Buenos Dias

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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:12 pm

Chtimulato wrote:And BTW, though I often use Facebook, I still appreciate this forum. :)

I agree. I like the format of a forum. And like Thomas, I am a little FB averse.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby Chtimulato » Thu Oct 07, 2021 12:58 pm

Thomas Altmann wrote:Thanks for your basic introduction re Facebook, Chtimulato. In fact I might be the only guy here who needed it. I've had an aversion against FB (and the likes) from the first moment it turned up. Hence my persistent ignorance.


No worries, Thomas : free country, and de gustibus etc. :)

mpags wrote: Much of it is conga related so, I´ll have to give some thought on how to adapt it to bongó


No worries either, mpags. You can use the mano secreta movement (palm-tip, palm-tip, ...) to warm up and soften your wrists and forearms, even if you are not a conguero. And you don't even need a conga to do it : a table, the work space in the kitchen while cooking, or (even better) a wooden stool are sufficient. And I can assure you that 10 or 15 daily minutes of this practice make miracles. You have to start very slowly, of course. You can find it frustrating, but you can do this while listening to radio, for instance, et possibly rhythmically accompany the music.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Thu Oct 07, 2021 2:42 pm

Chtimulato wrote:

mpags wrote: Much of it is conga related so, I´ll have to give some thought on how to adapt it to bongó


No worries either, mpags. You can use the mano secreta movement (palm-tip, palm-tip, ...) to warm up and soften your wrists and forearms, even if you are not a conguero. And you don't even need a conga to do it : a table, the work space in the kitchen while cooking, or (even better) a wooden stool are sufficient. And I can assure you that 10 or 15 daily minutes of this practice make miracles. You have to start very slowly, of course. You can find it frustrating, but you can do this while listening to radio, for instance, et possibly rhythmically accompany the music.


Thanks for this guidance. With your suggestions of practicing this movement while cooking or doing other things I feel like you have been watching me. :shock: I´ve always been somewhat of a tapper with my hands. As a child, this drove my mother nuts! But now, since starting with bongó, I find myself doing it even more so, particularly when cooking and listening to music! I will take this advice. And now I can drive my wife nuts...
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby Chtimulato » Thu Oct 07, 2021 3:04 pm

mpags wrote:With your suggestions of practicing this movement while cooking or doing other things I feel like you have been watching me.


Now you know : there's a webcam in your kitchen, connected to all usual social networks. :lol:

I´ve always been somewhat of a tapper with my hands. As a child, this drove my mother nuts!


So did all of us, driving everybody nuts (parents, neighbours, teachers, etc.) :)
And everybody will tell you his/her preferred drum is "el cubo de su abuela" (their grandma's bucket) :wink: :




But now, since starting with bongó, I find myself doing it even more so, particularly when cooking and listening to music! I will take this advice. And now I can drive my wife nuts...


So still do all of us. But I found a technique allowing me to do it softly, without rising my hand from the table, and without hitting it. Just moving my wrists. This allows me to pratice and feel rhythms without being noticed by anyone. It's very useful at boring work meetings (I know it's a pleonasm).
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Thu Oct 07, 2021 3:18 pm

Had to laugh at the muchacho playing the clave rhythm on the handrail while walking up the stairs! I truly believe that if I had not been discouraged from drums and encouraged toward guitar and bass, that I could have been a good percussionist. But at age 70, that ship has sailed. But I can still learn, progress and have fun in the music projects I am part of now.

I really appreciate the videos! I am going to find time to watch the movie one of these days soon.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby Chtimulato » Thu Oct 07, 2021 3:41 pm

mpags wrote:But at age 70, that ship has sailed. But I can still learn, progress and have fun in the music projects I am part of now.


There's no age for fun.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Thu Oct 07, 2021 4:35 pm

Chtimulato wrote:
mpags wrote:But at age 70, that ship has sailed. But I can still learn, progress and have fun in the music projects I am part of now.


There's no age for fun.


Eso es verdad amigo!! And fortunately, I am fit and healthy. So, off we go!
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:53 pm

A guy popped up on Mercado Libre from Edomex with mule skins. I ordered a couple for a very reasonable price! Hopefully they are good quality. He only had 4 available.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Thu Oct 14, 2021 12:27 pm

I got the mule skins delivered to me which in Mexico City and they look great! They look like a nice thickness. Around 1mm mas o menos. I don´t have anything here to measure them with precision. I look forward to mounting one on the macho when I get back to Oaxaca on Monday!
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby Chtimulato » Thu Oct 14, 2021 7:10 pm

To comment this post and the other (recent) one, do have both skins approximately the same thickness?
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Thu Oct 14, 2021 7:32 pm

Chtimulato wrote:To comment this post and the other (recent) one, do have both skins approximately the same thickness?

Yes. They are essentially 2 macho skins. Both in thickness and overall size.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby Chtimulato » Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:01 pm

mpags wrote:Yes. They are essentially 2 macho skins. Both in thickness and overall size.


OK. So, as I said in the other post, try to find a conguero in your neighbourhood.It will avoid you to order another skin. Or if you can find a tannery, maybe you can buy them a piece of skin, this happens sometimes. A friend of mine even bought a whole cow skin once, for a good price.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:55 pm

Chtimulato wrote:
mpags wrote:Yes. They are essentially 2 macho skins. Both in thickness and overall size.


OK. So, as I said in the other post, try to find a conguero in your neighbourhood.It will avoid you to order another skin. Or if you can find a tannery, maybe you can buy them a piece of skin, this happens sometimes. A friend of mine even bought a whole cow skin once, for a good price.


Here in Mexico, I can actually buy a new cow skin for a fairly reasonable price. Same with water buffalo but I´ve read about the the unwanted overtones. The mule skins were about 1/3 of the price as in the U.S. if I could find them. What´s on now, the stock LP Matador skin is cow hide I believe. It is not bad but there is nothing special about the tone. But then again, as a beginner, maybe my technique is what could improve and that would make the most difference. :wink:

The hembra does seem very thick and a little unresponsive. I am going to remove it and measure when I get back. For around $20 U.S. or $400 MX it is not a big expense to try an experiment though. Or find a local conguero as you suggested. I should be able to make a connection in the music community in Oaxaca. Just wanted some light shed on my ignorance as you have been so kind to do. Hopefully, I will get another opinion or 2. For me, at this point, synthetic is not an option I want to consider.
Last edited by mpags on Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby Thomas Altmann » Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:02 pm

Hi Michael,

mpags wrote:Around 1mm mas o menos.


I'd like to hear how that sounds. 1 mm mule seems pretty solid to me - for the macho. Well, perhaps it will be menos ...

After all, it's up to your personal taste.

Thomas
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Re: Buenos Dias

Postby mpags » Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:19 pm

Thomas Altmann wrote:Hi Michael,

mpags wrote:Around 1mm mas o menos.


I'd like to hear how that sounds. 1 mm mule seems pretty solid to me - for the macho. Well, perhaps it will be menos ...

After all, it's up to your personal taste.

Thomas


I will post my thoughts once mounted Thomas. It´s gotta be better than the dud that came stock with the Matador. I only have a general musicians personal taste so far as I am not very long a percussionist. But I can tell the macho is fairly unresponsive. It has very little pop.
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