Man these suckers are amazing.

Why no one thought of this before is beyond me, and also the reason why the person lucky enough to have patented it is probably retired at 30!

The Evans Emad head is truly a work of simplistic beauty. Back in the day you had to stick towels, sheets, pillows or whatever else inside your bass drum to get a good sound- or maybe one of those annoying Remo muffle rings or any number of other muffling systems- but now all you need is an Emad bass drum head.

The muffling system is built into the batter side of the head, in which you can stick one of several sizes of fitted rings made of foam (of varying degrees of width each). Want a more muffled sound? Just stick in the widest foam ring. Want a more open, long sound? Simply replace the widest foam ring with either the middle width foam ring or the smallest width foam ring- or go without a ring and play the head by itself.

Playing the head by itself gives a great sound too, as the mounting that the foam rings fit into helps to dampen the head a bit by itself. I generally play this head without any of the foam rings to get a big open sound.

This drum head is sure to make any bass drum sound awesome. I play the clear Emad on my twenty two inch bass drum and it gives it an unbelievably deep, fat sound. This really is the quintessential head for funk and R&B in my eyes. It also works great in louder rock and roll and metal situations.

Evans also makes a coated Emad head that works very well for jazz- although they don't come in sixteen inch which irritates me slightly. The coated Emad heads also work well for Motown and lighter R&B situations as it gives a mellower sound and still offers the great controllability as the clear Emad.

This is one seriously awesome piece of hardware. I've got to hand it to Richie 'Gajate' Garcia for coming up with such a brilliant idea and to LP for having the 'huevos' in the industry to mass produce and market it.

This little puppy has really changed the arena of conga drumming. Now you can be a one man band by playing congas while at the same time playing all manner of percussion with your feet. I personally use two Gajate's in my set up when I gig, playing a red jam block on the right and a cha cha cowbell on the left. On the cow bell on the left I usually keep the quarter note and play clave on the jam block on the right. You can then play a simple tumbao over top of these and you really are doing the job of two people. Not to mention the general street cred you get by being the first guy on the block to do with congas what drum set players have been doing for almost a century now (putting percussionists out of business by playing everybody's part themselves!).

But enough about all that- the gajate features a very sturdy design for use with almost any bass drum pedal (although those secured with a metal plate at the base work best). The gajate also features reversible spikes that can be set with the spike part down (for preventing slippage on rugs and such) or with a rubber stopper down to prevent slippage on wooden and slick surfaces (and to prevent the spikes from tearing those surfaces up!).

Your imagination really is the limit with this piece of hardware- anything thats mountable on an 'everything rack' is now playable with your feet- from cowbells, jam blocks, tambourines and every other manner of creation.

Thanks to LP and Gajate himself, the gajate has upped the ante and opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the modern conga player and percussionist.

This is a great cymbal with a very balanced sound. I've been playing one of these for about 6 years now- I actually won it as a door prize at a convention and couldn't have been more pleased.

This is a great splash cymbal- it has a very fast attack and gets right out of the way- perfect for a 10 inch cymbal. Its not as bright as a Zildjian A series but comes very close to the darkness of K series Zildjian cymbals.

This cymbal is very thin, which is perfect for a splash cymbal in my eyes. You can really play into it and get a real nice pop at the ictus (attack) of a note- very warm and particularly dark- and then it just gets right out of the way.

I'd recommend pairing this cymbal with any other cymbals from the HHX line or even a thinner ride cymbal. Also, pairing it with another, brighter cymbal would make for a really great effect. I would try an eight inch Zildjian A custom or maybe an eight inch (or possibly six inch?) Sabian AAX.

This splash fits nicely into a jazz fusion context, most any pop context and definitely into most any Funk or R&B setting. Because the attack on this cymbal is so dark, I wouldn't suggest it for louder rock and roll settings, nor would I suggest if for metal or anything heavy, as the warmth of the cymbal blends very well and would not cut through a bunch of heavy distorted guitars.

For the price, this cymbal is unbeatable and sounds as good as, if not better than any of its Zildjian cousins. If you're looking for a general, all purpose splash cymbal then you can't go wrong with a ten inch Sabian HHX splash cymbal.

These are really nice hi hats- especially for the price. I've owned a pair of thirteen inch Zildjian K's for about four years now and really enjoy playing them.

These hi hats have a very versitile sound- suitable for most all pop music situations, some jazz and some heavier situations. They have a stick attach that has a nice chick to it without being too bright that fits nicely into a lot of funk playing, although they aren't as tight sounding as some funk and R&B situations call for.

The open sound of the cymbals is very middle of the road and a nice balanced sound- not too bright, not too dark. These fit very nicely into louder, less acoustic jazz situations as they have a warmth that blends well with ensembles and other cymbals. That same sound however is not quite sensitive and warm enough to fit optimumly in a completely acoustic jazz situation- they are a little heavy and leave a bit to be desired in the sensitivity area when played with the foot. These cymbals sound best when played in a moderate dynamic setting. The stick sound isn't quite bright enough to cut through very loud rock bands and the open sound is a little too dark. Like I said before, these cymbals fit into a lot of situations well, but aren't IDEAL for many situations except for louder jazz situations and some funk and R&B settings.

Always listen to your cymbals before you buy them however. Even though these cymbals are mass produced they don't always sound identical, cymbal to cymbal (even the same size and line). I tried two other pairs of thirteen inch K Zildjians before settling on these. One pair, when played open to half open had a very 'gong-y' sound to them, and the other had a brighter stick sound.

