by congastu » Fri Jul 23, 2004 6:02 pm
With all respect to the brothers on the forum, I feel it is dangerous to "judge a book by its cover" or indeed "a drum by its diameter".
Has anyone heard of Roque Junior? He is probably the worlds greatest living tambourim player, and he developed his amazing technique by practising on a bottletop. OK, the diameter and tone are incomparable, but having started on that way, he was UNTOUCHABLE by the time he could afford the "correct" gear.
As far as developing the correct heel-toe motion, your legs, the table top- nearly any hard surface is applicable. As far as slaps and toughening up your hands - try a brick!
As far as tone goes [and this is really what defines quinto from conga and tumba] many, many factors affect this, with diameter only being one. Height, diameter of the BOTTOM, width at the hips, densityand thickness of skin/shell plus material [I prefer wood to fibreglass] , roughness/smoothness of interior- these all effect the sound.
On this basis my answer for any one buying congas is this- do you know what sounds you are after and can you get them? Does the drum sing? Is it well made? Is it large enough to perform the appropiate techniques [this will differ from person to person depending on size of hands, etc] , does it fit your hands like a bass pedal needs to fit the foot like a comfortable shoe.
I agree that there are a lot of dodgy congas out there- usually though its got as much to do with the skin and shell as diameter. My meinl marathons are small [but VERY heavy] but the range of tones including anharmonic and bowing sounds are excellent- plus, Ive got small hands.
Im noticing that when I work with kit drummers [esp. jazz heads], their set ups are getting smaller and smaller as technology advances.Some of the tiny bass drums you see now are lethal! Diameter is certainly a good yardstick [if youll pardon the pun] but its a standardisation through marketing needs rather than a prerequisite to the conga family. Things and diameters will change as congas change [percussion plus do an excellent range of baby congas whose tone is far superior to some larger models; a friend recently purchased a set of 4 bauer congas that sound amazing- the diameters are all small, but as the drums get deeper they become more pregnant in appearance.] Whats the point of having all correct diameters and no quality of sound? Without seeing the drum can we tell someone its not going to do it on the basis of a ruler? More pertinent and useful is to say what you think of the brand, in general [if youve played or heard them].
Sorry for seeming contrary
love and respect, Stu