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Tuning and Maintenance for Toca Timbales

Toca Elite Pro Congas

Tuning

Toca timbales come with high quality plastic heads. Your timbales will need to be tuned as they do not come pre-tuned from the factory. First, assemble drums on the stand. Use tuning wrench or drum key depending on the model timbale set you have and remove any ripples in the head that may appear. Pick a tension rod to start at and give it a turn counter clockwise. Do this to all tension rods, moving in a clockwise direction until you reach the point that you started from. Continue this process until you obtain the desired pitch. Once the desired pitch is achieved, tap the head 1" in from each lug to get the head in tune with itself.

**There are many different tuning possibilities depending on your preference. The interval of a perfect fourth between the two drums is the most common tuning, however drums can also be tuned to the interval of a perfect fifth.

We recommend the following tunings using a piano keyboard.

  • Macho F 1 octave above middle C - A
  • Hembra C 1 octave above middle C - E

    • Maintenance


    • It is a good idea to slightly loosen your heads after playing. Going in a circular motion, give each tension nut a half turn clockwise to loosen. Do this, working your way completely around the drum twice. This simple procedure will help to lengthen the life of your heads.
    • During the manufacturing process, (before skin heads are mounted to the drums) heads are soaked in water to make them pliable for mounting. Due to this process, some of the oils are depleted from the heads. To achieve the best possible sound, we recommend rubbing a small amount of hand lotion containing lanolin into your drum head, once they have been tuned. This will make the skins sound better, increasing volume and tonality, because the skin can relax to vibrate better.
    • Occasionally the tension rods will squeak when tightening or loosening. This occurs when the lubricant between the nuts and washers dries up. If this occurs apply some lug lube.
    • You can keep fingerprints off your shell with a chamois polish cloth.
    • When putting on a new bison conga head it is a good idea to turn the head upside down and fill the inside with 1/2" of cold water. Let soak for two to three hours. This will make the head more pliable and will make it seat on the bearing edge. Tighten the head until there is no valley on top and it is even all the way around. Let sit overnight and tune with method described above.

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