Keeping Congas under low temperatures

[PeteMurray]

Greetings from McMurdo Station in Antartica,

Does anyone have any tips in keeping congas from not cracking from extreme cold conditions ?

I am having troubles keeping the skins from not breaking when it gets cold, usually not a problem until it reaches -15 degrees.

See pictures of my home away from home at

http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/support/mcmurdo.htm

Thanks

Pete

[Johnny Conga]

WOW ####.....um congas in the Antartic huh?....well that's a new one for me. To keep them from cracking is to tune them down when your not playing them. Try to keep them in a "warm"? place....Just to change the subject...have you seen anything strange "flying" around down there? You know like a UFO or anything,just a side hobbie for me.....or are you not allowed to speak on it?.....what kind of congas do u have?.....and Thank you for serving our country.....Peace and Congas....JC JOHNNY CONGA....

[Tonio]

Pete,
I 2nd JC's sentiments, can't give you any remedies, however.
It must be a labor of love as far as I'm concerned no matter where you are!! Not to mention having to play under those conditions.

Goodluck and let us know how its going?

T

[Simon B]

This is a new side to Johhny Conga indeed! UFOs and the paranormal!

Simon

[RitmoBoricua]

Greetings from McMurdo Station in Antartica,

Does anyone have any tips in keeping congas from not cracking from extreme cold conditions ?

I am having troubles keeping the skins from not breaking when it gets cold, usually not a problem until it reaches -15 degrees.

See pictures of my home away from home at

http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/support/mcmurdo.htm

Thanks

Pete

What about synthentic heads like Remo or Evans? Then again winter is about to set down there and you guys probably will not get any shipments for awhile. I will find the warmer building I can and keep and play the drums in-there and make sure you detune them all the way. What about Penguin Skin?Ha Ha Ha Just Joking. Like JC said Thank You for the service and committment to our country.

[RitmoBoricua]

Just to change the subject...have you seen anything strange "flying" around down there? You know like a UFO or anything,just a side hobbie for me.....or are you not allowed to speak on it?.....

Hey JC you seen the X-Files movie. Is not on one of the Poles that Fox Mulder rescues Dana Scully from the big ass space ship buried in the ice? ???

[Johnny Conga]

Yes I did see that episode. My interest in UFO's is from a personal experience when I was in the Military in 1968. But I don't want to get into that in this forum...I was just curious about where Pete is and what the sky looks like there.... :;): ...um I would also imagine that artificial skins would crack in those type of freezing conditions, and besides, who wants to hit a drum that feels like 15 below,like hitting a block of ice....ugh!...... ...JC JOHNNY CONGA....

[RitmoBoricua]

I do not think you could not play any durm with bare hands for an extended period of time when is really cold, specially 15 below.

[PeteMurray]

I use LP Galaxy Congas, synthetic skins get really brittle when we do drum circles in the ice. Mule skins seem to work best as long as we don't stay out more than 1 hour.

The nights are long down here (5 months during winter) and occassionaly we see flashes in the sky. The Aurora Borealis is an Artic phenomenon, we don't see it down here, no penguins at all in this area. Very boring and that is why our little percussion group has some fun, primarily indoors where the temperature is even.

Besides the mule skin problem, we have an even bigger problem playing with bare hands, gloves don't sound too good on congas. Tried a shekere and it cracked in 30 minutes, was not playing that hard, it was the cold that created several fissures around the sides.

Maybe I should switch to cowbells.

[RitmoBoricua]

we have an even bigger problem playing with bare hands, gloves don't sound too good on congas.

Your dilemma bring to the table some interesting issues. how you overcome playing a conga in such cold weather? For sure you will get frostbite and them some on your hands. then the effect of the extreme cold on the drum shell, hardware and head. Don't the Skimos play some kind of drum up in the north pole? If so It would be nice to know where they get the skin and how they treated and cure it. Take Care!

[James M]

Hey Pete,

One of the problems to keep in mind are the differing humidity levels indoors and out. I imagine Antarctic air is very dry! Bad for the skins, bad for the woods. I would suggest making your own drums from materials available that are either weather resistant or wood (if any) that have been in those conditions long enough to be somewhat tempered or acclamaited. Your shekere dried out pretty fast and cracked, so you see what you are up against! Natural heads, if you take them in and out of the cold, may need to be oiled more often than normal to keep them from drying out too fast. One of the other guys here can tell you more about that than i can

http://www.citypercussion.com/intro-en/home.htm

This website is pretty old, but shows you the basics of making your own hand drums (follow the "teachings" link and click on "Urban Drums".

[YURI]

Helo, this is yuri from Omchak in North Eastern Siberia. We hawe this problem here two.

Mi advise is to rub mink oil on the hands and skin of drumm, then point it towards fire ewery few minutos. Here it gets to -15C two, beter to stay indoors and drink.