Instead of lotion, I’ve had really good success with the Burt’s Bees ultra conditioning chapstick. A friend told me that he puts it on his hands before playing, so I tried it on the heads themselves. It does a great job of cleaning the heads and also moisturizes your hands. I would use some of chapstick to moisturize the heads especially if you have dry hands or if you decide to sanitize your heads because the alcohol does dry out the heads and can lead to cracking. I’ve even put it on my skyndeeps to get rid of the chalky/powdery texture that the surface has when you buy them new. I usually draw a 2 inch circle in the middle of the head with the chapstick, fill it in, and then I use my hands or a paper towel to spread it onto the rest of the head and remove the excess. I’m also super sketched out about any damage caused to aftermarket heads from them not setting correctly due to unsmooth bearing edges. Unlike drumset manufacturers, most conga manufacturers are not very detail oriented with this area of the drums- check for yourself by running your hand around the area that the head comes in contact with when it is mounted; it may be bumpier than expected. So with new wooden congas, before mounting some remo synthetics or steer heads from manito percussion, I usually sand the bearing edge with a fine sandpaper like 800 grit, and then I coat the bearing edge and the entire conga interior with clear briwax, which is a wood protectant. Depending on the finish, you can also apply it on the conga exterior. It reduces the effects of humidity on the wood and glue holding the drums together. However, it does contain a solvent to allow the beeswax and caruaba wax to be applied more easily, so apply it with a clean rag in a well-ventilated area. Then, with another clean rag, buff the wood to make it shine. If you use briwax, I would also wait 30 minutes before mounting your heads so the solvent has time to evaporate and not come in direct contact with your heads.
This was great - thank you so much! I’m the proud owner of a set of used bongos and I also own a few djembes which were used when I bought them. Thank you for this info!
The concern with hand sanitizer on the drum head is that it might dry out the head because of the alcohol content in the sanitizer. As long as you use lanolin or a similar type of skin moisturizer on the head directly after cleaning with hand sanitizer, the head should stay nice and moisturized.
I used coconut oil on the skin of my hembra, primarily on the inside but all over. It’s from a LP Gen 2 bongo set from 1987. The bongos are in near-new condition, but the hembra had too many overtones. After conditioning with coconut oil, the overtones are gone and the bongos sound awesome. The macho sounds perfect so I left it alone.
I have a leather shoe conditioner from Dr. Martens with just coconutoil, lanolin and beeswax in it. Should also help keeping water based moist away, which makes sense, since it's oil and wax. Now, I have tendency to get pretty moist hands, also judging from my phonescreen of how quickly it gets greasy after cleaning it 😆 So maybe my skins don't need any conditioning haha. But I'm wondering if the sweat could be damaging? Because then it would probably still be a good idea to condition the skins once in a while.
Kalani, thanks to my friend Eric Perez to use palm oil on your rawhide heads that is better than lotion plus makes your heads last longer & I need to get some
Hola mi amigo me llamo Francisco soy de Puerto Rico de Vega Baja también soy percusionista quiero saber dónde compras los cuero para conga y bongo y Tamboras me gusta tus Videos son instructivos gracias
The idea that the drum hide and the skin of your hands are alike is quite misleading. Living skin (your hands) has a constant cycle and turnover of cells, keratin, collagen, antibodies, etc. The natural skin of a drum of course doesn't have any of that cellular turnover (it's dead). Also it is never quite "natural" in the sense that it has gone through an intense process (chemical tanning) which is essentially intended to chemically stabilise the collagen fibres, so it doesn't decompose like the skin of a dead animal in the wild.
Yay I got my bongos and they are not wood, I think they're acrylic? I got them because they were transparent red, but now I am wishing I got the wood ones. Is there any upside/downside to acrylic bongos?
Good morning what kind of oil can be used to put on the bongos I got the small version of LPS and I'm just wondering if any oil can be applied lightly to it thank you so much and God bless thank you for the information you share with us
It's a common misconception that wood gets dried out. Wood is constantly gaining or losing moisture to get into equilibrium with its environment and it will find that equilibrium whether you like it or not. You don't need to apply anything to it to keep it from drying out.
Good point; however, I have drums that have developed small cracks, possibly from drying too quickly or from the drum being constructed from wood that has not fully dried or cured. I don't think it would hurt to treat the wood with some light oil, just to be on the safe-side.
@@WORLDDRUMCLUB what about roasting the wood? I've read that the wood loses moisture and closes the grain trough roasting, and to be sure you could seal it quickly after roasting with a sealant.
My djembe drum head got cracked.. I think it's due to moisture, this year it was more rain, atmosphere was like rain, sun, rain.... How we can take care, and which is best leather for the djembe head.... Earlier it was yak leather....
