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Posted:
Tue Dec 30, 2003 1:47 amby mco
I bought myself Alex Acuna's CD "Acurela de Tambores" for Christmas. What a fun disc!
I really enjoyed the sound of Meia Noite's timbao solo on track 2. A music store in my area has an RMV timbal (14" plastic head) for sale at a reasonable price, and I'm thinking buying it. I haven't been able to find much information on technique, tuning, and rhythms for the timbal, either on the Net or in books (I have the Brazilian percussion books by Ed Uribe, Gilson de Assis, and Sabanovich. The de Assis book makes a brief mention of the timbal) Is the timbal played like a conga or a djembe? How about tuning? Any resources for rhythms? Any info would be appreciated.
p.s. I also got Grupo Exploracion's disc "Drum Jam". A great all-percussion (Afro-cuban, mostly) recording. I found out about this disc at http://www.descarga.com. This disc is a must have for drum lovers! 
Posted:
Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:49 amby rufio
As far as I know, the timbal is played more like a djembe than a conga - lots of open handed slaps and not much heel-toe stuff.
I don't know of any references for rhythms, sorry, but there are some timbal sound samples at the Brazilian Percussion.com web site:
http://www.brazilianpercussion.com/english....Tipo=20
and:
http://www.brazilianpercussion.com/english....Tipo=21
Good luck!
Posted:
Fri Jan 02, 2004 10:38 amby yalla
Yes, the brazilian timbal is played very similar to djembe, you have bass, open and slap sounds - this is referred to as "modern" way to play timbal, and the tuning is very high. there is also a more "traditional" way to play it: the tuning is lower, you play it horizontal, on your legs while sitting, with one hand on the head to play bass fundamental accents and the other hand on the side of the drum, to play some "cascara" like patterns, or just rhythm accents - wearing a ring to hit the drum, you get a sharper and louder sound.
You can hear some very good patterns and a very beautiful timbal solo in "Livro" by Caetano Veloso.
Posted:
Tue Jan 06, 2004 11:30 amby mco
Thanks for the info , gentlemen. I'm somewhat hesistant about buying a timbal because I 've noticed that the metal rim of all the timbals I've seen is almost even with the drum head. It appears that if one is not careful, it would be easy to hurt one's hand by having it slam on the the rim constantly (as opposed to a conga or even a djembe where the rim sits below the bearing edge of the drum). I'm wondering if it would take a big change in technique to play the timbal, which I not necessarily willing to try as I'm still developing my conga (and djembe) technique.
Posted:
Wed Jan 07, 2004 3:05 pmby yalla
I think a certain change in playing technique must be made, when changing from conga/djembe to timbal, but not a big change. Timbal rims are rounded (no sharp ends, or tuning lugs on your hands way) and most of all head is so tightened and so responsive that you won't need to hit hard to get high volume, crackling sounds.
But if you are still developing your hand techniques, than changing to timbal may cause you some unwanted "technique mix"...
Posted:
Tue Jan 13, 2004 8:09 pmby tamboricua
Hi mco, hope all is well! Rufio and Yalla were right on target. The brazilian timbal also known as timbau, playing is more similar to the djembe technique. Lots of open slaps, open tones, and bass tones. Make sure and check out Brazilian groups like; Olodum, Ilé Ayé, and Timbalada.
Hope this helps!
Saludos,
Jorge Ginorio