These drums are wonderful drums. I've owned a set of four for 2 years now and absolutely love them.

I personally only think there are three better sounding drums out there today- The vintage Gon Bops era drums, drums by Isla percussion (http://islapercussions.com), and the Giovanni drums by LP.

The Classics give a very warm and round sound that is great for both popular music and in folkloric settings. The heel toe is very dark and rich and the slaps on these drums can cut through anything (even the slaps on the tumba!). I think they're the best drums in their price range- whey you look at sound versus affordability they are really unbeatable.

Older Gon Bops drums are much more expensive and difficult to find (and not always in the best of conditions!). The drums at Isla are also very expensive, although they are easily available, but they're each made to order and you have to wait for them and put down a deposit. The Giovanni drums sound much better to me than the Classics (they're made of Ash as opposed to Oak) but they cost a lot more (roughly $500 as opposed to $400 for a conga) and if you're like me and you're on a budget then they're just a little to pricey.

The only thing I don't like about these drums are the colors- there's not a really nice stained natural finish. LP has a 'natural' finish, but its very white looking to me and looks particularly ugly with the gold hardware (again, just my opinion). The only thing closest to a nice stained wood color is the red wine, (which I own) but they can look a little red from drum to drum.

These drums price and availability coupled with their great sound make them my most recommended set of drums.

First off- ain't nothing like the real thing....baby.

But for those of you who are not inclined to dry your own gourds and string your own chekere, this is not a bad instrument.

The instrument is fiberglass, as opposed to a real gourd, which creates some issues from the start. The fiberglass shell makes the instrument ring a little too long, and the sound is slightly superficial and bright. The sound hole on this instrument is a little too small in my opinion, giving a choked or constrained sound. The beaded pattern is very nice, but the sound of the beads against the shell are a little too bright and cutting to pass for an authentic instrument. I am however, used to playing authentically produced (by myself or a master artisan) chekeres which a fiberglass mass produced instrument will never be able to match.

Compared to other fiberglass chekeres on the market, this one is probably the best however. The other models I've played (Meinl and a few minor brands) actually tend to be either too heavy or too large to be shaken effectively (or both!). Any fiberglass instrument will have a different and longer tone and a brighter bead attack, and if I were to recommend a fiberglass instrument to someone I would recommend this one.

There are however, some smaller companies (if you can even call them companies!- most are just individuals with Internet stores!) who sell authentic chekeres for prices comparable to that of the mass produced LP chekere (sometimes even less!). These instruments produce a VASTLY superior sonority and a much more authentic look and feel.

So basically, go look for a real instrument on the Internet- you may be able to find a real instrument that will sound better and will be at least close to the same price (between 150 and 250, roughly). And if these all sound like they cost too much, get in contact with me and I'll explain how to make your own chekere- then you'll know why they cost so much!

These aren't bad drums at all- I played them extensively in college and have a lot of experience on other drums (in a variety of situations!) to compare them against.

First off you've got to realize what you give and what you get: These drums are made of fiberglass (not Siam oak, or ash like the other comparably priced LP drums) and because of this you really do end up sacrificing a good bit of warmth and bottom end to the tone of these drums. What you get: drums that are a WHOLE lot louder (and more durable as well).

If you've ever played behind a latin big band or loud R&B band you know what its like- you're never miced like you should be and you have to really kill yourself to get your sound out to the audience. These drums will really save you some skin (literally!) in projecting over louder groups. I've played a couple of big band gigs where I wouldn't have been heard AT ALL if it wasn't for the superior projection of these drums.

They're also more durable than their woody competitors. If you live in a moist and highly variable climate like the south east United Sates (like I do!) then you know that wood drums can crack under the wrong circumstances. Thankfully they haven't invented a climate yet that could crack fiberglass!

Of course you unfortunately give up a lot of the warmth and authenticity of the tone of the drum to get this however. These drums are definitely not optimum for studio situations, nor softer situations that require a greater degree of delicacy. In these situations the drum sound is brighter and longer than I think is appropriate.

All in all I think these drums are great for the money and essential to cutting through many realistic live playing situations.

These are not bad drums, but they're not the top of the line for sure. The first conga I owned was a Matador conga, and it did its job and sounded fine and basically fit what I needed it to do perfectly. This line of drums (in the LP catalog) are really the top end of the student instruments and the beginning of the professional ones.

The Matador congas don't have as rich a sound as the Classic or Salsa model drums from LP, but its not too far behind.

The biggest differences between the Matadors and the Classics/Salsa model drums is the heads that come on the drums and the hardware. The heads that come on the Matador drums are the basic white LP cow hide heads (don't really know if they have a name) and the heads on the Classics/Salsas are the 'hand picked' (tan) heads which really do sound superior for whatever reason (thicker, warmer sound).

The 'soft strike' rims that come on the Matadors aren't bad, but I personally prefer the 'comfort curve II' rims that come on the higher end lines of drums. They're just more comfortable to play on to me.

Both of these things are relatively easy fixes if you want to do so. The general sound of the shell on the Classic and Salsa model drums is definitely superior to that of the Matador drums, but if you change these two things you'll get very close, and save some dough. If you don't have the cash now to drop on a set of Classics or Salsas, just get some Matador drums and then invest in the rims and heads at a later time and WHAM- you'll be getting a really good sound and will have saved some change that you can put towards some nice bongos!