Questions about Almas on Congas

[Thebreeze]

A friend of mine asked me to change a skin on a "Timba" Conga for him. The first thing I noticed is that the Head is out of round, 11.5 inches across one side, and 12 inches across the other side. This should actually measure 11.75 inches to be in round, and that is the official size for this head listed on Timba's website. When I removed the head I noticed that there is an Alma inside along the bearing edge. It appears a little thin to me, about 1/8 " thick. I think a good thickness for an Alma should be 3/16" to give the bearing edge that strength needed to help keep it in round. Another thing I noticed is that the Alma sits nice and tight across the 12" side, but there is a space between the Alma and the shell across the 11.5" side. I am thinking that since this Alma is not sitting flush on the entire drum that this is causing problems such as the shell not being able to round itself out. I believe that installing an Alma is something that really needs a lot of Expertise to do because it is such a critical part of the drum and needs to be done right, probably thicker than 1/8" and definitely flush on every part of it all around the shell of the drum. I don't think that the drum makers of Timba were very knowledgeable in making and installing Almas.
My main Question....... Has anyone on the Forum ever had this problem ? and if so, have you actually removed to Alma to see if the problem would correct itself? Since this is not my drum I do not want to remove the Alma but would like to if I thought it would help. I personally have never really cared for Almas, with the thinking that if you take care of your drums and de-tune them properly after playing that you should not have this kind of problem. Can anyone share with your thoughts on this problem??? Thanks in advance.

P.S.... I hate the thought of putting a new head on a drum knowing it is going to be out of round.

[Mike]

My main Question....... Has anyone on the Forum ever had this problem ? and if so, have you actually removed to Alma to see if the problem would correct itself? Since this is not my drum I do not want to remove the Alma but would like to if I thought it would help. I personally have never really cared for Almas, with the thinking that if you take care of your drums and de-tune them properly after playing that you should not have this kind of problem. Can anyone share with your thoughts on this problem??? Thanks in advance.

P.S.... I hate the thought of putting a new head on a drum knowing it is going to be out of round.

I can relate to the latter thought very well, I would actually never put a new skin on an out-of-round conga.

Well, bad news: it is most likely that the shell of your friend´s drum will not correct itself once you remove the alma.
You will have to use patience, a wood dowel and a lot of time to try to bring the shell back in position.

You are absolutely right, the alma sould sit snug to the shell, otherwise it does not make much sense.

Good luck!

[Thebreeze]

Thank you for your thoughts on this Mike. You have always been an asset to this forum, always positive and genuine. I will see what I can do about this drum with my friend and Just some advice to Forum members not too familiar with why drums go out of round.. A long time ago when I was about 21 years old I purchased a new Valje Conga and Tumba through Drumland on Ellis Street in San Francisco. I remember still smelling the glue on the drums as they had just been made for me. Not being knowledgeable on the tuning methods of Congas I left my drums tuned up all the time until one day I noticed the Conga had gone out of round. It was heartbraking, and I had a hard time just playing it the way it was. It still sounded good, but it was not the same anymore. I ended up selling them for very little and I never forgot that. So.... always make sure that you de-tune your drums after every use so that there is only minimal pressure on your bearing edges, and don't over tighten a drum past it's sweet spot. ( in other words, don't try to turn a conga into a requinto ). If someone is thinking about buying some drums sight unseen ( like ebay for instance ) "MAKE SURE " that you get the seller to give you measurements all around the heads so that you don't end up with out of round drums unless this does not matter to you. Be very picky about drums before you buy them so that you end up with nice drums. And always check to see if they have Almas. If they do, then you really want to know that they are thick enough and were installed properly, flush against all wood surfaces around the shell. Remember... All drums will end up slightly out of round eventually ( maybe 1/8" ) and to me that is normal and ok, but 1/2" is not acceptable and very noticeable. I know that there are a lot of experienced Congeros that know all this already, it's just for some that are new to latin percussion not to make the same mistake like I did when I was 21 years old, or like my friend who bought out of round drums.
Hey Mike, happy drumming to you over in Germany.

[Mike]

Hey, thanks for your nice and friendly reply, Will, very much appreciated. Yes, out-of-round drums are not the real thing any longer.
Anyway, happy holidays and merry Christmas to you and everyone here!
BTW it was an unbelievable 59 degree Fahrenheit over here - dreaming of a white christmas seems to be utterly utopian

[Psych1]

I don't get it - I never got it. What is the big deal with a conga being a little out of round?

[rhythmrhyme]

egg shaped drums sound like crap, that's why. I don't buy all the 'it's in your hands' nonsense. There are rules of physics at play and a round drum resonates better, has less overtones and creates a clearer distinction between open played tones and slaps. Palm down sounds aren't as obvious, but playing any hand drum open will reveal the difference quickly. Even a 1/4 inch is noticeable, and I agree with the OP that 1/8th tends to be acceptable. By the time it's past 1/4 it's time to try a repair.

[Thebreeze]

In addition to all that has been said, my friend paid in the neighborhood of 1500 dollars for the three drums, with the conga being the worst of the three being 1/2 inch out of round,the Tumba is off by about 1/4 inch, and the Quinto is in good round. The quinto however came from a different seller which tells me that whoever owned the quinto before took proper care of it or hardly ever played it and left it with little tension. Here is a red flag to lookout for.. If you see a picture of drums for sale and see that the tuning lugs have a lot of thread showing below the Nut or you see tons of washers between the Nut and bracket you know that those drums might be a good candidate for an out of round. Sometimes people tend to keep tightening a skin instead of replacing it and this is bad for the drum. I know we have all seen this at one time or another.