CONGA PLAYING

Nealio1987

Senior Member
Is there any form of hand protection you can use or any ideas people have to protecting your hand / joints when playing congas ? by this I mean products you can buy or something that you do already do , as sometimes its 2 hours of conga playing im doing in one night.


any info would be apreciated.

Nealios
 
I got to switch off between drumset and congas with one group, and that was difficult because I couldn't really use a hand lotion to keep my skin protected because it would interfere with holding the sticks!

Then I looked at the reason conga players play so hard: they're not loud enough! I requested and got a small PA to mic up the congas with and the problem was solved because now I wasn't over-playing the congas, they could hear everything I was doing and I wasn't killing my hands.

Years ago someone told me the Great Ray Barretto's fingers were demolished in the fingertips from years of playing. And I believe he even said the best thing to happen to him was the development of the much louder fiberglass conga so he could ease up a little. I say ease up alot and buy yourself a keyboard amp and a pencil condenser mic and put a mic over them. It'll save you alot of hand-ache!
 
Is there any form of hand protection you can use or any ideas people have to protecting your hand / joints when playing congas ? by this I mean products you can buy or something that you do already do , as sometimes its 2 hours of conga playing im doing in one night.


any info would be apreciated.

Nealios

Live at Montreux, Poncho Sanchez DVD. In the extras he shows how he applies protection to his fingers. It was Mongo Santamaria's method. It may even be on YouTube
 
like Bo said,
My conga player uses an amp and a condenser mic.
Sometimes we put him through the PA.
 
I suffered injuries prior to miking my congas. Competing with amplified instruments is a loosing effort.

GJS
 
I use athletic tape. I apply thin strips to knuckles on the right hand, and a few less to spots on the left. It definitely adds some protection for me. I've found that it doesn't interfere with stick playing either if applied properly. Mess around with it and just tape up whatever trouble spots you have.

This is a great technique my drum teacher taught me years ago. I never play congas without some tape.
 
I assume you are using some modern comfort-curve type rims. The traditional rims will destroy the hands if played much.

I'd say traditional rims will destroy hands if played improperly with poor technique, or if the head was put on wrong. The best sounding drums I've ever played have been headed with traditional rims. Skin on Skin's, Valjes, Gon Bops, Isla, Timba, Matthew Smith's. all of these use traditional style rims and are amazing instruments. I used comfort curve rims for a long time and developed certain habits when playing with them. You definitely have to adjust technique between the two if you start to rely on the comfort curve. Most of the major name brands use some version of comfort curve rims because they are more forgiving to a wide range of players.

I use tape if my callouses split, or I bust one of my fingers open. It happens. There is really no way to avoid building up blisters, or callouses if you are really playing congas. I think Pancho Sanchez takes it to an extreme, but I also have a feeling its because he plays hard on Nuskin heads. But he's a pro and obviously has his method.

Karite/Shea butter is helpful AFTER playing, but I wouldn't recommend putting anything on your hands during a performance (other than tape if you must). And I would definitely not wash my hands, or get them wet if I can avoid it. Anything that softens your hands while playing is not good in my opinion.
 
I wear winter gloves when it's cold in the and I need to shovel my driveway, or go snowboarding. I wear rubber gloves when I wash the dishes. I use oven mitts when taking pies out of the oven, and gardening gloves for pulling weeds out of my herb garden. But gloves have no use when it comes to hand drums in my opinion.

I will make one exception. I've seen guys use thin cotton gloves for dampening congas during practice. That, or throwing a towel over the drums.
 
Back
Top