Yamaha’s Konga: Drumming as Art

Posted by William Lehman

May 31, 2007

0529072224a Over the last 13 years of my life, hand percussion has been a large part of my life. Drumming is more than just making music. There are many elements of art in drumming such as rhythm, symmetry, energy and movement. All have their place in drumming as well as with art. So how can one nurture the creative process of a child effectively? I think drumming is a great way to do this.

I was recently given the opportunity to review Yamaha’s new line of Real Rhythm line of hand drums. Only after I accepted did I realize that this was a line of drums geared for a younger crowd (ages 3+) then my particular 0529071947b demographic. I enlisted the help of my little cousin, Marshall, for the task.

Of course, I got my hands on the drum and had some fun first. The first thing I noticed was the sound. Many kid-oriented drums are toys. Yamaha’s Konga doesn’t have that plastic toy sound that is familiar to parents and ill-tuned low quality drum-shaped toys. It sounds… well, like a drum. It plays like a drum and it is able to withstand my playing it like I play my hand-carved, hide-skinned, djembe.

Of course, then it was wrested from my hands by Marshall, who immediately knew what it was for. To beat it. Here he is in his first few moments of playing time till he realized that it had a carrying strap.

0529071947a I have to admit that I thought the strap a horrible idea for Yamaha to include it on a drum geared for this age group. Marshall on the other hand, loved the strap and immediately after the first minute of playing, began carrying it around and playing it for all to hear.

This is where I am very grateful for the sound quality of this particular drum. It is not overly loud and sounds great.

Kids of Marshall’s age are very creative already. In the first 30 minutes with this drum, he used it as a vessel for carrying other toys in, a hat, and a boot, as well as a friend who he could push in his swing set.

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