Latin Percussion Timbales |
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The Latin Percussion story is very much the Martin Cohen story. Around 1956 native New Yorker Martin saw how an American embargo on importing instruments from Cuba meant that decent percussion instruments were hard to come by. A mechanical engineer by trade, he set about making some himself, and in 1964 Latin Percussion as a company was born. The company Cohen started now has research, design and product departments, as well as over 250 people employed at their manufacturing plant in Thailand. Latin Percussion is now the world's largest producer of hand percussion instruments. All of these drums were hand crafted at the Thailand plant, and the first thing you notice is how strikingly good, nay fantastic, these instruments actually look. The next thing you notice is how heavy they are – always another good indicator of quality in my book. |
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We will begin with the least expensive, the Brass Tone Finish Matador Timbales at 14” and 15”, made from champagne coloured brass tone plated steel. Both drums are 6.5” deep. Standard LP Matador heads are held in place by six chunky 7mm diameter dome-headed tuning lugs which bolt through metal right angled brackets, which in turn are fixed through the drum shells with two 6mm diameter bolts. Those bolts also pass through 2mm thick steel backing plates on the inside of the shells – a very sturdy arrangement. The hoop which holds the drumhead in place has a conventional chrome finish so the contrast with the brass tone of the shells is very pleasing to the eye. And the sound they produce is very pleasing to the ear - loud and bright and cuts like a hot knife through butter. The great thing about timbales is that you have to have the heads tight to achieve that sound, which also means that they are very responsive, and you can easily the sticks off them to achieve double and treble strokes. A pleasing metallic cascara sound can also easily be achieved. “Cascara” playing is where the outside of the drum shell is struck with the sticks to provide a rhythm. The practice of striking the side of the timbales actually originated from a strange Latin American Orchestra instrument called a paila, which was a metal instrument in the form of a bucket struck with a stick or sticks. When a paila player was not available for any reason the timbale player obtained the same effect by striking a piece of metal fixed to the shell of the drum if it was made of wood, or the shell itself if it was made of metal. The Matador timbales come complete with a fully height and tilt adjustable sturdy chrome stand, and a Matador cowbell and cowbell holder, which is a nice bonus as cowbells and timbales go together really, and rhythms are usually a combination of both cowbell and timbales – playing a rhythm on the cowbell and fills and rolls on the timbales. The cowbell has a chrome finish, a nice bright cutting tone, and is fixed to the cowbell post using a good sturdy thumbscrew. All of the timbales come supplied with a tuning wrench but these Matador timbales are also supplied with a pair of timbales sticks, which as you probably know are the same diameter along their whole length i.e. they do not taper at all.
Next up we have the best
looking of the bunch – the Karl Perazzo Signature Timbales. Karl
The supplied heavy-duty stand is newly designed for easier assembly and has a die cast, geared tilter that locks in tight for either straight or tilted playing. It is fully height adjustable, and also has an anti-rattle sleeve. The cowbell post is mounted noticeably higher than usual which allows for multiple instruments to be accommodated such as cowbells, and wood blocks where normally perhaps there would only be room for one cowbell.
Fitting then that he should
also be honoured with the Tito Puente Conclusion: Upbeats: Downbeats: Prices (correct as
of August 2006): Contact: Tel: 020 8207 7860 |
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Timbales
are metal drums which are historically related to timpani or kettledrums
and are traditionally part of the rhythm section of the conventional
Latin American dance orchestra. Today of course, their distinctive metallic
sound can be heard in many forms of music including rock, pop and dance
as well as Salsa and Latin American grooves. 
Perazzo of course plays percussion with Santana, and these instruments
have been developed with his collaboration. Again we have 14”
and 15” diameter drums, and again 6.5” deep. The steel shells
have a fantastic antiqued bronze finish with brass coloured hoop and
tuning lugs – a combination that makes them look good enough to
eat! The tuning lugs and brackets for all the featured timbales are
exactly the same as those used on the Matador timbales so no need to
repeat that description. The heads this time are standard LP timbales
heads, and the sound produced is noticeably lower in pitch than the
matador timbales and is markedly more tympani-like. The cascara sound
is also noticeably brighter and more pleasing than on the Matador set.
We
now move onto the Tito Puente models starting with the Tito Puente Stainless
Steel Timbales which are 13” and 14” drums at 6.5”
deep. Despite perhaps being the plainest looking of the timbales on
offer here, a stainless steel finish with chrome hoops and tuning lugs,
when I started to play them I was amazed at the quality and clarity
of the sound - very loud and very clean. It would not be an exaggeration
to say they were the best sounding timbales I have ever played! And
very responsive – I was able to play rolls that I probably couldn’t
play on conventional drums. Tito Puente died in 2002 and was known as
“El Rey del Timbal” (The King of the Timbale). He was the
winner of four Grammy Awards and has a star on Hollywood’s Walk
of Fame.
Commemorative
Bronze Timbales, which are the final set we have to look at today. They
are available in 12” and 13”, 13” and 14” and
14” and 15” sets. We have the 12” and 13” drums
and like the Stainless Steel ones have a great cutting sound, are very
loud and very responsive. My ears were literally ringing after a short
while rolling like crazy on these drums. The metallic traditional timbale
sound these instruments produce really is a joy to behold, and of course
they also look fantastic with the shiny bronze shells suitably adorned
with a LP nameplate featuring Tito’s image. It almost goes without
saying that both the Tito Puente models also produced a very acceptable
cascara sound, the Bronze set actually has slightly thicker shells to
enhance the cascara sound produced. In fact everything about these timbales
shouts “class”.