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two weeks ago i seen a conga player hit conga, then run his finger across the top to produce a moaning sound. i would greatly appreciate if some one could get back to me on this small sample.
thanx in advance,
sal

I can only say that thats amazing, propably works the same way as a Cuica, pressure and tension make the head vibrate.... no idea how to do it, ill have to try..

Well, the moanin´oooohmmmh´ - sound works best (at least to my limited experience) if you zoom over the drumhead after having it touched with the finger of the other hand. You have to use some pressure of the middle finger indeed, you can wet it a bit first, that´ll make it easier plus the head should not be too tight.

yaaa, thats it! "ooohmmh" mike, i've been looking for that sound for a year. would you be able to record a few of those to .wav files?

Hi Sal,
I would love to post a .wav-file, but unfortunately I haven´t got the technical devices to do it. Sorry!
By the way, I am not the best oohmmher, I guess it´s just a special effect anyway.

Glad I could be some help at least. Carry on!

Hey Sal in the Studio they call it the "MOOSE" Call. U wet the tip of ur finger simultaneosly hitting the drum and sliding the tip gently across the top of the skin to produce a "vibrating sound" ooooooooH!......At your Service JC JOHNNY CONGA....

hey johnny would you be able to send me a few sound snippets of thet sound via e-mail. i greatly appreciate your response, cuz i've been looking for this sound for awhile.

first thing out of college, i'm buying a conga.
sal

Sorry Sal no can do. I don't have a set up (yet) to do that.....In the mean time we wait for your conga........Sorry...JC JOHNNY CONGA....

I can't get this sound either. I know that if you have some good callus on your finger and a little wine in a wine glass you can make the glass ring by rubbing your finger around the rim of the glass, the thinner the glass the more it will vibrate/sing. I have Remo mondo heads and they are slick and I can't get enough of a sound using my finger, probably a little wine? The lotion I use to keep my hands soft can't help, but a beer bottle makes a real interesting noise. I tap with one hand and glide the beer bottle over the surface of the drum. It has an unusual sound, not the ooohm, but fun anyway. I got the idea watching a guitar player play slide with a beer bottle. If you are into strange sounds it can be fun.

Have a great one,
Congabebe

I have tried that myself and get a little oooohhhhhh, but not consistent. I believe my teacher told me that you could only get that sound on real skin not synthetic skins. I could be wrong!

That's right Ray...no can do on synthetic skins,they don't vibrate the same as REAL skin does. IT's a simple thing ,wet the finger tip,hit and slide almost one motion across the middle of the drum diagonally. Use slight pressure,(but not too much to kill the vibration,) once the skin is hit. At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA

i belive the official name for the oooohhhhmmm sound is a "moose call"? the theory behind it is the same as violin and its bow(pull& release). the vibration you feel on you finger is the "pull" and "release"this is due to friction. each "P"&"R" produces a small sound but it this repeats many times a second and makes the head resonate, which makes the sound much louder.
the pitch change is because of the location were the sound is being produced. on the edge if the drum there is a higher pitch and in the center there is a lower one( same as on all drum.)
it is posible to get this effect on sintetic heads but because the are slik, some times it is more difficult to produce a quality tone.

After 6 months I'm still trying to get the drum to sound like a CONGA, let alone a moose



Edited By Bongo Boy on July 04 2002 at 21:23

bONGO bOY C'MON..What 6 months and NO Sound yet? It 's a conga already you just have to make it sound like one, as you say. Do you have Teacher? Do you put in the time? Where do you live ? Do you play any other instrument? Is this a hobby for you or for Professional purposes?.....At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA...... ???

A couple weeks ago I heard my old conga teacher make an "oooohhhhmmm"ing sound using his finger just as described. The heads were NuSkyn by Remo - I believe those are synthetic. Come on JC -can't never could.