Re: Help from Conga Players
SDS...it took me quite a while to get the slap down myself...it takes mucho practice but once you get it, you will know it!
L4C is right about having the conga tuned fairly high; while you can do a slap with a lower-tuned drum, it's not going to have the "crack" and "pop" you want it to have. Good call, BTW, on detuning the drums, particularly if you store them in an area where the humidity is relatively low, since if the temperature rises, you can have the head separate from the hoop with unpleasant results.
midgard, I'm trying to give SDS a visual without a video, so bear with me. Pick up a table fork (like you'd use for dinner) and turn it upside down. Notice how the tines are pointing downward (toward the table top) and not upward (toward the ceiling). Your fingers should look something like that upside-down fork (yes, curved!) when you do your slaps.
Also, it's best to hit the part of the drumhead just inside the edge of the drum (NOT the metal rim--that's gonna hurt like ****!), but just inside the bearing edge of the shell. If you look at the conga from the top down (or if you can tilt it so light comes up from the bottom), you'll see where the bearing edge ends and the open space begins (the shell will be a dark ring around the head).
BTW, use the fingertips only to slap the congas...going any lower than the tip of your middle finger will give you major bruises if you slap too hard! Actually, "snap" is the key word here, since you're snapping the fingers off the head while you're slapping the skin.
I don't know if I'd call it a "wave bye-bye" motion, midgard; to me the finger snap reminds me of what your mom once did on washday to see if her iron was hot enough to use--that is, she'd dampen her fingers and tap the soleplate very lightly. Instead of the "hsst!" you'd get from the hot iron, you get that "pop" and "crack" we were talking about above.
Again, just keep patient and keep practicing...and once you get it, you'll never forget it!
keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!
Charlie
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau, "Walden," 1854
"There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi
"Maybe your drums can be beat, but you can't."--Jack Keck
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