Synthetic head on Fibeglass bongos?

[RayBoogie]

Does anyone have synthetic heads on their bongos? I thinking about putting a synthetic head on the macho and leaving the hembra with natural rawhide. I have the LP fiberglass bongos (Ohhh yeah! they are heavy). Can someone give me some feedback on this. Thanks!

[JohnnyConga]

Here is one for ya.. I have an X-ray film on my macho and mule skin on my hembra, and it works great. It stays in tune all the time and the x-ray is a crisp and clean sound. Not the dentist type of X-ray but the bigger ones that show your chest and stuff. If you have a friend that works at a hospital ask them to get you a blank x-ray negative sheet and give it a try. They have been doing that for a long time. Not everyone is hip to using it. It never splits or crack on you either. At your Service...SECRETS OF THE TRADE......At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA....MONGO LIVES!.....

[120decibels]

Johnny's right. The x-ray head is the way to go. My teacher, Sam Turner, uses an x-ray head on his macho. It is an incredible sound. Sam and I agree that the x-ray film doesn't work on any other drum (even the hembra) but the macho is cranked so tight these days that the x-ray film sounds great.

Sam claims that he hasn't tuned his more than a half-turn in 20 years!

Zach

[JohnnyConga]

THERE YA GO!..............JC JOHNNY CONGA

[RayBoogie]

How do you put the x-ray film on the bongos?? Is there any cutting involved? I'm not a handy person, unfortunately. ???

[JohnnyConga]

Like you would any head but it is a little tricky.cause of the overlap. Just take your time or ask Ray to show you how. glad to hear he is back on the scenE .i didn't think he would stay away too long...AT your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA...MONGO LIVES!

[Michael S]

That is an EXTREMELY interesting bit of information and I'm definitely going to do that one day. I doubt if I could have learned that anywhere else but on this forum. Thank you.

[Raymond]

All synthetic heads in the market are great. In most cases they will give you a better sound than most of the already mounted heads available out there...i.e., LPs, etc.

Remo Nu Skyns and Evans will give you a sharp sound in the macho and very warm sound in the hembra but they lack overtones. (That means they are quieter...).

Remo Fiberskyns have more overtones. Personally, I prefer the sone of these heads. (One of my bongos have NuSkyns and another Fiberskyns. Had to try them to see which one I like better).

Let me tell you....I recently switched to synthetic heads in both of my bongos and they are gentler to your hands than natural heads. Speciall when you do various gigs in a row.

I was one of those who did not want to give up natural heads but once I tried synthetic head realized heir sound is great. Like everything else it is just a matter of getting used to the "small" difference in sound.

Saludos!

[yoni]

Interesting topic! I first saw x-ray film used on darbuka (doumbek) heads here in the Mid East years ago, and now they are standard on darbuka. Traditionally those drums have goatskins and the better ones have fish skins - beautiful sound, just less volume than the x-ray heads.

Now I have a Remo Fiberskyn on my small bongo and a natural skin on the big one, no particular reason, just how it worked out for now. The Fiberskyn sounds fine and stays in tune. Haven't tried x-ray film yet on my bongos, but have seen it done.

As to synthetics being "gentler on the hands", I'm not so sure. A smooth head is nice, natural or synthetic, but I have found that playing on plastic for hours sort of dries my hands out faster than with natural skins...

The synthetics seem to give a sharper, crisper sound and are unaffected by humidity, but ultimately I think the nicest sounds can come from natural materials.

On that subject, I've had 3 old heavy LP patato fiberglass congas for years, love 'em, but am starting to tire of the slight over-ring to the fiberglass shells.

Yeah, there's a difference. I want to go back to wood congas when I can afford them.

But the truth is, you can put a vibe into anything and make most any drum sound good if it motivates you to love it... I think most of the sound is in the hands anyway.

[Michael S]

But the truth is, you can put a vibe into anything and make most any drum sound good if it motivates you to love it... I think most of the sound is in the hands anyway.

Couldn't agree more. I cannot accomplish this but a great drummer can.

