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How to Play the Drums
Decide how you want to play the bongos. The traditional approach is to hold the bongos between the knees with the head of the larger drum against the right knee. The heads should face outwards at a comfortable angle to play. Alternately, you can attach them to a bongo stand so that the heads face straight up.
Put your body in the proper position. If you are using the traditional style, sit up straight with your feet planted firmly on the floor. If you are using a stand, you may prefer to stand. Adjust the stand so that the drums are at waist-height or just above.
Learn the open tone. Spread your fingers out slightly and hold them straight but relaxed. Hit the drum so that the pad of your hand lands on the rim. Let your fingers bounce off of the drum head. You should hear a clear tone that doesn't sound at all tinny. You can adjust the tone by changing the position of your hand slightly.
Start with your hand in the same position you just used for the open tone, but bend your fingers a little. Lightly hit the drum, but don't let your fingers bounce off the rim. Instead, rest them lightly on the skin of the drum. This "tap" sound is called a muff, or mute tone.
Learn the heel-finger pattern. This is not one tone, but two tones used in combination. Put your palm in the middle of the drum head. Strike the drum with the heel of your hand, then rock it forward and strike with the tips of your fingers. Practice until you can smoothly rock your hand back and forth, playing two distinct tones consistently.
Learn the most difficult tone. The slap is tricky because you have to "grab" the drum skin in just the right way to get a loud pop. Hit the drum in the same way as you would with a slap, but cup your hand when it hits the surface. Let your hand bounce off the skin again.
How to Tune and Care For Bongo Drums
Oil the skins of your bongos. Put about 1 tbsp. worth of almond oil in your hands, rub them together, and rub the oil into the skins of your bongos. Many bongo players forget to keep their drum skins moist, which is an effective way to keep them in good condition. Repeat this step whenever your bongo skin seems dry.
Loosen one drum head. Unscrew all four lugs 1/4 of a turn. Repeat until the drum head is loose. Then loosen the other drum head.
Look at the rim very closely. It should not be bent or warped in any way. With the drum head loose, it should sit evenly on the rim of the drum. If it is seriously warped, you may want to get it replaced.
Use your fingers to tighten the lugs on one drum head until they are tight enough to be difficult to turn. Go one at a time, tightening just a little bit each time. Even out the tension so they all have the same feel.
Tighten the head with a wrench by tightening all four lugs 1/4 turn at a time. After each 1/4 turn, play the drum to see what sort of tone it makes. You will know that you have reached the perfect tightness when you get a loud, clear tone.
Repeat with the second drum. The smaller drum (the macho) should be about three semitones higher than the lower one (the hembra). For example, if the macho is a G, the hembra should be an E.
Loosen the drum head when you are done playing. This will help help ensure that it lasts a long time.
How to Repair Bongo Drums
Take the drums completely apart. Start by loosening all the key rods that pass through the metal hoop around the drum head, using either a standard drum key or a small wrench (depending on the size of the key rods). Taking these key rods completely off the drum will allow the metal hoop and then the drum head of each bongo to be removed.
Check the wooden drum shells for any cracks, chips or unintended holes. Fill any new holes or cracks with wood putty, scrape until it's level with the wood's surface, and allow the putty to dry.
Check the drum heads for any cracks or tears, and replace heads that are broken or worn out. Splits or cracks in the drum head will affect the playing action, and deaden the resonance produced when the drum is played. Heads that are dented or worn thin in places will not ring with a clear tone.
Replace broken heads by placing a new head over the rim of the drum. Lay the metal hoop on top of the drum head, and place the key rods through the holes in the metal hoop. Place your elbow or palm in the center of the new drum head and press downwards with enough force to flex the head. This is called "cracking" the head. Put some lithium grease on the end of each key rod, and insert the rod into the lug of the drum. Use a drum key or wrench, depending on the size of the key rods, to tighten each rod in the lug until the head is at a tension that will flex only very slightly when pressed. To tune the drum, tension each rod equally, so that the pitch produced on the drum head adjacent to each rod is the same.
Check the metal hardware that attaches the bongo head to the drum shell. This includes a metal hoop on each drum, the key rods which pass through the hoop, and the lugs which are attached to the drum shell and receive the key rod ends. Replace any hardware that is missing. Clean the remaining hardware with a metal polish, and buff out any scratches with a fine-grade steel wool. Apply lithium grease to the ends of the key rods, which screw into the drum lugs.
Reassemble each bongo drum by placing the drum head on top of the drum's bearing edge. Place the metal hoop over the drum head, then tighten the key rods through the metal hoop and into the lugs. To tune each drum, tighten each key rod to the same tension as the other key rods on the drum.