums. I'm toying with the idea of buying a set of three Islas soon, and I was considering getting a requinto instead of the tumba. I see posts from you folks that say that the best combination is tumba, conga, quinto (which is what I have now). Is that bass really important? Are requintos too limited? Do any of you play with the requinto-to-conga combination?

Thanks.

[congamyk]

my opinion

Use 2 congas and a tumba ...OR 1 conga and 2 tumbas.

The quinto is just not important to me. I keep one around for rumba but never use it out. My conga gets the slaps and highs I need. And the requinto is a waste of space. If you can't get a regular quinto to sound as high as you want just use a bongo! Of course it's silly because that high tone isn't even in harmony with conga and tumba. Why is that high a tone (requinto) even necessary?

Remember you can always tune up, but you can NEVER get a conga to sound like a real tumba.

You can never tune down enough to get that deep sound with just a conga- you need the tumba.

[bongosnotbombs]

A lot of it depends on what kind of group you are playing with,
are you playing the same kind of music those guys you are talking about are?

Go with what you feel, but for me personally that deep grounding open tone on the tumba is everything.

[Bachikaze]

Thanks for two very helpful answers. It seems that the larger drums are more popular in this online community.

My questions about smaller drums probably can be traced to my (short) djembe period. At that time, I considered "bigger is better" (though I had a relatively modest 13" drum myself). But a couple of djembe players had 9" heads on their drums, and they sounded great. They lost only a little bass, which really isn't very important in a djembe because the bass is so much lower than the tones anyway. I played some drums in that size and found that they felt good and I could control the heads better.

Lately, I've noticed that many of the drums in the Cuban amateur street videos I've been watching have heads in about the 9-10" range. They rarely seem to have congas above 12". Additionally, I listen to various Caribbean folkloric music styles that also have conga-like drums that are quite skinny.

So, I was just wondering if the fat drums are more of a Euro/North American preference.

But I do agree with bongosnotbombs about the open tumba tone. My Bauers have a beautiful open tumba. Maybe I would miss that.

By the way, I play both modern and folkloric styles.



Edited By Bachikaze on 1196616320

[yambu321]

BACHIKAZE,
THE REQUINTO IS PURELY A SOLOIST DRUM FOR RUMBA SETTINGS. IT'S FOR THE MASTER RIFFER. AND THE QUINTO HAS IT'S PURPOSE AS WELL. A BONGO COULD NEVER REPLACE A REQUINTO, JUST AS A REQUINTO COULD NEVER REPLACE A BONGO; TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS. I DO AGREE HOWEVER, THAT THE
TWO CONGA/ ONE TUMBA, OR ONE CONGA, AND TWO TUMBA'S SET UP IS PREFERABLE. BUT STILL, WITH A QUINTO ADDED TO THOSE, IT WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER SET-UP!

REMEMBER, HOW WE TUNE OUR DRUMS IS IMPORTANT AS WELL. HOW HIGH, OR LOW WE'LL NEED THEM.



Edited By yambu321 on 1197214956

[Omelenko]

It depends on the music you play. If you play straight "tumbao" in a salsa setting, you don't need a quinto or a requinto. I would get (2) 11 3/4 congas and a tumba 12 1/2 or 13. A requinto is a solo instrument for a seasoned quinto player for rumba (guaguanco). I never use a requinto eventhough I have it. If you want to establish a good "afinque" with a tasty tumbao, you don't need anything but a conga and a tumba. People that don't have the "tumbao" down pack like the higher sounding quintos and requintos, but if you have it together you don't need them. Bigger congas are always better.
Saludos, Dario

[caballoballo]

Down here in P.R Congueros in Salsa bands are using two 12.5" with fyberskin to play, no quintos or requintos. You get a very fat sound with that combination .
'

[Isaac]

Hello Bachikaze,
You may be just seeing guys who had no larger drum or couldn't afford one.
Maybe there's was a Low Cajon filling that role?
A 10" & 11" set is also what some of the manufacturers have decided to sell,
to save on materials. It's neither correct, popular or traditional...but
at least it's a start for beginners.
The Tumba is part of the essence of conga playing.
If you avoid it you'll be missing a lot and possibly won't discover or experience
it's role within and under (not just on top of ) the music.
Keep in mind, that there was a time in the history of our instrument when only one conga was used...
and it was pretty low by today's standards. In Cuba, all congas no matter what size
are properly referred to as Tumbadoras.

~ Isaac

[Bachikaze]

People sure have definite ideas around here, but that's exactly what I was hoping for.

I really had no idea the central role of the tumba in congas. I tend to center on my conga and hit the tumba for low anchoring points, just as I hit the quinto for high accents. Most of the music forms I play have much lower drums in their ensembles than a tumbadora, so I usually don't think of it taking that role.

I'm surprised that congas were historically large, since instruments often tend to grow in size over time (e.g. djembes, surdos, drumkits) as they Westernize/commercialize, and because many of the drums of Cuba's Caribbean neighbors are such skinny small-headed things.

Thanks for the informed advice.