I JUST got my new drum!

[Mr.Grumpy]

OK, I just got my new baby. She's a Toca Limited Edition 11 3/4 conga that I'll be using as a tumba for the time being I think. The drum itself is in immaculate shape. I am sure that it's not tuned up right and I wanted to ask you all before I even TOUCH it how to go about this the RIGHT WAY. IT already has a slight ringing overtone to it but even with the stock head on it I expect a top-of-the-line drum to sound as sweet as can be. Before I so much as touch a wrench to it can some one please tell me exactly how to go about this procedure so that I get a nice, mellow sound form this beautiful drum.

Thanks

Ken

[blango]

What style of music do you play?

How long have you played, and how would you rate your chops?

Tony

[Congadelica]

Im guessing here that you are a newbie to Congas ?

best way to find your personal sweet spot would be increase by quater turn incraments going anti clockwise to raise he tone to a higher pitch . or go around the conga clockwise with clockwise turns (if that makes sence) failing you not comprende with mi explanation check out youtube im sure there is info on how best to tune congas.

HTH

suave

[bongosnotbombs]

The skin may not be broken in yet, even top of the line congas come with new skins.

Main thing is all lugs should be tightened evenly.

[Mr.Grumpy]

What style of music do you play?

How long have you played, and how would you rate your chops?

Tony

I pay a combination of Kitchen-pot funk and steering wheel hip-hop. I have been playing since I was a child and my chops are very nice when I marinade them n a little Italian dressing and teryaki before I grill them.

Seriously, in my enthusiasm I neglected ALL of that information!

I am new to Congas: brand new. I bought a used set of cheep, small fiberglass congas about a month ago and though that they sounded like crap. Big fiberglass buckets of crap. I asked about them here actually and it was pretty much agreed that if I spent as much on skins as I did on the drums, got them mounted right and tuned right I would have...... crappy drums with nice skins on them. I re-headed the 10" drum with a goat skin and let the 11" sit until I found a head on e-bay. As I was trolling for that I found my Toca Limited Edition drum for not much more than the price of a new head and snapped it up. So, in effect, I have one drum. I did find a cheep NOS head for the 'glass drum so I ordered that to and that's going to be my "set" for now for the time being. I also play the Djembe recreationally and have only taken a few classes last year. I know no rhythms in their entierty but I can make the basic sounds and I have fun on it. I also have a set of bongos and can actually play them a little although I would classify myself as beginner on those too. I have been utterly unable to find local instruction on any of these instruments. I have no chops.

Perhaps it is the influence of the Djembe Trad Mafia, but I would like to learn Latin rhythms and latin style of playing. Eventually I would like to bring my percussion into a pop-rock setting as well but I do think that to play bongos or congas one need to know where the drums came from and how to play "by the rules" first before one can go beyond them. I read about percussion more than I talk about it. I talk about it more than I mess around with it and I mess around with it WAY more than I "practice" it although I did pick up Stick Control and a practice pad.

Well, that's the story.
Help me.
Please.

[Mr.Grumpy]

The skin may not be broken in yet, even top of the line congas come with new skins.

Main thing is all lugs should be tightened evenly.

Now, by "even" do you mean "get out a protractor and a level" kind of even or something that one can just eye-ball in a general sort of way? I tried to actually count the threads on that 'glass drum when I tuned it and it still sounded like a turd. Is that because it's a turd drum or was I being too technical and not going by "feel" enough which some how made it come out un-even;y tensioned?

[blango]

oh, ok,

Welcome.

make sure you tighten the nuts on the lugs evenly. one at a time, a half a revolution at a time. Count to make sure you always tighten all of them the same amount. the metal crown should be parallel to the top of the drum always.

look for the tone where the drum sings its best. you can tighten it till it chokes the sound, just to see where not to tune it. If you tune to a mid range tone, as it is a mid size drum, you will not have to detune the drum every time. Its built to last.

You may find the stock skin ringy, yes, they are. Your drum will sound much nicer when you get another skin for it, but spending time on playing will be better than working on the conga at this point.

hope that helps,

Tony

[Mr.Grumpy]

........
hope that helps,

Tony

Yes.
It helps.
A lot.
Should I un-tune it first ro just go from where it is right now?

