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Q:
I am recovering from a tendonitis of my left wrist/thumb which for some reason doesn't get aggravated when I play congas, but quickly flares up when I play bongos "held traditionally", i.e. between the legs. I am thinking of purchasing an LP 330C bongo stand for seated players to raise up the drums but still be able to play seated. I also throw in a conga now and again, and this would put the bongo heads closer in height too. Do you use a stand ever for your bongos?

A:
Yes, I often use a stand when I play, especially if I am playing anything more than bongo and campana. The stand I use is a Drum Workshop snare stand base and the clamp/support portion of a Rhythm Tech bongo stand. It works very well, but it is hard to recommend something not available off the shelf. As far as I know, currently LP is the only company making something similar "ready to use", but I boycott LP because of their war-profiteering parent company Kaman. However, I do think a stand is a great idea, especially for reducing back strain and other muscle/tendon strain, so do what you have to do. Meinl and Pearl both make very good pro stands, but they would need to be cut down and modified in order to play at seated height.

The other thing I would recommend is to apply an arnica lotion to your hands and wrists before and after playing. "Nelsons" makes a good non-greasy lotion, available at health-food stores. Arnica is an herb that reduces swelling and heals bruises and other soft tissue traumas.

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Q:
What is a good way to teach bongo technique to children?

A:
I think the learning process is similar for both adults and children. Both have to condition their hands (and the whole body) to operate smoothly without too much thought. You have to develop a direct connection from the ears to the hands. That's why we do excercises and rudiments, no matter how bored we get. Adults learn best when they have their own reasons and motivations for learning, but children need more external motivation. One useful method is to make the exercises into games. For example, you can play a memory game with patterns on the drums. The child can imitate the patterns you play, and you can encourage them to maintain an even tempo. You can "sing" the beats, like: "tuku tuku pla pla, tuku tuku pla" or "taki tiki taki tum and taki tiki taki tum". In games, the child's successes can count as points toward a reward such as ice cream or a movie. But if the games are fun enough, no rewards are necessary.

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Q:
Which bongo you would advise using: the LP Galaxy or the Meinl Free- Ride? I would also like to experience Gon Bops, Timba, and Valje.

A:
I have played all of the bongos you mention here, and they are all great drums. Here is how I would compare them:

LP Galaxy- LP is owned by Kaman, a giant corporation with no heart. LP products are not as good as they were back in the '70s, but they still have the fame. It's all advertising; you can get better quality for less money with other brands.

Meinl FreeRide- Excellent, excellent drums, especially for so little money. Until recently I saw them selling on Ebay for $99 to $129 fairly often. I played Meinls in all of my professional gigs for five years straight, and loved them.

Gon Bops- The original Gon Bops company is out of business, so their drums (especially the older ones) are worth more to collectors. They are great professional drums, but hard to find. DW has bought the Gon Bops name and is making some new drums; try before you buy.

Timba- These are the best I have ever played. I bought a pair not too long ago, and was so impressed with the quality of workmanship and sound that I negotiated to become a Timba dealer. I play them at all of my pro gigs now.

Valje- same as Gon Bops in terms of collectability and rarity, although both do show up on Ebay a few times per year. They are great pro drums if you can find them in good condition (these older drums usually take a beating over the years).

I also recommmend Pearl Elite bongos as a good quality option for a player on a budget. And there are several other makers of fine high-end drums to consider. But basically, my top recommendations are: Meinl if you are on a budget, Timba if you want the very best.

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Q:
What are good things to practice on your bongos to play with traditional jazz music?

A:
#1: Rolls. Get your rolls fast and smooth.
#2: The ride cymbal pattern, and swing. Listen to jazz trap drummers and how they swing on the ride cymbal. "Swing" means not being exactly locked into square time, yet maintaining an even tempo.
#3: Triplets. A lot of traditional jazz is in 4/4, and you can often "find your place" as a bongo player in jazz by playing the entire tune in triplets. That way you're not just overlapping the kit drummer, and you're providing some exotic excitement to the feel of the tune.
#4: Take your tempo cues from the bass player, not the drummer.
#5: Call and response. Another way to assert and secure your voice in the band is to play responses to the other instruments. A good way to do that is just to mimic them a few beats behind.