[Raymond]

X-Rays film were used a lot in the 70s with bongo-salsa player when it become popular having a high tuning in the macho drum. Personally, I never liked because when tuned very high it has a "cracky" sound. (Sort of like a Remo Pinstripe in a timbale tuned very high)!

One of the big ordeals of a bongosero who likes its tuning high in the macho is dealing with the head that in the case of the macho it wears itself a lot and is very often is broken when tuning. (I hate when that happens in the middle of a gig). Somehow, the use of the x-ray film faded in the 80s. Better heads I guess and easier to get a high tuning took people away from them.

Today's synthetic heads are outstanding. I was one who was very skeptic about it and have become a believer. They are good and the sound is great! Yes, it has been proven that they are gentler to your hands. I personally have experienced that!

In regards of the quality of a player and the heads/tuning, personally, I like to have my own personal tuning. I do not know if this affects some of you but I am not the same with the "somebody else's tuning" in an instrument. Is not the same. In some cases, a good tuning in your instrument will make you better sounding player not a great one but a better sounding player which is important 99% of the time.

[yoni]

Raymond, I take your word for it because I also have a Fiberskyn on my macho and it does sound to me about as good as a natural skin and is nice to my hands.

The skins that dry my hands out a bit seem to be the x-ray skins on darbukka, even though they're super-smooth, but maybe it's just because I'm playing lots of darbuka these days.

[yoni]

...couple of further thoughts on the subject...

I love the synthetic heads' crispness and that they stay in tune. I find they're great for "cutting through" in a band situation.

But for an acoustic group or playing at home, I still prefer natural heads. I feel they have more inherent nuance and a warmer sound. And it's also a touch thing - I mean, I don't want to rate a drum with a woman, but look at it this way:

When you make love, what would you prefer -

the real thing or a rubber doll?

[Raymond]

Just as a comment....when I "picked up" again playing bongos while I was living in the United States I realized that the "treated heads" made by LP were not giving the sound currently in the "street" and in recordings. (I had a Generation II bongo). Those heads had to be played for a while and be "cured" and sometimes no matter what you did gave you a "weird" sound that was not the sound I was looking for. (The sound was like I was playing a box. Broke a lot of heads looking for that good "crisp" macho. The hembra was worst....sounded with lots of overtones and not a fat deep sound. It was bad.....)

When I moved back to Puerto Rico got a good advise from some of the bongoseros who were recording and/or playing with bands in Puerto Rico who told me to buy locally made and locally already mounted heads which are not treated like the LPs. (These heads are actually made from cows. Get some treatment, i.e, removal of hair etc, but not much. Is not a see through with a "standard brownish" color like LP heads). They explained to me about the thickness of the skin and all the tricks to know so I purchase a head with the sound I wanted. (Have to give credit to my now friend Albert Machuca who at the time had a 'crisp" and high tuned macho sound. That was the sound I was looking at that moment). After that I never went back to those "treated heads" by LP or any other mass produced manufacturer.

Of course, in Puerto Rico it is heaven to try to get the best sounding "stuff" for your percussion instruments. I realized you guys in the United States do not have that with your stores only with the "standard" mass produced things. With synthetic heads I now realize you guys have that "street" sound I was looking back then that I could not get while I was living in the states. It also gives you range in the sound in regards to the tuning without sounding "funny".

I have been playing my bongos with synthetic heads and they sound great. It took me a while to get use to it. (The sound is sort of too "clean"). Neverthelss, people have been asking me about my tuning and about synthetic heads. For your information, I have been talking to some of the good bongoceros in Puerto Rico and most of them have made the move to synthetic heads. That definitively helps you with the tuning and the constant breaking of the heads, specially the macho with the high tuning, after been used for a while. The other plus they are mentioning is they treat your hands better.

There it is....

[yoni]

Interesting stuff, Raymond. Ruerto Rico must be beautiful to live and play in. I see those advantages of synthetic heads, seen they sure last a lot longer on the macho than natural heads also.

My only sonic complaint is like you said, they can sound "too clean", but hey, maybe that's the sound of today...

I also don't like the pre-set natural heads sold in stores. On my congas I have flat gon bops heads that I mounted some years ago. They are thick ones and maybe that helped them last this long. I think I was told they are of steer skin. Nice sound.