Hey, DD, don't panic...I moved your thread to PERCUSSION because it's a question that comes up often in both kit playing and hand drumming discussions.
While those Giovannis sound killer (I've played them at GC), playing them with sticks defeats the whole purpose of having them as hand drums.
Some people play bongos with sticks because the sound is sharper and louder (almost like playing Roto-Toms without the metallic ring). Like you, DD, I don't like the way they sound played with sticks.
Some do so because they can play cowbells, wind chimes, jam blocks and bongos without having to drop the sticks to get a riff in on the bongos. (Ironically, in authentic Latin bands, the bongo player will often drop the
bongos to grab the cowbell--remember LP has a model called the "bongo" cowbell!)
IMHO, "beating the snot out of those bongos" with sticks is something I don't like because, as someone else mentioned elsewhere in the Drum Questions forum, there's a likelihood you could tear up the bearing edge of the bongo shells. And if you play sticks on bongos as hard as you would on your toms or timbales, you may end up breaking the bongo heads or, at the least, dent them as badly as you would when you hammer your toms.
If you like the way they sound, cool...but to me it defeats the purpose of having bongos with your set...you might as well buy mini-timbales or Roto-Toms if you want that kind of effect...or learn how to replace bongo heads. If I had to do it, I would use soft-headed mallets before sticks, but I prefer not to!
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