Tuning in on Bongos

Endorser Kurt Rasmussen and
LP 35th Anniversary Fiberglass Bongos

Begin the Bongo
This article is basically going to focus on tuning techniques for bongos. But before we get started, I would like to give you a little information and a brief history on bongo drums. I prefer to refer to the bongos as bongo, it's fine to call them bongos, but the singular is also acceptable. When referring to yourself as a bongo player you are also known as a bongocero.

Like all Afro-Cuban instruments, I can't stress enough the importance of finding a teacher who is well trained in the traditional Afro-Cuban techniques of bongo playing. Even though there are many applications for the bongo and many ways to produce a wide variety of sounds, it is important to lay down good technique before experimenting with other applications.

The bongo was created in Cuba and was first used in playing one of Cuba's most popular forms of folk music called the son. The bongo was the only drum used in a sexteto (a musical group defined by its instrumentation) that played son. Later the conga was added forming the musical group conjunto.

The two individual drums that make a bongo each have their own names. The larger drum is called the hembra (female) and the smaller drum is referred to as the macho (male). The first bongos used only tacked animal skins and were tuned by using heat. Today's bongos are not only equipped with tunable hardware but there are also several types of drum heads to choose from.

Heads Up

It's all a matter of personal choice when deciding on what type of heads to use on your bongo. The choices are pretty straight forward; hand tucked rawhide skins, mountable rawhide or mountable synthetic. You can mix and match but we'll discuss that later. I feel that it is important to at least know how to tuck a skin even if you decide to use mountable heads. The best way to do this is hands on with a teacher who can show you the proper methods used in mounting a flat head.

When selecting a rawhide skin for tucking, hold a skin to the light and inspect for uniform thickness and quality.

When choosing a flat head it is very important to pick one with just the right thickness. To judge the thickness of a skin, hold the skin level and look at it edge on. Usually the macho skin will be thin and the hembra skin thicker. After finding a thickness you like, hold the skin up to a light and look for a uniformity of light showing through the skin. This also gives you an opportunity to inspect the skin for blemishes. If you are not able to select your own skin, LP has simplified the problem by having their experts hand pick the skins for tucking. If you prefer a premounted skin they offer both natural and synthetic heads, either way you will get a good skin.

Many players prefer to use premounted heads for some obvious reasons. First, you do not have to spend your time tucking the head and second, replacing the heads is immediate because you don't need to wait for the heads to dry. Even if you prefer tucking your own heads, it is a good idea to carry premounted skins just in case a skin breaks at the inopportune moment.

More and more players are opting for the new synthetic heads. One major advantage is that the weather has little effect on tuning or the sound of the bongo. Although you can leave the synthetic heads tuned, it is not advisable to do this due to the stress that is put on the drum shell and the wear and tear on the tuning lugs.

With natural skins, extreme weather situations can effect the sound of the bongo and also make tuning difficult. The heat rises the pitch, and cool damp temperatures lowers the pitch. As you can imagine, these type of weather conditions can make tuning very tedious!

I have seen players use a synthetic head on the macho drum and a natural head on the hembra drum. I have also seen the opposite. The bottom line is you will need to experiment to find the sound that you are looking for.

How About a Lube and Tune

Tuning the bongo is a fairly simple task, once you have learned the basics. This article will give you all the information you need to tune your bongo whether you tuck your own head or use a premounted head.

Before adding the tuning lugs to the bongo make sure to use some lug oil. LP offers an excellent lug oil called Lug Lube (LP238).The best tool to use for tuning is a ratchet. This tool makes tuning and detuning your drums a breeze. LP offers the Percussion Survival Tool Kit (LP525), it comes with a compact ratchet, one 9/16" and one 1/2" deep socket and a bottle of LP Lug Lube.

Before you add the tuning lugs be sure to use some lug oil.

After you have placed a tucked head on your bongo make sure it has completely dried before you tighten the tuning lugs.(The rim and lugs should be placed on the head while the head is still wet.) If you are using a premounted head place the rim on the bongo and tighten the tuning lugs. With either hand tucked or premounted heads, tune until the desired pitch is obtained.