T. R. P. SuRaj drum head crack when they are too dry and when they are too tight. If the drum was okay before you tightened it, it was probably pushed over the edge with prolonged exposure to colder temperatures than that of when you tuned it.
Sir what is the cost of that tycoon bongos. I am an indian and using indian bongos. These are not of good quality and i want to buy the tycoon bongos. Plz sir whenever you get time plz reply me. I am your fan and also a subscriber. Please sir reply me. Please☺😮
krish medicines I'm a musician for living and have been playing around the world for three decades now! who says indian bongos aren't good? the thing must be you there's no sound within your hands or either you couldn't tune them.
I'm learning some carnatic techniques at my university from a Sri Lankan musician in my area. He's excellent at mridangam, ghatam and kanjira, but is also a skilled tabla player. I'd like to take lessons under him, but I'm unsure about how to buy tabla. Do you, as someone from India, have any advice on buying tabla.
I think prices vary in every country. Have you checked with your local music store and asked them to get some for y ou? I think you also have some online options. The one's I'm playing in the video are between $200-$300.
Hi, Mr. Kalani! Would you have the interest to make a video about a Malay percussion called Rebana? It can be any type of video (unboxing, review, tutorial, how people make it, idk you have the idea 😂😂😂), but yeah, it's about Rebana. I hope you'll like the percussion's sound 😁😁😁 P/S: The rebana have various type, which is the rebana dikir (big but shallow shell), the Malay rebana (slightly deeper shell than rebana dikir), rebana hadrah (looks like a frame drum with jingles), rebana jikey (looks like the Malay rebana, but slightly differently shaped shell) and rebana Perak (a small, cute, deep-shelled frame drum). I highly reccomend the Malay rebana, but you might wanna try the other ones as well in one video.
I want to know how to choose a dun dun. What brand would you recommend, should I get one made in Africa, and should I get multiple. I need a balance between price and quality. I’m asking if anyone knows! Thank you
If you can, purchase drums from the country of origin, from a reputable source (someone who knows the music and the people). If you can't do that, get the closest version possible (wood with natural heads). personally, I don't recommend getting plastic or sythentic dundun. None of them sound authentic. You can get one, two, or a set of three. If you think you're going to want to play traditional Mande music arrangements, such as those in Mamady Keita's Book, A Life for the Djembe, three drums will be needed.
Kalani Sir, Can We use a small amount of Mustard Oil and apply on the Drum Skin to maintain the Elasticity of the Heads. May be on the Other Side (Flip/Inner Side) of the Drum Skin?
The reason why alcohol-based hand sanitizers would be bad for drum-skin heads is that the skin no longer produces oil to combat the drying effects. So, it's NOT the same as using it on your hands.
That probably won't affect the sound. Is the ink coming off onto your hands? If so, you could clean the heads with something stronger. Just be sure to remove any chemicals and condition the head with lotion.
WORLD DRUM CLUB A magic eraser works well for crayon and ink on drumheads. It has to be used gently because it is a micro abrasive. Only apply enough pressure to get the ink or the crayon off the head, and moisturize the head directly afterward.
Instead of lotion, I’ve had really good success with the Burt’s Bees ultra conditioning chapstick. A friend told me that he puts it on his hands before playing, so I tried it on the heads themselves. It does a great job of cleaning the heads and also moisturizes your hands. I would use some of chapstick to moisturize the heads especially if you have dry hands or if you decide to sanitize your heads because the alcohol does dry out the heads and can lead to cracking. I’ve even put it on my skyndeeps to get rid of the chalky/powdery texture that the surface has when you buy them new. I usually draw a 2 inch circle in the middle of the head with the chapstick, fill it in, and then I use my hands or a paper towel to spread it onto the rest of the head and remove the excess.
I’m also super sketched out about any damage caused to aftermarket heads from them not setting correctly due to unsmooth bearing edges. Unlike drumset manufacturers, most conga manufacturers are not very detail oriented with this area of the drums- check for yourself by running your hand around the area that the head comes in contact with when it is mounted; it may be bumpier than expected. So with new wooden congas, before mounting some remo synthetics or steer heads from manito percussion, I usually sand the bearing edge with a fine sandpaper like 800 grit, and then I coat the bearing edge and the entire conga interior with clear briwax, which is a wood protectant. Depending on the finish, you can also apply it on the conga exterior. It reduces the effects of humidity on the wood and glue holding the drums together. However, it does contain a solvent to allow the beeswax and caruaba wax to be applied more easily, so apply it with a clean rag in a well-ventilated area. Then, with another clean rag, buff the wood to make it shine. If you use briwax, I would also wait 30 minutes before mounting your heads so the solvent has time to evaporate and not come in direct contact with your heads.
