Hey Folks!

   We had had discussions before on how to cuy staves for congas.   I think we

generally agreed that the staves are bent into shape, and had varying views on

how to cut staves before bending.  This vid shows some congamaker cutting them

as curved staves right out of solid ash wood, then ripping the bevelled edges in

a straight line.  Enjoy!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3hs_JVE9vo



Chris Bittner

http://www.drumworksbychris.com



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hey Chris,



Thanks for sending that link!



Looks like this guy (unnamed in the video) is not bending the staves at all, but

rather cutting them curved.  They seem have a natural double taper after the

sawing, and to just drop into place in the jig. I'm going to have to try that in

my shop.  I also appreciated seeing his clamping devices.



One thing though, cutting the curves from the side, as he does, would seem to

require a lot more wood than cutting the curves from the flat.  Of course, that

could perhaps result in a less precise beveled edge and be rather time

consuming.  So the question becomes, which is more valuable, the time or the

wood?



Thanks again,

Bill

The conga maker that I know, Akbar, who made the famous Valje congas (with

Valje) and who then made his own line called Sol (before selling his company to

LP and for whom he still works I believe), gradually and progressively bent the

staves as you would when, say, making a boat.  For one thing, a wooden stave

under tension is going to have a different resonance characteristic than staves

which are just carved.  Also, maintaining the consistency of the grain is very

important, so "cutting curves from the flat" does not make sense, as you would

be moving across the grain to carve a curve.



It is not just about what is more valuable, time or the wood, but what will give

you the best sound given that it takes a lot of time to do it anyway, and the

time is generally a bigger cost component than the wood anyway.  For a conga

with a lot of curvature in the 'bell' (such as Valje), it would take a lot of

wood to carve the staves and is probably impractical to get that shape without

bending the staves, and the shape has a big effect on the sound as well, of

course.









________________________________

From: Bill Saragosa <bsaragosa@...>

To: djembe-l@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 4:04:15 AM

Subject: [Djembe-L] Re:How congas are made





Hey Chris,



Thanks for sending that link!



Looks like this guy (unnamed in the video) is not bending the staves at all, but

rather cutting them curved.  They seem have a natural double taper after the

sawing, and to just drop into place in the jig. I'm going to have to try that in

my shop.  I also appreciated seeing his clamping devices.



One thing though, cutting the curves from the side, as he does, would seem to

require a lot more wood than cutting the curves from the flat.  Of course, that

could perhaps result in a less precise beveled edge and be rather time

consuming.  So the question becomes, which is more valuable, the time or the

wood?



Thanks again,

Bill













[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Jeff,

 

You are right, there would be a difference.  Akbar, by the way, now is ( I think

still is) making Gon Bops congas and percussion.  Gon Bops was bought up by Drum

Workshop, and thanks to Akbar, revived.  Their website used to (maybe still

does) exactly illustrate the straight staves being bent inside progressive steel

hoops.

 

I will ask him about the difference next time I see him, probably at the

Musikmesse.

 

Cheers,

Bill









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I heard that Akbar is working with the new Gon Bops company.

Maybe Sky Whaley (Cielo Drums) or Brad Davis (BD Drums) could contribute to this

discussion. They both make or have made hand-made congas.

Hey All.



I am new to this list-serv and also new to drumming. I just obtained my first

Djembe a few weeks ago, and already she is the love of my life! I’m trying to

learn and connect with others. I ‘m also looking into the therapeutic aspects

of drumming, as I am a mental health counselor as well.



  Anyone have connections in the northeast Arkansas area? Also any pointers or

gems to help move me along would be much appreciated!



Thanks,

Molly



[Moderator's Note:  Our Djembe-L FAQ

http://djembelfaq.drums.org/usa_drum_teachers.htm has listings of teachers in

Arkansas.   -HS]

Molly,

  You're not that far from Dallas...Mohamed Camara is doing an intensive two day

workshop in Farmersville, TX ,NE of dallas on jan 24th..you would get a lot of

input there from a master and the community.







