Loosening the head between sessions? - Is it necessary to do so?

[Tone]

I am totally new to congas and just bought my first pair. The guy I bought them from told me to loosen the conga head after each use to preserve the drum, he also said it was un-necessary for the tumba as the tension is less. I haven't seen this tip anywhere else, is it really something important? I should say I own a pair of second hand wooden Gon Bops.
Thanks for the tips.

[windhorse]

Congrats! Gon Bops are great drums!
No, you don't have to loosen the heads, but you should learn how to tune them. Once you get them tuned up pretty good, it takes less and less tuning with time as they sort of naturally fall into their best spot.
During the winter if you live in a cold dry climate like we have around here, then the heads tighten up pretty drastically and we have to loosen them. But, that's seasonal.

Good Luck!

[CongaCaja]

Congrats on the new drums!

Actually, there are several sources (including some postings on this discussion board) that will advise one to loosen the drums skins after playing. For example, this from LP's web site.

http://www.lpmusic.com/Play_Like_A_Pro/Tech_Support/tuningconga.html

Most sources say that this practice will extend the life of your skins and I supppose that makes sense. I did this for a while, but I noticed that my teacher wasn't doing it and he's been playing far longer than I. So, I'm not doing it anymore.

On the other hand, I've noticed that many of the used Gon Bops that have been offered on eBay have some sort of structural problem (cracking shells, loosening hardware). So, while everyone raves about the sound of Gon Bops (personally, I haven't had the opportunity to try them myself), it seems there were some design or manufacturing issues. So, perhaps tuning down your drums may be a good idea to extend the life of your drums as well as this heads.

Best of luck...and enjoy!

cjk

[RitmoBoricua]

One problem that may happen when you leave your heads tuned-up is that the stress may cause your conga (wood) to go egg-shape right on the end where the head sits. In cold weather I would loosen-up rawhide heads a couple of notches.

[Tone]

thanks very much everyone. So I guess the upshot is: it is a good thing to do but not essential.
As far as I can tell the Gon Bops don't have any damage at all, but they are wooden and hand made and I guess vulnerable.
Anyway at this stage I am still very much in love with them and I guess I will loosen the heads until I get tired of it.
Also about tuning, I looked at all the posts I could find and started tuning to G and C, which is quite low I found. Then I started to play along Giovnni Hidalgo's In the tradition tape and I noticed he tuned to A and D which sounds great.
Thanks again to all. This newsgroup is great.

[Raymond]

Tone,

With all due respect, if you want your natural heads to last and maintain their sound, it is essential you loosen the heads after a gig. The alternative is to use synthetic heads and still you will need once in a while to tune them a little.

As mentioned by someone, all the time tuned natural heads on congas tend to put pressure on the wood/fiberglass and make the instrument take an egg shape. (Of course, it will depend on your tuning. Normally this will happen with the conga or quinto that normally have a high pitch).

Saludos!

[Tone]

thanks again every one.

Now to the next logical questions: by how much should you tune the conga down? Can the tumba stay tuned or should it be loosened as well? I have been told to give the screws 2 turns down. Is it enough, or should the head really become slack on both drums?

[RitmoBoricua]

thanks again every one.

Now to the next logical questions: by how much should you tune the conga down? Can the tumba stay tuned or should it be loosened as well? I have been told to give the screws 2 turns down. Is it enough, or should the head really become slack on both drums?

Me personally I do not loosen my heads to the point where they slack. I say about 2 o 3 turns does the trick for me.

[Raymond]

I ditto Ritmoboricua. Two or three turns down will do.

Saludos!

[jdmanteca]

Just to reenforce this point, I have to agree with the necessity of loosening your natural skin heads. I had a head on my high drum (I play a conga instead of quinto) go dead on me because I never did this. It got to were I could visably see how much the head was stetched on the collar. If you think about it... if you can see them being stretched and you have to keep tightening them to maintain a certain pitch, eventually they will be stetched beyond their limits. I always downtune. I don't think it is as necessary for the low drum (tumba) but I do it anyway. It's not that big a hassle to me.

[yoni]

When I once met Giovanni I asked him this same question - how much to loosen the heads. He said one or two turns is enough, others have told me more, but I would also ditto Ritmo and Raymond - two or three turns is probably best. If I sometimes have to leave the drums in a real hot or cold place for a while, then I loosen the heads even more.