by Thomas Altmann » Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:50 am
Hi Tonio,
of course it's kind of hard to describe sound (and what it carries along) in words. I am not speaking for Schalloch products in general, but these congas are the best for me. When I had the money to buy a new conga set (from a half year contract as a drummer in a Country & Western bar on the Reeperbahn), I wasn't quite sure whether to order a set of Skin-On-Skin's or a Cuban Sonoc set. I always loved the Cuban congas that I had checked at various occasions; but the drums they exported were just falling apart. The SOS congas were superbly constructed and had an alma inside, but they sounded a bit too mellow to me, singing, much like a Gretsch drum set. I wanted a drier, funkier sound. The Schalloch shop offered their own congas with Sonor hardware, which looked too bulky for my taste. But I had to admit to myself that sound-wise they represented exactly what felt right to me. So after several weeks of contemplation I ended up ordering a set of this absolute newcomer. I was going strictly by my ears. In my 23 years of playing this set in diverse situations, they never let me down. Without hurting my hands excessively, I'm keeping up with any drum set, and I have played unamplified in a big band with people assuring me that they heard me clearly.
The only reason why I recently bought an additional Gon Bops set was because I wanted to have a light-weight set for lower volume in folklore settings. I don't like the sound of a highly resonant, loud drum being played softly all the way. It sounds castrated.
Thomas