Bachikaze wrote:I've been thinking about taking a trip up to Motherland Music in Los Angeles. They have a wide variety of drums. They feature two lines of solid shell congas that look interesting. Has anyone had any experience with these drums or solid shell congas in general?
http://www.motherlandmusic.com/drums.htmI'm not necessarily looking to play salsa or rumba with them, just considering for all-around drumming.
Thanks.
Hey Bchikaze,
Sorry for the late reply but I have experience with Motherland congas. A friend had one of the first sets they imported with Motherland hardware added. I first heard them on a gig he was playing and I was very impressed with the sound. His were carved from tweneboa wood and were not to heavy. I wasn't crazy about the heads nor the hardware that come standard.
Later that year I had to fly to LA and made it a point to stop by the store to see what was available. My intent was to see if I could buy just the shells and have hardware and skins installed back on the east coast. When I arrived at the store the owner was very accommodating and took me out back of the store to several shipping containers that was filled with all kinds of shells. He had a number of conga shells but was out of tweneboa shells. I ended up picking three shells with beautiful grain. I think they were carved from a wood called ngomi that tended to be a bit heavy in weight.
He sold me the shells and shipped them home for me.
When the arrived there was some damage to one of them so I called back to the store and told the owner what had happened and he agreed to replace it. However, I decided to take it to Mat Smith who I wanted to make hardware and put head on for me and ask him if he could repair the damage. Mat said he could so I left the shells with him and end product was far beyond my expectations.
I had to wait about a year before the work was completed. He is a one man operation and has a lot of orders. When I came to pick them up I was blown away with what he had done. Originally, he did not want to put any bands because the grain was so beautiful he did not want to interfere with the natural beauty. However, due to some flaws he found in the shell he put four bands. The hardware was custom made with shorter than usual lugs due to the high curvature of two of the shells so he made them all match. The heads are thin, about the thickness of a quarter, and are dark and oily. Bottom line the sound is fantastic but the drums are a bit heavy with the largest being very heavy. I play folkloric music for the most part and they are ideal for rumbas give a unique flavor the the music. Their sound is very round even when tuned high. The base tones are like nothing I have heard from other drums.
As soon as I can I will post pictures. My advice is to look very closely at the drums you buy from Motherland to make sure there are no flaws that could cause problems down the line. If you have them shipped ask them to pack the outer side of the shell very well. The shells are hand carved and the shell thickness tends not to be consistent over the entire shell.
I would not look for these to be your only set of congas as they may not fit into all playing situations. However, I and everyone else who plays them loves them.
Facundo
Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 10:27 pm
Very peculiar shape at the bottom.