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Q:
Which model is better, the Tycoon BP-800 or the LP Ardiente, both at the same price?

A:
I think they are equivalent, and in reality they were probably made in the same factory.

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Q:
I would like to be able to download bongo and conga rhythms from the net. Can you suggest any websites?

A:
There are rhythm patterns on Congaplace.com, Afrocubanchops.com, and Drumrhythms.com. I will also be including useful rhythms here on Bongomania in the near future.

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Q:
I have two questions.
I currently have a set of LP Matadors. Now I am considering two possibilities. One is to find the best set of synthetic heads to increase brightness on the macho and in general increase volume on both.
Secondly, I am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the Pearl Elite wood/fibreglass bongos. Are these top-of-the-line, and how do they rate against the LP Giovanni's?

A:
I have heard very positive opinions of the Evans synthetic heads, but I have not played them myself. I have played the Remo Mondo heads, and heads made of X-ray film. I didn't like the Remo heads at all, they were not louder or brighter, and the tone was poor. The X-ray heads (for the macho) were awesome, with truly bright powerful tones. They did sound "plastic-y", but that was fine in the mix with a full band. I wouldn't play them in a trio, though. Try the Evans heads, and if they don't suit you then I would recommend making heads from mule hide. Mule has a nice bright yet full tone. The Pearl Elite bongos, both the wood and the fiberglass, are great professional drums. Way better than Matadors. They have a 9" hembra, which increases your volume on the low end, and fiberglass bongos can generally be a bit louder than wood ones. I recommend the Pearl Elites highly, although you may still want to experiment with different non-factory heads. I would say they are equal in quality to the LP Giovanni bongos, for about 1/3 the price. I have seen the Pearls go for $89 to $119 on eBay recently.

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Q:
Someone told me that Pearl Bongos are for Rock musicians and that I'd be best to stick with LP.

A:
Honestly, whoever told you that was being ignorant. Pearl does make kit drums that are well liked by rockers, but that has no bearing on their Latin drums. LP has made their drums in the same Thai factories as most of the other makers since the mid '80s. A few years ago they sold out to Kaman, a company that blatantly places profits over people. Even when LP was made in the US, they were never a "Latin company", they were just a company making decent Latin instruments. So they never had any special legitimacy compared with other drum makers- they just did a better job of marketing themselves that way. Frankly, I think Pearl (a Japanese company) and Meinl (a German company) have been making Latin instruments at a better quality, for the price, than LP for several years now. Sorry for the negative tone, I just try to call it like I see it.

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Q:
I'm new to playing bongos, and just picked up a great set, but I want to customize them a bit and make them more "me". If I use colored markers, like Sharpie brand, on the heads, will it ruin my bongos? I've got some cool designs I'd like to do on them.

A:
Sharpies won't ruin the heads necessarily, but the oils in the heads will cause the ink to bleed and blur out. I learned this when I had a famous person sign a bongo head for me with a Sharpie; I removed and stored the head for a couple months, and the signiature is just a grey blur now. The best technique is actually tattooing inks into the hide. You can have a tattoo artist do the work, or you can do it "old school" prison style. Next best is to paint the image using permanent waterproof paints designed for painting on leather. You can get those at craft-supply stores. If you like the "tie dye" look, you can use fabric dyes or waterproof inks, but you may have to heat-treat the head to keep the inks from bleeding and spreading.

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Q:
I noticed the Meinl bongos you have in your gallery are an exact match to mine... I am having trouble finding the right sound out of the 9 inch head. I recently tried the Nuskins by Remo which didn't successfully change the sound of the head and now I have recently recycled my old LP Tumba head for it. I am still not satisfied with the sound out of that particular head- it sounds "tinny" and dense. Sometimes it sounds like I have my hand over the open end of the shell when I play it outside. Do you have any suggestions for improving the sound of the larger hembra head?

