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Amigos,

The other day I saw a Bongoceros solo using short sticks even when playing in the normal seated position.
Anyone seen this or have any views on the pros and cons??

Suave

I personally don't like it. I think bongos were made to be played with the hands/fingers. Can you imagine playing congas with sticks?? Naugh....don't think so but it's like Bobby Brown says "It's my prerogative". I've seen El indio playing them with sticks on youtube but he's much better with his hands(sounds personal) lol.
laters

Maybe something to do with volume of the band, where the subtlety of skin on skin will be missed??

On YOUR drums? Sure.

On my drums? Meet my best friend Wolfie.

Have some great recorded solos for the 80 ,s ( i think ) that are played with sticks . Karl perrazo plays a stunning solo on a santana dvd with stick on bongo .Different style and sound and probably closer to timbales than bongs but great i have to say .As for playing sticks on congas ? Its done all the time in cuba ...

Mongo plays a solo with sticks on bongos on his famous Afro Roots cd. Believe it or not the in the Flitnstones cartoon they play sticks on bongos at the very end of the credits.
I myself have never played sticks on my bongos, but I use a stick in one hand on my congas all the time, certain rhythms are played that way, some parts even use 2 sticks.

Mongo was the king of stick on bongo. He made several recordings with very tasty solos on bongos using sticks. I think Roberto Roena borrowed on that from Mongo. Bongos are meant to be played by hand, no doubt, but a tasty solo with sticks on an upbeat tune, can be very tasty. Look for Mighty Mongo on his "Fuego" LP on Vaya.

Dario

There are more voices with hands and fingers IMHO, but I guess sticks give you the volume, I must start trying them. Any tips on technique, types of sticks etc?
Thanks for all the listening ideas, as always, you guys are what makes this forum awesome.

Suave

There's hardly ever an occasion where I would use sticks on bongos or congas.

But just as another point of view, sticks being used on drums is a very common thing in Africa. There are a lot of drums in Africa that are played with one hand/one stick or 2 sticks. Also a lot of drums get played with either sticks or hands. The skins stand up really well to being pounded by the sticks. They hit 'em really hard and the skins are not all that thick either.

Here's a couple of pics showing at least one drum in the ensemble being played with sticks. I took these photos when I was studying and hanging out with this group from Ghana.

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roberthelpus wrote:On YOUR drums? Sure.

Meaning to say that YOU can hit YOUR drums with sticks but not mine.

Actually, I can hit my drums with sticks too, but it's not something that I do too often and don't look forward to it.

Most of the sticks that I have seen that are used on African drums were what we called whippy sticks like on Sabars. They are very flexible and not at all like typical drum sticks. More something that you went and grabbed of of a tree branch and peeled the bark off of, rather than a factory made item.

Actually playing sticks on congas is fairly common for some rhythms. I love playing bembe caja with a stick. I also know a version of bembe with sticks on all drums, which I believe is how it's meant to be play. I sometimes play Palo with sticks as well. In this bembe caja part there are strikes on the head and on the side of the drum. Typically I'll hit the hardware instead of the wood. Sometimes palitos gets played on the side of the drum as well, which is why I have drums for that kind of use.

Hey Leedy2, where do you buy stick like that?

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Thanks for the tip Amigo, I look out for them.
Suave