Drummer Cafe Community Forum

 What are your experiences with the various types of skin available, and what works for you and why?

Ok. start with African drums.  For djembe, goat is standard.  I prefer thin, well shaved, scraped goat.  For something you often hit hard with sticks, like dununs,  cow seems to be the preference.

For doumbek/darbuka,  I think maybe fishskin is the best sounding, but also the most trouble.  Because the heads are glued on, tuning becomes a major problem once the head starts to go slack.  So, I use on of those cheep Alexandria doumbeks, with the authentic plastic head.  Not quite as good, but almost bombproof if you get one dialed in.

I haven't gotten into congas/bongos yet, but I probably will.  I was looking at another thread and wondering what would happen if I took some mediocre drums, and reheaded them?  I'm thinking that may be a major difference between the really good ones and the cheaper ones.  What do you think?  And what heads would you recommend for each size?

I think you're right! And they're ones that have had the heck played out of them.
Brown from skin oil.

Cow or Muleskin for conga.

I've written about conga heads and my quest for good ones in another thread but, I definitely prefer cow though I may be about to try mule for the first time.

LP water buffalo is bad - sound and feel.  Synthetics are convenient and don't sound too bad (for live performances) but they feel terrible to me.

Cow hide on congas
Ambassadors on timbales and last but not least

X-RAY film on bongos.   I little hard to mount, but what a high end attack.  Sounds good with hands or will withstand drumstick abuse and never goes out of tune.

X-RAY film?  Seriously?

Never heard of that.  Tell me about that, please.

Many many years ago I was told that x-ray film was incredibly durable and would make great heads for bongos, I had a hard time believing it too. so I called a local x-ray imaging company in town and asked if they had any large pieces of film like the size that would be used for a chest x-ray.  They gave me a few pieces to play with of old exposed film that were about 20"x20".  
I took the old bongo head off and submerged it in warm water for long enough to make it pliable so I could take out the inner hoop and unfold the head to the full round size. Once this was done I could trace the size of the old head (or hide) onto the film.  Using a pair of scissors I cut the film to the size needed and with some help from a friends hands I tucked the film around the hoop and placed it on the drum. Them place the rim over the film/hoop and tuck it in just like you would do to a piece of hide.  It's a pain 'cause the film will keep trying to spring out, but with patience and some extra hands it can be done.
Tighten as usual and you have a indestructable head that has a macho crack to die for.    You can even set the bongos by drums or up on a stand and use sticks without worrying about damage to the heads.

It's wise to save the old head or even pick up a spare in case you ever decide you want a more traditional sound or look.  

The whole process is a royal pain in the rear, but the head will last forever!

Yeah, but just on the macho (small) drum.

I hope they don't kill the animals just for the skins  :'(

Um, <not sure if I want to know the answer or not>---

Tell me its like the native American Tradition, where all parts of the animal are used, like the meat, etc....and there isn't some awful drumskin slaughterhouse that exists where the animals all wait to be killed and skinned.  Where do they get the skins?

[please, no jokes here.  I'm really sensitive about this stuff, but I do want to know, I think...] ???

Well, cows are killed all the time for you-know-what and their hides are used as another way to make some profit.

I think mules are probably far too valuable to be killed just for the hides - since the end products don't cost very much, anyway.  

No joking - I really don't think (but I don't know for a fact) that any of these animals would be raised and killed just for the skins.  Especially when you realize that mules do not breed - they are the product of breeding a horse with a donkey.

Have you ever eaten burritos?

Ok, bad joke, but I couldnt resist. Sorry

Now serious, mules are used to carry drugs from Colombia to the States, Drug dealers have to take their merchandise somehow, dont you think?

Sorry, sorry. I'm so bored at work …

Now serious (for real), mules are used as transportation animals. If, for whatever reason, they break their legs they become useless, different from racing horses that can be used for breading (mules are sterile).

Mule skin is used for making purses, belts, hats and drumheads. The jaws can be used for rattles.

Muleskin is also used for the top quality pistol holsters for its' durability and natural water resistence.   I have a set of 'Sol' bongo that has horse hide macho, very thin with a beautiful tone...