A:
I also had to do a lot of experimenting with heads before I got the desired results. What I have on there now is a very thick cowhide, thick even by conga head standards. But let me tell you, it's great! I get lots of compliments on my sound, whether outdoors or close- miked or unmiked indoors. I think the "secret" is in the way the thick hide damps the resonant sustain. You get a loud initial thump, but then no long "ooomm" afterward. This allows me to tune to a lower pitch; in order to get the short sustain of a smaller drum head, you would have to tune a factory-stock 9" head up a lot higher than you'd like. If you don't feel like installing a super-thick hide, then I would recommend taping the underside of your head to mute the ringing tones. I've written a couple of articles on this site about making and taping bongo heads. It may be that the LP tumba head is not evenly tensioned, and that would cause the tinny sound.

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Q:
What type of sound does fiberglassing give to bongos? Are there any recordings that show the difference in sound, between fiberglass and wood? Can you tell me more about the fiberglass materials, as I don't know what to ask for in the store.

A:
Fiberglass bongos have a louder, crisper sound. They are good for cutting through the mix of an amplified band. On the other hand, fiberglass bongos are a little heavier than wooden ones. I don't know of any recordings that show the difference; perhaps I will make one for this site eventually. You can find simple fiberglassing kits at any auto parts store.

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Q:
Can you recommend a good bongo instructional method in Spanish? Especially if it comes with a recording of the exercises.

A:
Unfortunately, I don't know of much to recommend. It's hard enough finding a really good method book or video in English, here in an English-speaking country. It's possible that the Argentinian drum teacher in our Directory page could have some good recommendations. If you find videos that feature Giovanni Hidalgo or Changuito, I believe those lessons are bilingual.

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Q:
Can I fiberglass a djembe? Have you ever seen a fiberglass djembe? I have one that will need a new skin soon anyway, as well as the first pair of bongos I learned on, and I would like to try giving them a new sound. I think I understand the difference between the sound of fiberglass and the sound of wood, but it is still difficult to put into words: the wood has a rounder sound, smooth and warm, while fiberglass has a crisper, sharper, stronger sound, right?

A:
Yes, I have played a couple of fiberglass djembes. Meinl makes one with good construction and sound qualities. With those, as with fiberglass bongos, the sound is louder and sharper, but with a lot more ringing harmonics. If you want the stability and clarity of fiberglass, but with a less brilliant sound, Remo make the "Mondo" series of djembes which have a decent balance of qualities.

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Q:
Are there any written or audio-visual methods for learning the bongos?

A:
Yes, there are methods of all kinds. On this site there is a demonstration of the basic martillo pattern. I also intend to add other lessons to the site over time. On the Directory page is contact info for Matthew Dubuque; he has videos, on VHS and DVD, showing an array of bongo techniques. Many of the drum-selling sites on the web sell books (with CD) by Trevor Salloum. I don't necessarily recommend his first book, but his second "Beyond the Basics" is worth consideration. I have also heard good opinions of the videos by Kalani, although I haven't watched them myself.

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Q:
I would like to buy a good set of bongos. I am in Havana right now, and I was wondering if you know of any shops where I can buy them here?

A:
Unfortunately, I don't know of any shops in Havana with good quality instruments. All of the instruments I have seen there are cheaply made for the tourist trade. All of the raw materials, wood and metal, are for export only, so the locals cannot benefit from them. And Cuban musicians cannot afford new instruments, even of moderate quality. I bought a pair of bongos in Santiago de Cuba, but they weren't that great. The wood and hardware are OK, but the skins were low quality. The best idea if you are traveling there is to buy bongos in Puerto Rico. They have fewer trade restrictions, and some fine craftspeople who make top-quality instruments.

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Q:
What are some tips for learning the bongos?

A:
1) Listen to, and watch, the masters. I taught myself by listening to recordings by Pedro Mena, Mongo Santamaria, Jose Mangual, Manny Oquendo, Yeyito, Papa Kila, and other masters of the bongos. Also by watching the hands of the bongoceros at live concerts.
2) Focus on polyrhythms, especially 3 against 4 and 6/8. This is the secret to clave and rhythms with an African feel to them. If you can move smoothly between time divisions of 3, 4, 5, and 6, you're solid.
3) Practice the "manoteo", a rocking motion of the the hands where you hit the drum first with the base of your thumb (heel of the hand) and then with the tips of your fingers. Alternate hands, like L heel - R heel - L tip - R tip, repetitively. This is a secret to fast rolls.

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