Conga skins - Mule, Cow, what's best?

If you are looking for high end Conga skins for the professional player, you have come to the right place.

The best way to get the best sound, is to have a player select your skin for you, your drum, and your gigging life.

Each drum, played by a specific player,playing a specific style of music demands a specific skin.

Most players prefer Cow. Getting the right piece, even if expertly tanned, is all in the selection.

After 30 years of playing, and 10 years of restoring congas and bongo, having played nearly every make of drums, in many different materials, I can hear the sound of a drum before it is skinned.

Knowing how people play - their chops, knowing the various styles of music and the application of the instrument in that setting. And knowing the cat with a huge stock of skins to sort through - as opposed to selling what ever shows up in the mail... I can hook you up with the right skin.

I provide skins for many top players across the country, including Pedrito Martinez, Sandy Perez, Ramon Diaz, Chris 'Flaco' Walker, to name a few. 

Here is an example of the Skins I sell, and some of the restoration work as well. 

Tony

congadr@gmail.com

Conga skins - Kip skin, steer skins, Cow hide

Thanks Korman,

Thin is different for each.. dont have a metric ruler with me, but...

Mule - thin can be as thin as thick buisiness card stock, to as thick as standard card board (two ply with zigzag inside)
Steer - thin is like the thickness of a quarter, thick is like standard card board
Cow - thin is like a dime, 1-2 mm thicker than two quarters
Calf is like a dime, fairly regularly
Kip is from a dime to a nickle
Horse is as thin as regular business card stock, and as thick as a dime.
Buffalo is from a dime to a nickle, but the only ones i have expereince with are the ones i take off of LP's when reskinning them. The animal may provide much thicker stock, but i havent purchased entire hides of this animal.

I dont know of any player who uses Mule for his Hembra, but Im sure you can get it to sound nice, with the right thickness. many people use Mule for the macho. Its a bit damp for use on the hembra, for me. I like a bit more punch out of my hembra tones. Buffalo makes great Hembra skins, actually. Its usually just the right thickness.

This is just my experience, and the products i have access to. Im sure it varies depending on the supplier.

There are many types of Cattle, many differing varieties, and im sure the hides vary in thickness depending on the species.

One other thing that may need metioning -

sound irrespective of the drum:

Cow - Medium bright slaps, round full open tones with medium sustain
Mule - bright, crisp slaps, slightly muddy open tones with short sustain
Buffalo - Bright slaps, ringy open tones with long sustain
Kip and Calf - bright slaps, trashy open tones, medium sustain (think gon bops stock skins)
Steer - mid-range slaps, round open tones with short sustain

Hope that helps,

Tony