Some more thoughts

Are you a player that likes Artisan drums? Do you like having something that is of superior quality and may be a bit more exclusive in nature…. There is not doubt in my mind that many of the US based drum builders make killer drums. In-fact 2 of them are making probably the best drums on the market… We know who they are I don't need to name names…. I find it interesting however that they both buy hides from the same guy. i find it strange that we would accept this from a builder of this caliber. Since the skin makes for a major percentage of the tone of the drum why not go for something proprietary.

Proprietary rawhide. interesting concept. L&H Percussion has an agreement with a tannery to follow a process that is minimally destructive , for lack of a better term.

I have recently seen 2 drum builders one new here in the US and one in Belize talk about having proprietary rawhide. I have not see the hides from Belize but he claims to “ tan” them in house. Now this a pretty crazy thought as I know the type of drums this guy produces. Glue lines poor measurements, roller marks on the stainless… just sloppy ( but he only wants to sell to rumberos, santeros, Omo Ana per an email shared on Conga place ). I can just see his hack crew taking rawskins and poorly dry them and allow for people to play on crap that will continue to decompose and smell or worse kill you due to anthrax…. But not to worry if you do buy a set from him you may never actually get it as he likes to take your money and run…..

The second drum builder with his proprietary rawhide has some crap on a poorly carved Del Cielo wanabe drum.. this crap was pretty much what you can get from Stern or Hide house. Not to mention that it was 3mm over to about 1.7mm with the worst tuck I've ever seen …Slight variation my ass…. it was bleached and looked like every other generic Steer hide.

The short of it is L&H Percussion has an exclusive agreement with a tannery that makes High End Leather for Italian furniture to make solely for L&H the best rawhide available in the US. They are a family business operation internationally and domestic for 30 yrs… They are the pros we just learned what works for drumming and gave them the formula while maintaining quality control here in the NY area. If you want to take your sound to new heights try L&H we can give you the best playing experience possible…

Descendientes del Ritmo A soon to be released project another preview (unfinished studio mixes)

 

"Vete Tu"
Changüi Nueva Yorkquino

Musicians:
Giovanni Hidalgo: Changüi Bongó
Eddie Bobé: Tres, coro & percussion
Juan Papo Garay: Lead vocals & composer of Vete Tu
Chris Theberge: Tumbadoras (Congas)
Reut Regev: Trombone
Abraham Rodriguez: Coro

"Mama No Quiere"
Batá-Rumba

Musicians:
Giovanni Hidalgo: Congas
Eddie Bobé: Tres Vocal percussion
Orlando Puntilla Rios: Bata Iyá
Eddie Bobé: Itotelé
Chris Theberge: Okonkolo
Reut Regev: Trombone
Abraham Rodriguez: Vocals

Handmade Sekere, Shekere, Chekere

We are now offering Handmade Sekere. These Sekere are made in a more traditional manner using wood plastic and glass beads along with hand selected Gourds. We are not taking specific design request at this time but we can build an instrument that can meet your needs for many musical applications.   These are priced very fairly  the one in the photo would run around $50.

Flickr Tags: sekere,shekere,chekere

Descendientes del Ritmo : Back to the Root ...coming soon. www.descendientesdelritmo.com

"En El Balcon Aquel" By Descendientes del Ritmo

Here's a sneak preview of a new project coming out on Descendent Music (Chris Theberge's new label)

This is a remake of a track originally by Los Papines “En El Balcon Aquel”

Descendientes del Ritmo - Produced by Eddie Bobe (guitar, percussion and vocals), Abbe Rodriguez vocals,  Felix Sanabria on quinto,  Luis Arona on Bass, Chris Theberge on congas, Jay Rodriguez on Sax, Reut Regev on Trombone, Luis Arona on Bass

Contact

Michael
L&H Percussion
(908) 419-7364
www.landhpercussion.com

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Selecting Skins

There is much debate about skins for Tumbadoras and Bongos and other drums. The questions I get all the time are around thickness, type of animal and a few others. One other issue I have seen raised is a question of buying from a “hide house” or a custom drum maker as opposed to buying from a company like L&H.

I would first like to address why one should buy from a shop like L&H. We spend a lot more time dealing directly with the tannery on making sure we get the top grade.  We make sure that the hides are proper for use on drums. Sure anyone can call a hide house ask for a section of rawhide and make a drum head. I caution you however they do not sell you what they sell to L&H nor do they understand the application. I am not even going to address the Mule/Cow other skin type issues. at the end of the day the reason you call L&H is that we have the contacts and we do the leg work. Its just like any other Biz….

People have been questioning  if its ok to buy from the likes of Ritmo, Isla, SoS, ECT ECT… I saw leave them to what they do well build drums. They don't need to spend 30 min on the phone with you for a $40-$50 Skin when they have 8-10 month waiting periods.   This is just my opinion BUT  I'm sure some of the craftsman would agree…

Now on to selection of a skin. The answer can be as simple as people play on what ever is readily available and they make it sound great.  But lets be honest we all want the best. L&H Percussion strives to provide the best. Its a very long and complex discussion around why some skins are very even and why some are not. Some hide houses use “ splits” and plane and buff to a very precise measurement. That's all well and good but we at L&H believe that this creates other issues that take the “ life” out of the skin.  We start with raw skins that are only stretched and dried to our standards with a slight bit of finishing to make them feel ok to the hand. We then hand cut each round doing our best to ensure that there is little to no variation in thickness. Normal variations that do not affect tuning or the life of the drum or head are typically around .5mm.

There are a number of wrong opinions online being shared and I would caution anyone reading this take your questions to the experts. Call L&H or call another person who deals with the hides and the animal.  We are the “Pros” when it comes to this.

If you ever have questions or what to get some help feel free to call us. We can offer you what we have seen work and help you formulate what should be best for you. We also stand behind our product and will work hard to satisfy our customers big or small.

Conga Drum Heads

L & H Percussion specializes in top quality Conga Drum Skins, Bongo  Drum Skins and Bata Drum Skins as well as rawhide drum heads for many other drums.  If needed we can provide guidance on steps of mounting the Conga, Bongo or Bata head or if you are in the New York area we can do the work for you.  We also have claves handmade from exotic hardwoods, cowbell beaters and Guataca.

L&H percussion

New Claves