What skin is used for bongo drums?
Bongo drums with animal skin drumheads are most typically made with goat or cow skins. Although they share the same name, bongo drums are not typically or even traditionally made from the skin of a bongo antelope.
How long do bongo heads last?
Heads on bongos should be replaced regularly every three or four months in order to make sure that your bongo drums always produce vibrant, expressive sounds.
Why are bongos so expensive?
The more custom your bongos, the higher the price. Furthermore, often bongo professionals will fit and use their own drumheads to match their style of playing, which adds to the cost (not as much as you would think, though.
What are the best skins for bongos?
Cowhide is the preferred type for conga heads. It is thick and needs to be soaked in warm water for 3-4 hours to make it flexible enough to work with. Goat-skin or calf-skin heads suit the bongo. Since they are thinner, they can be soaked in warm water for about 1-2 hours and they will be stretchable enough to use.
What are bongo skins made of?
Bongo shells are traditionally made of oak wood with drum heads made of animal skin (usually rawhide). Modern bongos are made of many different types of wood and use either animal or synthetic skin. The drums also have metal hardware consisting of lugs, tuning rings, the bearing edge, and the center bridge.
What are drum skins made of?
What is a drum skin made of? Despite the word “skin” in the name, drum skins (also known as drumheads) are rarely made of animal skin. A synthetic material is almost always used for drum skins intended for the drum kit. The plastic skins are more durable, cheaper and more consistently reliable than animal skin.
How are Bongo heads measured?
Measure the diameter of the top of the bongo or conga shell. Note: The top of the shell is called the bearing edge. The bearing edge is about 1/4″ thick. So, measure the shell diameter from middle of the bearing edge to the middle of the bearing edge.