Do You Really Need Expencive Conga Drums

[Anonimo]

POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR

[RitmoBoricua]

I buy that some people may buy conga drums as pieces of furniture. I wonder how many have the $1000.00 a piece drum and when they wake-up in the morning and having a cup of coffee while admiring the white elephant in the room and wonder why they bought such expensive drums because they cannot play a lick. To me this thread is not about what you do with your money or what not is about educating people that there are other good choices at lower prices. In my years here I have seen plenty of people buying the artisan handmade drums and then a bit later down the road they have to put them for sale because they have to pay bills or the cash flow is low or something. When I read about it I crinched because is not a good situation to be in. Is nothing wrong with trying to help folks make an informed decision. Bunch of people here are getting real defensive about it. I wonder why? I do not get defensive about it I owned JCR and Isla drums and completely understand where Leedy is coming from. But like you all said " Your money your business? Enjoy your drums and keep drumming.

[Mike]

This thread has developed quite some redundancy, and I am just fed up reading about
what person A says, person B retorts, A gets annoyed and so on...
Already a bunch of threads has suffered from this kind of bashing.

My personal and very simple answer to the original (to me rhetorical) question is: "No, you don´t."

Anything beyond that, e.g. why you might want to play state-of-the-art congas
has been clearly formulated in "common sense"-language
such as

Your money your business? Enjoy your drums and keep drumming.

Play whatever the fcuk you want people

Ultimately the players technique , musicality and spirit is what makes music

I hate to say this, and I do not mean offend anyone, but after all this a forum with an incredible potential
of informational and educucational value, which is why I ve been around here for so many years now.
Let´s not make it a kindergarden by deteriorating in the "You talk BS, I am right"- or "I have the biggest"-manner
This really puts me off, well has put me off in the last weeks to be honest.
That is not what congaplace is all about.

Everybody to his own - and: PEACE

[jorge]

To be an outstanding conga player, to get great sound, to make great music, to enjoy playing you don't need to buy expensive drums. Some of the best conga players I know have drums that don't sound good when others play them, but they know how to make them sound good. Some don't even own a conga. You can learn to play and sound fine on an inexpensive competent drum with a decent skin. Having great sounding, easy to play, beautiful looking drums is definitely nice but can be done by drum merchants, collectors, non-musicians, or just about anyone who has some money and knows what a good drum sounds and looks like (or has a friend who does). This is all fine, but having great drums and being an excellent drummer with great sound are 2 completely separate things, maybe even negatively correlated. If you don't have excellent timing, don't know what to play when, don't know how to control your bass, and don't have good sound of your slaps and tones, you will even sound worse playing a great drum than playing a crummy drum that is not as loud. Putting a better skin on a particular drum or buying a better drum can help you sound better if you know how to play, but the greatest players I have known have all essentially ignored the quality of the drum they happened to be playing (although sometimes not the skins). At most, if the drum is really horrible, they may say "esta no suena" - this one doesn't sound good - and asked for a different drum.
Play what you have and make it sound good in the music you play.

[OLSONGO]

Cuco carajo si yo me sentara a corregir todos tus errores en el ingles nunca acabaria , para empezar now se escribe sin K. Y cuando quieras te doy clases en Ingles y espanol, porque hasta en tu propia lengua cometes errores.

[OLSONGO]

Leedy melodrama also makes reference to behavior and that is what you are showing here a melodramatic behavior, and you .. trying to teach me English ...of all people hahahahaha..

[KING CONGA]

Leedy melodrama also makes reference to behavior and that is what you are showing here a melodramatic behavior, and you .. trying to teach me English ...of all people hahahahaha..

Hijoesu!!!!!!!!!

[Anonimo]

POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR

[MedinaNYC]

ja ja ja, Olsongo, know that was funny!

[Quinto Governor II]

I personally don't need expensive drums, I think most products are over priced anyway, and it is just the principle of it for me. Some things I like and can afford I will not pay the asking price for them. The difference in sound and look has never justified the difference in price to me. That's basically how I evaluate things. Many times I view the sound between drums as different not necessarily better.

[OLSONGO]

The high price of a drum made by a craftsman may be justified in that , have you ever tried to make a conga drum out of wood ? it is no easy task. After you deal with the right pieces of fine wood, which by the way here in the USA it is not cheap, cutting it , gluing with the perfect glue so they don't fall apart like Gon Bops , the placing on the lathe and constant measuring. The various sanding steps, then the various coats of finish , polishing..and then here comes the hardware, the correct welds unlike the Cuban welds, the grinding of sharp edges , the chroming not cheap also and finally the assembly of it all with the finest hide and then hope all goes well in the shipping to where ever.

Peace
Olsongo

[KING CONGA]

The high price of a drum made by a craftsman may be justified in that , have you ever tried to make a conga drum out of wood ? it is no easy task. After you deal with the right pieces of fine wood, which by the way here in the USA it is not cheap, cutting it , gluing with the perfect glue so they don't fall apart like Gon Bops , the placing on the lathe and constant measuring. The various sanding steps, then the various coats of finish , polishing..and then here comes the hardware, the correct welds unlike the Cuban welds, the grinding of sharp edges , the chroming not cheap also and finally the assembly of it all with the finest hide and then hope all goes well in the shipping to where ever.

Peace
Olsongo

Absolutely, and this is precisely the reason all of us who have a love for the instrument should have a greater appreciation for all of these artisans.
Peace.

[Derbeno]

Just an observation. The reason these notable professionals use particular mass produced brands and models is because they get paid to do so.

It should be noted that when Yoruba Andabo toured Canada and the UK, they were supplied with Moperc drums. The higher priced ones will also get on the endorsement bandwagon if they can.

[burke]

This will not be a new point ... its been made many times before but maybe adds some perspective. If I sold my 3 vintage Gon Bops, my pair of Pearl travel congas with stands and my matador bongos, I'd have enough money to buy my wife a decent mandolin [or banjo ...she plays both] not a top of the line one, but a darn nice one.

In the musical toys world ...our drums (even the pricy ones) are pretty cheap.

[congamyk]

This will not be a new point ... its been made many times before but maybe adds some perspective. If I sold my 3 vintage Gon Bops, my pair of Pearl travel congas with stands and my matador bongos, I'd have enough money to buy my wife a decent mandolin [or banjo ...she plays both] not a top of the line one, but a darn nice one.

In the musical toys world ...our drums (even the pricy ones) are pretty cheap.

So true. If you play flute, piano and even sax you can spend $7,000-$25,000 easy on pro models.
Cello, violin and other classical string instruments - the sky is the limit.
Even a high end pro keyboard that is obsolete in a few years costs more then an entire set of the best congas that will last for decades.