It’s a great habit to detune your heads when you are done playing, especially if you are about to move the drums to a different location. The words “all” and “dressed” are a perfect 5th. The interval that the words “here” and “comes” make is a perfect 4th. You can find these perfect intervals by singing the first two melodic phrases of “Here Comes the Bride.” A lot of drummers stick with the perfect intervals, like the perfect 4th or perfect 5th. It would be a drag to tune a drum differently for each song, even if it is small adjustments from one song to another. The overtones that are created by the lack of specific pitches can sound better on more songs. It’s always a relative tuning process, and I make adjustments to the drums if something sounds weird. I never tune my drums to specific pitches. Put the tuning process to work with confidence and your knowledge will only get stronger through experience. This means trying different possibilities and listening to your instincts. Drum IntervalsĬonga drums are not all created equally, so it’s important to find the best intervals for your set. Develop your ears so you can hear the music and make adjustments based on taste, not the math that a machine spits out. I don’t think they are worth the money or time spent keeping track of them. Some drummers use tuning apps on the phones or standalone tuners designed for tuning drums. Excess lube can draw dirt into the threads and cause more problems. If the nuts squeek or resist movement, it’s likely because the threads are dirty, dry, or both. These tools can easily slip, which could cause injury or damage to the hardware. This design uses a drum key, not an open-ended wrench.Īvoid using adjustable wrenches or pliers. The top-tuning mechanism from Latin Percussion is one of the newest innovations for tuning. The wrench fits the nuts that tighten the tension rods, bringing down the drum head. Most congas are tuned with a wrench that comes with each drum. Related: Conga Drums – A Guide for Beginner and Intermediate Players Tools for Tuning Conga Drums
TUNING NOTE C HOW TO
This article focuses on the former, but you can find more articles on Rhythm Notes about how to play conga drums. Learning to make good sounds on congas is essentially about learning how to tune the drum and equally about developing proper technique. Likewise, if the drum isn’t tuned well, it will be hard to make good sounds, even with good technique. If the sounds are not clear, it’s almost impossible to tune the drum properly.
The Technique and Tuning ParadoxĬonga tuning is only as effective as the technique the player uses to get good sounds. Weather has a minimal effect on synthetic heads, so they are able to tune in almost any weather condition. If you need to bring your drums to different places to perform, for example, try synthetic heads. This allows me to know for sure that they are happy and likely to sound consistent regardless of the weather. I always have a humidifier in the room where I keep my instruments. The best solution is to keep your drums in a dry place. This can lead to over tightening of the drum head and a loss of tone quality. The problem really becomes frustrating when you compensate for the loss of pitch by cranking up the tension rods. When the drum head takes on moisture, it will expand and lose tension. Moisture in the air can make it difficult to maintain your conga tuning. Repeat these steps until the drum sounds good.Do this before you get to far into fine tuning the head. This will seat the head and hardware, which can allow the head to resonate more. Hit the center of the drum head with your open hand or fist.This establishes the drum head’s intonation. Tap the drum head near each tension rod to compare the pitches and decide which ones to bring up or down.Turn each nut about a quarter to a half turn for each rod in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction.Play an open tone or a slap to determine which direction you want to go with the drum.Tension rods hook to the drum rim on one end and have threads on the other. Modern conga drums have a tuning system that uses a nut and bolt mechanism to tighten the drum head evenly around the shell. The drums can be tuned to different intervals in relation to one another, and some conga drummers tune their drums to specific pitches. But if the head is too tight, it could sound dead.Ĭongas are tuned by turning the nuts on the tension rods with a wrench. If the drum head is too loose, the slaps don’t cut through the music. Conga tuning is about applying tension the drum to the degree that the tones, slaps, and other sounds are pleasing to your ear.
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