Randy Harp 

18486 County Rd. 701

Farmersville, TX 75442

main 214-641-0782

fax 972-782-6059



--- On Fri, 1/9/09, Molly Ivy <mivy@...> wrote:



From: Molly Ivy <mivy@...>

Subject: [Djembe-L] Djembe/Drumming Groups

To: djembe-l@yahoogroups.com

Date: Friday, January 9, 2009, 7:40 AM













Hey All.



I am new to this list-serv and also new to drumming. I just obtained my first

Djembe a few weeks ago, and already she is the love of my life! I¢m trying to

learn and connect with others. I ¡m also looking into the therapeutic aspects of

drumming, as I am a mental health counselor as well.



Anyone have connections in the northeast Arkansas area? Also any pointers or

gems to help move me along would be much appreciated!



Thanks,

Molly



[Moderator's Note: Our Djembe-L FAQ

http://djembelfaq. drums.org/ usa_drum_ teachers. htm has listings of teachers

in Arkansas. -HS]





































[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

anyone looking for direction with djembe should own anke dje anke be a

book/cd from abdoul doumbia--- In djembe-l@yahoogroups.com, "Molly

Ivy" <mivy@...> wrote:

>

> Hey All.

>

> I am new to this list-serv and also new to drumming. I just obtained

my first Djembe a few weeks ago, and already she is the love of my

life! I’m trying to learn and connect with others. I ‘m also

looking into the therapeutic aspects of drumming, as I am a mental

health counselor as well.

>

>  Anyone have connections in the northeast Arkansas area? Also any

pointers or gems to help move me along would be much appreciated!

>

> Thanks,

> Molly

>

> [Moderator's Note:  Our Djembe-L FAQ

> http://djembelfaq.drums.org/usa_drum_teachers.htm has listings of

teachers in Arkansas.   -HS]

>

Look on cd-baby for Cameron Tummel's beginner djembe cd.  It will

prove to be helpful to you, I think.



Pete





.































_________________________________________________________________

Windows Live™ Hotmail®: Chat. Store. Share. Do more with mail.

http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_hm_justgotbetter_explore_012\

009



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I heard that Akbar is working with the new owners of Gon Bops.

I just looked at that video. They make it look pretty easy. Of course they are

using ash which doesn't have much grain. They dont plane the heads, so they are

of uneven thickness. The video claims that they are lacquering the shell, but

that's not the way to apply lacquer, likely they are using some king of

polyurethane. Notice that they say the glue dries in a day. But there is no

stress on the shells as they are but, not warped. Warped wood would have to stay

in the mold or form longer than that. The old Gon Bops I have worked on have

cross slits cut into the wood to make the bending easier, and the grains (they

are Cuban or Caribbean Mahogany so the grain stands out)sometimes line up. Some

use carpenters glue, others horsehide glue. And the video looks highly

"produced", the narrator obviously not an expert on what they are taping.

I guess I'm old school, but I think the grooves cut into the shell for

decoration are a travesty, these drums are for mass marketing, likely to sell on

E-Bay, not for professional players.

Maybe Sky Whaley (Cielo Drums) or Brad Davis (BD Drums) can share their

knowledge in this group, but they might only be in latinperc yahoo group. They

both make excellent well crafted hand made drums, both of course hard to compete

with imports from S E Asia and they dont sell very many.

Ray Ruhlen

You quite right that it is Gon Bop and not LP that Akbar sold his Sol Percussion

to and is now working for -- there is a photo of him and his new "AkBlocks" on

the Gon Bops website !



I had visited his shop in San Francisco many years ago while he was still making

his Sol drums there and watched how he made the drums.  I have a beautiful set

of 5 congas that he made in red oak that I got from him, (which is a very

light-colored wood despite the name, with a tight grain and very hard).  The set

includes a beautiful super tumbe (18 inch ! ), which required extra effort and

special tooling.  I also have a great set of 4 congas which he made in the style

of the vintage Cuban "dirty rice" darker stain. They are absolutely fantastic

drums and I am quite happy to have been able to get them from him while he was

still making them.



Thanks for the LP=>Gon Bops correction.