A newbie saying hi to all you conga heads ...

[Boston]

Hello everyone,

Just thought i'd say hi.

A little about me .... well, I'm 40 years old, started out in music in the late 80's DJ'ing house music. Life turned to jelly and I took a back seat for awhile. Returned to the music scene as a hobby, setting up a small hobby studio at home about 7 years ago, been tinkering away ever since. No expectations or yearning for stardom, music is just my hobby and my release from the tensions, and boredom, of the real world.

I'm not a musician, I can't read music, or play any instrument to any degree of skill really, I just love creating tunes, soundscapes and other audio titbits to keep me happy.

Earlier this year I set up my own PA hire company http://www.gigrigs.co.uk, loving being able to get music to pay its way, even if not as a producer/artist ..... so if any of you are in need of some quality PA for a gig, drop me a line, all u conga heads and bongoceros will get a good deal !

The last couple of years I've been getting bored with samples and electronic music in general so decided to buy a few instruments and lay down some riffs and bits and pieces of my own.

I've been enjoying learning the bass guitar, but have recently got into percussion. It started out as just a case of buying any little item that produced interesting sounds whenever I went to a festival with the intention of sampling them and using the sounds in my electronic/dance/house tracks.

I bought an electronic drum kit about a year ago, lol, but just couldnt get four limbs to work independantly of each other (note to self: must smoke less), so sold it on.

A couple of weeks ago I bought my first set of Bongos ... a set of Meinl Headliner range, absolutely fantastic fun ... coping alot easier with just getting my two hands to work independantly

The plan was to buy a 'learn bongo' book, spend a couple of months practicing the basics then get a set of congas to add to the fun. Hehe, well I ordered a book from Amazon, it turned up with pages 13-33 missing, the most important pages, tuning, hand placement, where the different tones were etc etc. I ordered another book, but my impatience got the better of me and I order a cheap set of Stagg Congas ....... and they arrived yesterday, along with the new bongo book !!!

One thing I learnt when I bought the bongos was that I needed to spend a fair amount of time initially tuning em up, finding the sweet spot in the tuning and basically getting em to sound nice. Spent yesterday and most of today stripping em all down, lubing em and tuning em, retuning, and tuning some more lol ...... I eventually mic'd em up and routed them into a software guitar tuner and they are sounding fairly nice now, although a fair bit of ringing on the 10" which is probably due to the stock head, which appears pretty uneven in terms of thickness. Will most likely replace em once I know what I'm doing.



Now for some practice ......

Oh, and reading all the stuff on here to clue myself up ......

Thankyou all for having me

[Derbeno]

Hey Boston,

As an ex-Londoner, I wish you welcome to our little community.

There are tons of great threads to keep you going for a long time.

Best of luck with your new hobby.

WARNING-it is highly addictive!

[Boston]

Hehe, not to mention sore on the ole hands .......

Just had to go and get some surgical tape. Was using weightlifting gloves but not long enough in the fingers. Will try some of those cycling gloves mentioned in another thread.

[Boston]

Hands ...... hurting ...... getting sorer ....... don't think I can go on .....

Lol, damn I never realised how much this was gonna HURT !!!

First full day practising, hand hurting like hell, in particular my left heel (i'm right handed), plus general soreness and slitting of skin.

Damn, but its good fun heh. Got 3 fingers on each hand taped with normal surgical tape and i've dug out some gloves I used to use when I was running. Gore thermal, they actuall work pretty well with the congas/bongos, nice and smooth, only slightly padded which is just the thermal material, but in conjuction with the tape, they're making for pretty comfortable playing.

Onwards .....

[bongosnotbombs]

It shouldn't be hurting that much, maybe your hitting too hard, really shouldn't take
much effort at all, it's all in the wrist as they say..............

[Boston]

It shouldn't be hurting that much, maybe your hitting too hard, really shouldn't take
much effort at all, it's all in the wrist as they say..............

Other than the heel, its just the constant drumming (probably about 4 hours today lol). The heel ache came from when I was trying to practice the Martillo on my bongos, the muted stroke. Think i'm trying to press down with the 1st distal rather than the whole thumb and heel together. I think i'm going to concentrate on the congas for now, build up some strength in my wrists and fingers and move onto the bongos in a month or so.

[vinnieL]

really does sound like your hiiting way too hard it's techenique that needs working if you keep hurting that bad you should give your hands a rest for a bit you don't want to end up with permanent damage.

[Boston]

I do suffer with very dry skin, especially on my hands and didnt think how much the skins would suck the precious little moisture outa my little mits. Been using plenty of lotion today, they feel a lot better tonight.

Technique is the fault though, gonna slow it all down a bit and just practice each tone on its own .... rather than banging away ..

[pavloconga]

Hi Boston,
Welcome to the congaboard. Keep exploring and it's even better if you can find a good teacher over there.
Learning good technique is really important. If your hands are hurting so much that's not a good sign. With good technique you should be able to play (and hit hard if necessary) without damaging your fingers or hands.
If you can't find a teacher I recommend the video/DVD 'Evolution of the Tumbadoras" by Jose Luis Quintana.
All the best
Pavlo

[Boston]

Definately think i've been hitting too hard. Been messing tonight, playing much softer because its late and found i'm getting much clearer, cleaner tones. I also tightened em up a bit earlier, I think part of the reason I was hitting so hard was trying to get that Thwack sound rather than the Thunk i've been getting, partly due to the tuning.

[windhorse]

Good, sounds like you're cognizant of the needs of learning vs. the problems of pain-gain... slowing down to learn fast. Stay focused on a relaxed mostly flat hand, and find a good local teacher, or study partner!

[vinnieL]

Oh Boston, welcome brother!

[pavloconga]

I think part of the reason I was hitting so hard was trying to get that Thwack sound rather than the Thunk i've been getting, partly due to the tuning.

Boston,
That 'thwack sound' you refer to is probably a slap. One of the most important things to learn about congas when you're starting is how to get the 3 main different sounds out of the drum (though there are many other sounds and techniques):
1. The Bass (pretty easy)
2. The Open Tone (fairly easy)
3. The Slap (takes time to master)
Plus:
4. The heel/tip hand movement (takes time)

Find some way of studying and practising these sounds/movements correctly, there's plenty on YouTube.

This guy Rudy Quesada has some good stuff on basic technique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKbv_moMyuo

Or Congaboard's very own Johnny Conga:
http://www.expertvillage.com/video-seri ... -drums.htm

cheers
Pavlo

[Mike]

Hi Boston,
I hope you are playing fine and them hands don´t hurt too much.

I´ve just returned from a trip too merry old London - it was brill.

As to your setup: How do you like your congas and bongos, do they provide enough sound?
You know, rather cheap drums like those Headliners and also the Stagg congas give some of the members here the
heebie-jeebies, but as long as they please you, they are surely alright.

ANd the most impostant thing is: Enjoy playing, learning and thus better playing!

CHeers
Mike

[Boston]

Thanks everyone for all your encouragement ....

I've got the bongos sounding fairly decent now, but i'm having trouble getting a decent tone out of the congas. I might try and get some new heads for them in a couple of months and see if that helps. Also saw a tip on here about running a strip of foam around the inside to dampen the ringing so might even try that. If i'd have known I was going to enjoy them so much I'd have bought some decent ones in the first place never mind, will upgrade once i've learnt to play em

Jonny's Expertvillage videos are excellent and i'm basically concentrating on those each day for now.

Hands don't hurt today, so gonna take more care from now on, keep it slow and try and get the proper technique. Hehe, I think I've got the mad drumming along to anything on the radio out of my system now