The most important aspect of tuning drums is making sure the head goes on evenly. This can be achieved by keeping your eye on the head as you tune your bongo. When you begin tuning your bongo, choose one lug and give it a certain number of turns (a full rotation of the ratchet). When you first start tuning the bongo the head will be loose, so you will need to start with maybe 2 or 3 turns per lug. Make sure that you tighten each lug the same amount of turns, this will also help insure that the head stays on the drum evenly.

Tune in a circular fashion, giving each lug the same amount of turns.

The bongo should always be tuned in a circular movement, start with any lug make sure you go to the next lug in the circle and not the lug across. Once you have tuned all the lugs, look at the drum from the side and check to see if the head is even. If you notice that the head is not even, you will need to go back and tighten the lugs that are causing the problem. As the tension increases you will need to use less turns of the ratchet, perhaps 1 or 2 turns this cycle. Once again, look at the bongo from the side to see if the head is mounted evenly. If it is not even, fine tune as previously mentioned. This method applies to both natural and synthetic heads.

One problem I have noticed is that some players are afraid to tighten the head as much as they should. Sometimes heads do split but this is less likely to happen with LP heads. But as we know split happens, so it is a good idea to always have a back up premounted head.

Generally the macho head is tuned very tight so you get a nice crisp open tone, this way martillo (most basic bongo rhythm) has a nice sharp "tic" to it. The hembra will be tuned much lower in pitch then the macho. I know some players who like to keep the macho and hembra roughly an octave apart. ft you're not sure how the bongo should sound, I suggest listening to some Salsa recordings. When you hear a bongo sound you like, try to match the sound with your own bongo.

Detuning and Changing Your Heads

When detuning the bongo begin with the same lug you started with when you tuned your bongo.

Detuning your drums after playing is extremely important. After you've finished playing take your ratchet and reverse its direction. Begin the detuning process with the same lug you started with when you tuned your bongo. Give each lug 1 or 2 turns, keep going around the drum from lug to lug until the bongo pitch is lowered but the lugs are still snug. A secret to retuning is to remember the number of turns you used when you detuned. To simplify retuning remember to turn each lug the same amount of turns that you used when you tuned. You may need to fine tune a bit but this will definitely keep you in the ballpark.

Remember if you are using natural skins the weather will effect your tuning. If you are using synthetic heads the weather isn't much of a problem. Once again it is not necessary to detune synthetic heads, but I suggest that you do because it keeps stress of the drum shell.

When should the heads be replaced? When you start noticing that your sound isn't as crisp as it once was, this is a clear indication that you should replace your heads. I try to make a habit of changing my heads every few months, this insures that my bongo projects nice, crisp sounds.

Bongo Drums and the Flintstones

I've already mentioned the importance of learning the traditional Afro-Cuban techniques of playing the bongo. Now I would like to touch on other ways the bongo can be used. One of my favorite examples of using the bongo in the studio is in the cartoon series the Flintstones. The sound I am referring to is when Dino the dinosaur starts running. This sound was created by using sticks on the bongo, it is a double stroke roll one stick on each drum. This great idea was created by studio musician and percussion master Emil Richards. This is just one example of using the bongo in a non-traditional setting.

LP endorser Patrick Buchmann demonstrates his unique set up. He often uses brushes on his bongos and congas.

Try experimenting with different sticks like split sticks and assorted mallets. Using sticks for soloing is also quite common when playing Afro-Cuban music. Some musical situations may call for the bongos to be tuned much lower than normal. This is also how the bongos were tuned when musicians played Afro-Cuban son before the conga was added.

Tuning to a specific note is also used quite often in studio situations. Sometimes hand techniques other than the traditional Afro-Cuban style are quite useful. Try different frame drumming techniques or even tabla fingerings on the bongo. Experiment with other hand drumming and creative tuning, this may be just what the music needs rather than the traditional Afro-Cuban techniques.

The Call of the Bongo

In this last section I would like to give you a few listening suggestions. Some of the world's greatest bongoceros are included in the following list. These great artists will give you ideas on how the bongo should sound. This list is by no means complete, but it does give you a starting point. (My apologies to all the great players who are not listed here.)

Jose Mangual, Sr. , Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez, Jr. , Thomas Lopez , Armando Peraza , and Manny Oquendo