isla percussion - mario punchard

[109-1176549166]

Well said mj. I will stay out of the OT'ness of "the" word.

That being said.

Wow I didn't know the youtube vids was actually Mario on the requinto !! :laugh:

Good to know, and thanks for sharing that mj.

T

Tonio,

Thanks for the kind words.

Yup, that's Mario alright! He told me so. He's still quite young--just in his mid-30s. And not bad-looking too.

Also, he's financially comfortable, although he's quite reluctant about sharing this. To start with, he came from a financially comfortable family and was given a very decent education. His father is a doctor.

So, when he says that he makes his Islas primarily for the passion it and that the money is merely secondary, he really means it.

Apparently, the lighter-colored Isla drum he's playing with on some of his videos is a requinto. Meanwhile, the darker-colored Isla he's playing with on other videos is a quinto.

BTW, the guy in the middle (directly to the left of Mario), playing the tumba, is his brother. Notice the family resemblance? He looks younger than Mario, but I'm not sure. Also, I forgot to his Mario for his name.

And, the guy to your right, playing the conga, is Mario's good friend, Joseph "Pili" Martinez.

Not only does Mario build and play tumbadoras, he also regularly teaches Afro-Cuban folkloric drumming in the Los Angeles area. Moreover, he's quite active in promoting Afro-Cuban folkloric music in public events in the area.



Edited By mjtuazon on 1183775619

[109-1176549166]

JUST IMAGINE HOW SWEET THOSE DRUMS ARE, CAUSE THAT REQUINTO WASN'T EVEN TUNED UP!

Changuiri,

Mario once or twice told me that, as is true with many folkloric drummers, he tunes exclusively by ear; that is, he doesn't tune to specific keys, such as C, D, etc. Believe it or not, tuning to specific keys is totally foreign to him.

So, you can be almost sure that the different tunes on his drums are what he wants.

Besides, from everything that I've heard and read about tuning congas, you generally get more projection from them if they're tuned lower (closer to middle C) rather than higher.



Edited By mjtuazon on 1183771002