DRUMMER CAFE

for what its worth, I think remo, despite any other problems they may have, make some of the nicest ethnic instrument heads out there.  id like to get one of thier nuskyn's for a dumbek of mine.

How often do you play?  Those master percussionists took years to learn and perfect what they're doing.  

Getting those nice sounds out of even top of the line  congas is going to take some time.  Due to the fact that you get so many different sounds coming out of one drum determined by all of the different ways you strike, slap, or palm a conga with your hands, it's not a quick learn.  Good heads will not make it easier to get those sounds - your hands have to do the work.  Once you get the technique, however, the heads will help make that sound crisper, etc.  Good technique is so important.

the weather in seattle wreaks havoc with natural heads, cold and damp aint happenin' for natural heads.  I had a ceramic dumbek with a natural head that took ages to warm up every time I wanted to play it.  big pain.  so as much as I like the sound, its just not a practical option.

that said, if I find myself getting some latin drums, ill give the evans a shot.  I would normally avoid 'em because im not keen on thier kit heads.  but ill take your word for it.

Oh ... well in that respect ... it's not the heads!  

I happen to think that I have very good slaps ... for a gringo.  

The key to good tone is consistency of the stroke. The basic strokes are played with all the fingers relaxed and acting as one unit ... the hand.  The slap, the secret is the whipping action that comes from the finger tips. I can get "gunshot" volume slaps, and my hands never get more than 6 or 8 inches above the drum. Whipping the finger tips in is what creates the "pop". I tell all my students to think Jackie Chan when executing a slap; it seems to work for most.

Also ... tuning the drum to it's proper range will greatly increase the quality of your sound and productivity of stroke. Slaps, in particular, are much easier to execute on high pitched, tight skinned drums. You should be able to play them on a wood table top too ... if your technique is correct.

One last thing, there are a number of slap techniques ... so find the one that works best for you ... for now ... but learn them all.

Scott ... I typically use the same technique for low volume slaps, but play a Muted Slap ... in that one hand is lying on the conga head while executing the slap with the other hand. A Closed Slap (my term by the way) is when I leave the hand that executed the slap on the head ... not allowing it to rebound and come off the head. Having your other hand mute the head while performing a "normal" slap will really reduce the volume.

For EXTREMELY quiet situations, I don't use a slap stroke, but rather employ a modified tabla (bayan, low drum) stroke called Ka.

You can also use a variation stroke, playing on the edge of the conga ... in order to produce a high-pitched tone simulating a slap. Many individuals who have not yet accomplished the slap stroke will use this variation. The other hand is used to zone off the playing area, thus decreasing the playing area ... which raises the pitch of the variation stroke.

There are other substitutions you can use, but these are just a few suggestions based on what I often do.

Comparing yourself to Giovanni Hildago, Michael Jordan, Tony Williams, Pablo Picasso or Leonardo DaVinci is not going to be a happy experience.  :^)

Yeah I guess you are right...with who I am comparing my playing to. It's defiantley good to absorbe from them.....but dont get bummed when you fall short. So I guess I should just keep playin....and not worry about the new heads for now. Thanks for the help.....

Definitely go for real skins in my opinion. Fatcongas.com has great heads. If you want that sound that Giovanni has, you want a nice thick calfskin in white if you can get it, not opaque.  Everyone has an opinion and this is just mine.  You cant get that Giovanni sound out of a synthetic!

I say it depends, I use to use real skins but have switched over to the fiberskins because when I play congas it's all night,just congas so now I don't have to hit the drum to hard to produce a good sound with the fiberskins like I did with natural skins.  If you're playing congas consist of just a few minutes in a show then you might want to go with natural.

Just my two pennies.

I swithched to the Remp Nu-Skyn heads. I tried the Evans and didn't like the way the felt or sounded. The Nu-Skyns to me feel like natural heads and I can get all the sounds I want. You mentioned Giovanni's gun shot slaps. Has anyone noticed that his fingernails are curved down over the front of his fingers? I think he cracks them on the head to get that sound.

Reviving this thread because, I need a little help.

Isaac and I have been going back in forth - in an incredibly friendly way because this guy is just the best to work with!   But, we're having a problem with fitting my quinto head (the conga and tumba heads apparently fit perfectly).  It seems his supplier is making the quinto heads for the first time now and they don't have the sizing down just yet.  Again, I want to emphasize that I don't blame Isaac or Funky - those guys have been superb to deal with!

But, here's where that leaves me:  I need a quinto head "ring" or "hoop" so that I can mount a skin.  I only have the one that I'm playing and a busted Remo - Isaac says the Remo probably won't work.   I don't want to destroy my LP buffalo head because I like having it as a spare.

If anybody has a busted LP quinto head that fits Comfort Curve II or another head or ring that they want to sell cheaply, please let me know.  If you know a good source (other than buying a new head from LP just so I can cut it apart), I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks!

B-cero:  really?  Thanks!  I've been told by my local stores (who are really pretty lame when it comes to ordering anything) that it was not possible.  I looked at Rhythmtraders.com and didn't see any mention of anything (before I posted) but I guess I could call them and ask.

If my local stores are of no help to me with the LP ordering, I wonder who I can go to for this...I would really prefer an LP, I think.

Hmmm...maybe I got my wires crossed a little bit - pun intended and duly apologized for...  

Isaac says that he can make the skinwire if I can get him the EXACT dimensions.  That would be best for a lot of reasons.

But, I have to say that I am in no way looking forward to trying to mount this skin.  I'm much more of a "screw it on and play it" kinda guy.

I was in Portland yesterday and stopped at the African Rhythm Traders and bought a couple new conga skins. These came from Pakistan cows and looked good. They were $22, half the price of other skins. I figure it doesn't matter where the skin comes from as long as it was a good cow. I picked out ones with personality, patterned with colors, kind of medium to thin like I like 'em for quinto. Got one soaking in the tub right now and will let you know how it sounds when I get it mounted. I am replacing the 28 year old head on my 9 3/4" gon bop, but I'm keeping the old head in the wings, it still has that old good sound.

By the way, African Rhythm Trader have their own line of drums now and I got to play on them..... real nice drums and sound great. They are attractive, the shells look like LP Giovanni ash, pretty dark chrome comfort curve crowns. Their Thai 'oak' drums sound good too, look a lot like LPs in the curve of the shell and workmanship. All of them have water buffalo heads, but I think they are heavier than what LP puts on, the ART drums sound different than LPs, more crisp and dry, more like a gon bop. Maybe it is because they know how to tune a drum at ART and all of them in the showroom were tuned to perfection. Half the time you walk in a store somewhere and play an LP they sound bad just cause of the tuning. Anyway, I was impressed with the African Rhythm Trader drums.

Rawhide means animal skin that has been not processesed other than cleaning , drying and hair removed.  All LP heads are water buffalo.

Duct tape somewhere on the head perhaps will curb it a bit...
But, good ol' ear plugs help a bunch!
Also, when you're playing with other drummers, you won't notice it as much.

To me, the real test of the drum note is how it sounds alone.
If you don't like the sound of your own drum, then you need to change to what you like. Just my opinion.