How To Tune Bongo Drums With Memo Acevedo 

I tune my bongos exactly the way you do it.. your instructions & style of tuning are very clear & effective..Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us Mr. Acevedo..

Thank you for the Bongo Drums tuning tutorial. I am an old man, but new to bongo drums. Your's is the clearest instruction and video I have come across, and now I have my drums correctly tuned (I think). I am most grateful to you.

@ Faustino: Drums ARE pitched instruments. They can be played in a way that emphasizes the pitch (like a "son" hit or a bass stroke) or in a way that alters or obscures it (a muffle, a toe, a heel, or touch).

it is a valuable lesson. I enjoy it very much

little confused, (but I am completely new to bongo's, want to buy one as an extra instrument) so you tune to them to a perticular note to make it sound right in the song/mix ? But when you perform, on stage, every song is in a different scale. One song is in G, the next in A or B. Do the bongo"s sound less good in a song with a different scale ? You can't change or retune the bongo's so quickly. !?

Hi Memo! We did a Carlsberg Light beer commercial together thirty years ago. Cheers!

keep them upside down because they will fall on the floor. haha love it.

Awesome, learned an amazing amount.

Gracias por la aportación Compadre

Awesome lesson. Is three semitones the standard interval between macho and hembra?

Thank you for this

BluegillGreg Bongo are what called Non tuned instruments. this means that there is no set note on a key board to tune them. You can tune them to any pitch you desire, but they have a pitch may be quantified as a frequency, but pitch is not a purely objective physical property; Know what are you telling me or trying to say ( a muffle , a toe etc .) Sorry I did not see this response till now

Don't you hit on the for sides (tuning each to sound the same) where the bolt hold it down like a regular drum?

To tune bongos: start with the macho (smaller drum), fully detune, then tighten each nut in one quarter turn increments. When you get it to the pitch you like get a plastic spoon and tap on the head near each lug; any lug that sounds out of tune with the others tighten or loosen. Do the same with hembra. The space between tones on the 2 drums should be that of between the "Here" and "comes" on "Here Comes the Bride" (not necessarily the same notes though). Not rocket science.

Wait a minute- this guy plays at my church! :OO

ok.. just bought some bongos like 20 minutes ago.. and i have no idea what to do with them so thank you!

I will like to learn more repiques... if you can illustrate a few combinations..please.

@BlackAngusYoung genuine bongos,are a standard size. check out, "latin percussion" [lp's for short]. as far as i know,they are still the best.

Would there be a different tuning for different sized sets? I'm pretty sure my bongos look smaller than these.

i am so confused, as i go round tapping the skin in a circle the note changes up and down, but it doesnt seem to correlate to any specific side i tighten? any ideas at all? thanks

Is tuning the bongos this complex? (taking them apart, and putting it back together, before you actually tune the bongos) I'm planning on getting a set for my birthday or Christmas, but this kind of makes me change my mind.

what octave should each drum be in?

what are the notes he is using on? I don't wanna screw my patches

If you want to meet Memo Acevedo, come to KoSA Vermont! :D

Thanks

Sorry, the notes are macho G and hembra E ?

Thank

Tune to perfect 4th or 5ths and you'll never go wrong.

thnx, done

Size of ratchet???

No such thing as tuning to C read on UN tune percussion this will clear your idea of how to tune drums.

you have to tight in a cross pattern, not clockwise. That is true for anything percussive. Otherwise great video!

Bongos were not created as pitched instruments. In fact, the earlier bongo did not use a lug system, you stretched the skins by fire.

@sigler22 haha I know that was funny, but he's a good teacher.

I think he said the bigger one would be E (below)

I'm pretty sure following the recommended tuning in this video (tuning to G) caused me to crack the smaller/macho head of my Evans set. Frustrating.

THE MACHO SOUNDS GOOD BUT THE HEMBRA SOUNDS TERRIBLE.

Hembra sounds OFF, you wanna tune that to a B note.... not an E

well done, Mr. Bunghole

This is the one more ridiculous advisory conga drums , bongos , timbales and quite a few other percussion instruments are what is called Non tun able instruments . What this mean is that you can not tune these instrument with or by the key of a piano as he demonstrates. I ask those that are looking into learning how to tune a set of bongo and other percussion instruments Read tuned and un tune percussion instruments it will show you a lot.

the hembra,[large drum] is way too high pitched. yes folks, the chick is larger,so, she's got a lower voice,and, she's a bit looser. just think of cher;of sonny and cher. got it.