J. Carlos Diaz H. Great suggestion- Thank you
This was great - thank you so much! I’m the proud owner of a set of used bongos and I also own a few djembes which were used when I bought them. Thank you for this info!
My pleasure!
I use shea butter to put on my djembe skin or conga skins or bongo skins .
The concern with hand sanitizer on the drum head is that it might dry out the head because of the alcohol content in the sanitizer. As long as you use lanolin or a similar type of skin moisturizer on the head directly after cleaning with hand sanitizer, the head should stay nice and moisturized.
I used coconut oil on the skin of my hembra, primarily on the inside but all over. It’s from a LP Gen 2 bongo set from 1987. The bongos are in near-new condition, but the hembra had too many overtones. After conditioning with coconut oil, the overtones are gone and the bongos sound awesome. The macho sounds perfect so I left it alone.
Some hand sanitizers have alcohol in them, which would dry the heads out.
It could, if left un-moisturized.
I have a leather shoe conditioner from Dr. Martens with just coconutoil, lanolin and beeswax in it. Should also help keeping water based moist away, which makes sense, since it's oil and wax.
Now, I have tendency to get pretty moist hands, also judging from my phonescreen of how quickly it gets greasy after cleaning it 😆 So maybe my skins don't need any conditioning haha. But I'm wondering if the sweat could be damaging? Because then it would probably still be a good idea to condition the skins once in a while.
Hi Kalani, Thanks for the Tip on rawhide head care...
Kalani, thanks to my friend Eric Perez to use palm oil on your rawhide heads that is better than lotion plus makes your heads last longer & I need to get some
Plus palm oil does change the pitch but it truly is worth trying it out!
Hey guys I use tea tree oil. great sanitizer. and it's a natural oil.
Hola mi amigo me llamo Francisco soy de Puerto Rico de Vega Baja también soy percusionista quiero saber dónde compras los cuero para conga y bongo y Tamboras me gusta tus Videos son instructivos gracias
Gracias!
Great subject, great tutorial - thank you! Happy Easter and Passover :)
The idea that the drum hide and the skin of your hands are alike is quite misleading. Living skin (your hands) has a constant cycle and turnover of cells, keratin, collagen, antibodies, etc. The natural skin of a drum of course doesn't have any of that cellular turnover (it's dead). Also it is never quite "natural" in the sense that it has gone through an intense process (chemical tanning) which is essentially intended to chemically stabilise the collagen fibres, so it doesn't decompose like the skin of a dead animal in the wild.
Yay I got my bongos and they are not wood, I think they're acrylic? I got them because they were transparent red, but now I am wishing I got the wood ones. Is there any upside/downside to acrylic bongos?
Hand sanitizer dries out one’s skin. The evaporation of the sanitizer pulls moisture out.
Hand sanitizers have alcohol in them. Should alcohol be put on the drum heads? Seems that it would dry out the heads more than normal.
Can I use cocoa butter on the heads? In moderation of course/thanks!
Yes. Most definitely. I do. It’s fine.
Good morning what kind of oil can be used to put on the bongos I got the small version of LPS and I'm just wondering if any oil can be applied lightly to it thank you so much and God bless thank you for the information you share with us
I use the same moisturiser on my drum skins as I do on my own skin and that works well. Skin is skin. Shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil.
Have you ever used Saddle Soap on any drum heads? It was suggested to us that we use that and I'm trying to figure out how to use it.
I haven’t but it’s probably OK to use.
It's a common misconception that wood gets dried out. Wood is constantly gaining or losing moisture to get into equilibrium with its environment and it will find that equilibrium whether you like it or not. You don't need to apply anything to it to keep it from drying out.
Good point; however, I have drums that have developed small cracks, possibly from drying too quickly or from the drum being constructed from wood that has not fully dried or cured. I don't think it would hurt to treat the wood with some light oil, just to be on the safe-side.
@@WORLDDRUMCLUB what about roasting the wood? I've read that the wood loses moisture and closes the grain trough roasting, and to be sure you could seal it quickly after roasting with a sealant.
Thank U for the Lesson!
My pleasure.
My djembe drum head got cracked.. I think it's due to moisture, this year it was more rain, atmosphere was like rain, sun, rain.... How we can take care, and which is best leather for the djembe head.... Earlier it was yak leather....
T. R. P. SuRaj drum head crack when they are too dry and when they are too tight. If the drum was okay before you tightened it, it was probably pushed over the edge with prolonged exposure to colder temperatures than that of when you tuned it.
How can I safely clean a yellowed djembe drum head? Maybe a Magic Eraser?
You can softly sand the goatskin.
Little to no oils
Some hand sanitizers have alcohol in them, which would dry the heads out, I would think.