[blango]

as long as it is level to start, its all good.

one way to check for sure, but not a way to tune in general (as it leads to bending of the crown) is to:

as soon as it makes a tone, tap on the skin above each lug with the tuning wrench. all spots above the lugs should make the same tone. If the tone is uneven, some high, some low, loosen the lugs that sound high, or slightly tighten the lugs that sound low till they make the same tone.

Note: to make sure the skin is not getting 'hung up' on the wood rim, bang on the center of the drum with your palm forcefully a few times when tunning to break any stuck parts of the skin that may prevent it from tuning evenly.

once you get even tones, tune as described in the previous post.

Have fun,

Tony

[bongosnotbombs]

Yes, what blango says.

[Derbeno]

You ask: Before I so much as touch a wrench to it can some one please tell me exactly how to go about this procedure so that I get a nice, mellow sound form this beautiful drum.

answer: Practice, practice and when your done practicing, practice again

I could not resist that one, but jesting aside get yourself a good teacher and put in the miles. With dedication and application those beautiful babies of your will surely reward you with that nice mellow sound.

[BMac]

I couldn't help but jump in with a position I don't see others promoting expressly.

Slop shots count in tuning congas! Hell, their sound drifts around a bit while you play ... temperature, humidity, stage lights, etc ... I play outside a lot ... a rain drop or two ...

You're approaching things very, very, very, very technically if you're counting threads! That's ok if that's you're thing ... but a lot of even pro players approach tuning with much less formality.

I've got just a bit more mileage on my playing than how you describe yourself but I'm not pro. I was finally encouraged through discussions a year or two ago with several professional musicians to just relax about my tuning technique and it's been liberating.

I back ALL TENSION off of EVERY hook EVERY time I stop playing ... fully loosening all hooks. The drum gets a chance to relax and the skin even shrinks back a bit depending on the humidity. Also, some believe that leaving tension pulls the drum out of round. That belief corresponds well to some problems I was having that have gone away.

When I'm ready to play, I just take a minute or two to tune ... I just get 'er done now. I keep the threads greased so I can feel the torque and balance the torque as I go around the drum adding a 1/4 turn to each hook in a circular pattern. So I get the overall tone in range to where I want it ... depending on my mood or other drums nearby. Last step: I strike an open tone above each hook and find the lowest sounding region of the drum head. I add another 1/4 turn to the hook below lowest tone. Then maybe repeat my last step a time or two ... maybe applying 1/8 turns ... and after a couple of iterations of the last step ... it's funky munky time!

There's a sweet spot sound on a drum head ... but its a fat island sweet spot ... not a pin head ... its wide ... don't gotta count threads or get out the torque wrench!

But dude, really, your thread counting so reminds me of the way I am naturally inclined to approach drums and everything else!

Cheers!

BMac

Regarding:
I back ALL TENSION off of EVERY hook EVERY time I stop playing.

Ok, I lied ... I have several conga sets ... I keep my least treasured set with tension on them ... kicking around my living room ... to be ready to play at any moment. Its a cost-benefit analysis thing. So if my lesser drums get pulled out of round and the heads get stretched out ... so be it. I back all tension off my best congas every time though, and store them in bags, and sacrifice virgins to them ... when I can find virgins ... ok I lied again ... I can never find virgins ... come to think of, they're more trouble than they're worth anyway. Another issue is that leaving tension on the drums a day or two can really deliver their sound into such a sweet balance that just doesn't happen right away when tuning them ... but does happen after a couple hours of playing recently tuned drums. So what's a player to do? ... I keep a few sets around ... lower/middle/upper range/cost drums. But my favorites live in bags with no tension when they're not being played.



Edited By BMac on 1202913770

[blango]

Whos talking about counting threads?

Count the lugs as you tighten, so you make sure you tighten all of them evenly... makes sense, right Mac?

T

[Mr.Grumpy]

I couldn't help but jump in with a position I don't see others promoting expressly.......

.......You're approaching things very, very, very, very technically if you're counting threads! That's ok if that's you're thing ... but a lot of even pro players approach tuning with much less formality......

My thinking is that I suck. My drums suck. Given these two things that I can not control I wanted very much to (properly) control those things that I could: like tuning.

I am pretty psyched that I won the Quinto that goes with my Conga today so I have a set! I'm fairly sure that a better set would have been the Conga and Tubano but I have a mix-and-match piece in mind for that! Now about this.