Sir? Can I untigthen my Djembe? I think I Tight it to much..Coz I'm tuning my Djembe
Sir what is the cost of that tycoon bongos. I am an indian and using indian bongos. These are not of good quality and i want to buy the tycoon bongos. Plz sir whenever you get time plz reply me. I am your fan and also a subscriber. Please sir reply me. Please☺😮
krish medicines I'm a musician for living and have been playing around the world for three decades now! who says indian bongos aren't good? the thing must be you there's no sound within your hands or either you couldn't tune them.
I'm learning some carnatic techniques at my university from a Sri Lankan musician in my area. He's excellent at mridangam, ghatam and kanjira, but is also a skilled tabla player. I'd like to take lessons under him, but I'm unsure about how to buy tabla. Do you, as someone from India, have any advice on buying tabla.
I think prices vary in every country. Have you checked with your local music store and asked them to get some for y ou? I think you also have some online options. The one's I'm playing in the video are between $200-$300.
Hi, Mr. Kalani! Would you have the interest to make a video about a Malay percussion called Rebana? It can be any type of video (unboxing, review, tutorial, how people make it, idk you have the idea 😂😂😂), but yeah, it's about Rebana. I hope you'll like the percussion's sound 😁😁😁
P/S: The rebana have various type, which is the rebana dikir (big but shallow shell), the Malay rebana (slightly deeper shell than rebana dikir), rebana hadrah (looks like a frame drum with jingles), rebana jikey (looks like the Malay rebana, but slightly differently shaped shell) and rebana Perak (a small, cute, deep-shelled frame drum). I highly reccomend the Malay rebana, but you might wanna try the other ones as well in one video.
Sounds like a wonderful Idea. I have some friends in Malaysia and Singapore who I could ask to help me with that.
I want to know how to choose a dun dun. What brand would you recommend, should I get one made in Africa, and should I get multiple. I need a balance between price and quality. I’m asking if anyone knows! Thank you
If you can, purchase drums from the country of origin, from a reputable source (someone who knows the music and the people). If you can't do that, get the closest version possible (wood with natural heads). personally, I don't recommend getting plastic or sythentic dundun. None of them sound authentic. You can get one, two, or a set of three. If you think you're going to want to play traditional Mande music arrangements, such as those in Mamady Keita's Book, A Life for the Djembe, three drums will be needed.
would it be ok to use a thin amount of coconut oil on my skins to keep them from cracking?
chaiandme The skins shouldn’t crack, but a small amount of natural oil could be OK. Just a little
Never keep your drum skins tight all the time. Loosen after every session
Why? Please teach me the reason we should loosen up after play
Can you use baby oil?
first of all are you talking synthetic or natural skins for cleaning? Should make a big difference, no?
Kalani Sir, Can We use a small amount of Mustard Oil and apply on the Drum Skin to maintain the Elasticity of the Heads. May be on the Other Side (Flip/Inner Side) of the Drum Skin?
I'm not familiar with Mustard Oil, but I think anything that is not too greasy should be fine. You can treat both sides, just don't apply a lot.
Sir, Yeah Mustard Oil is bit heavy and greasy. Then should I go for Virgin Olive Oil?
Use the same moisturiser 🧴 that you use for your own skin. Remember that it is skin-on-skin.
@@WORLDDRUMCLUB could you recommend anything specific?
how often shall lanolin be applied?
Maxwell SHI Depends in heads and environment, but once per year is a good practice.
My grands play djembe and I have several of them at the house. Problem is I am seeing moths!!!! Freaks me out!!! Looking for solution
OH MY GOSH WHAT
Using alcohol hand sanitiser would dry the heads out over time.
I try to tune my bongos to match the sound of your drums. Problem: . Doesn’t work. Now what?
W
The reason why alcohol-based hand sanitizers would be bad for drum-skin heads is that the skin no longer produces oil to combat the drying effects. So, it's NOT the same as using it on your hands.
Yes, but it’s easy to add a little hand lotion and drum heads are much more durable than our skin - much thicker.
My son's drawn all over the heads with crayon and pen. Are they mashup?
That probably won't affect the sound. Is the ink coming off onto your hands? If so, you could clean the heads with something stronger. Just be sure to remove any chemicals and condition the head with lotion.
WORLD DRUM CLUB ink and crayon are. Came home from work and he had tagged them 😀. Thanks for reply. Love your channel.
WORLD DRUM CLUB A magic eraser works well for crayon and ink on drumheads. It has to be used gently because it is a micro abrasive. Only apply enough pressure to get the ink or the crayon off the head, and moisturize the head directly afterward.
GOLD BOND ULTIMATE ...... DIABETIC WORK'S REAL GOOD......HAPPY BONGOS. Good bye dry skin.
Are you actually Shaq?