Surdo Hints & Equipment

Protecting your Hearing
It took me a while to get used to earplugs, but I always wear them now. You become accustomed to hearing the instruments muffled and they cause no problems. This is the most important suggestion I can impart.

Protecting your Legs
We have found in Diaspora that shin guards are a must for protecting the legs while wearing large surdos. Even after a short practice, I have developed bruises on unarmored calves. We mostly use football (soccer) pads. One of our members has custom-made some from cotton batting and canvas. We usually don't need knee pads unless we march; then they are invaluable. Kneepads are available for a variety of sports, like volleyball and bicycling. I have tried plastic knee protection designed for inline skating, but they were kinda bulky.

Perhaps the biggest factor in a player's satisfaction with their drum is its size. I hear more complaints about heavy or bulky drums than the sound or appearance. However, large drums have more volume, power, and tuning flexibility. If you want a big drum, look for ways to lighten your burden. Choose aluminum or wood over steel. Consider a shallow Bahia-style surdo over the 60cm-deep Rio/Sao Paulo style. Avoid napa heads, which are noticeably heavier than thin plastic. Don't let too much dust accumulate on your drum.

There are two areas of the drum that you may wish to lubricate to reduce wear: the tuning hardware and bearing edges.

An obvious place to oil a drum with metal tuning hardware is between the threads and nuts. I use an oil that will not damage plastic or leather, in case I get some on the heads. We have a repique player in our group who has very dry threads and nuts. His drum squeaks and squeals so much when he tunes, we all wince and flinch, and anticipate the day when he twists the top off a tuning rod.

You may have noticed, once you have finished that rockin' batucada, that there is blood splattered on your drumhead. That's because you've got long, nasty, threaded rods protruding from your surdo. Some learn how to avoid the rods, some just suffer in silence.

Like many players, I choose to play my drum with the lug nuts on the bottom. While this prevents scars and post-performance cleanup, these threaded rods will still tear up anything the drum comes in contact with. The interior of my car can attest to that. Some members of my band use rubber caps over their rods. I did for a while, but they all eventually came off.

My latest solution to the problem is to replace my standard lug nuts with couplers. These long nuts are designed to connect two threaded rods together. I find that they are just about the same length as the excess threads that protrude beyond the standard nuts. So, they don't effectively lengthen the rods. They don't cause injury if you use them on top (which I still don't) and they are easier to grasp with a wrench.

One note: For those of you in the United States, a backward nation that still uses an antiquated measuring system, US gauge lug nuts will fit on Brazilian threads. However, the outside of the nuts are not the same. Therefore, you can put US nuts on a Brazilian drum, but you must use a US wrench to tighten it. Conversely, you must use a metric wrench on a Brazilian nut.

I've noticed that some part-time players of surdos have a reluctance to loosen the nuts and take their drums apart. There is a concern that they may not get them back together correctly and tuned up properly.

Actually, surdos are very simple devices. You can't do too much wrong, and they are pretty easy to tune, once you have done it a few times. Here, I have some instructions for removing and changing heads and reassembling the drum. I used to have some frustration controling the tuning rods when reassembling the drum until I starting using the following method.

You happened to have caught me while I was changing from my black Evans head to my nylon RMV. So, it's a good time to show you. If you want to see more detail, click on the thumbnail image to see the large photo.

Before tightening the lugs, pivot the upper counterhoop until the rods are vertically straight. The easiest way is to line one up with the drum shell seam, if there is one.

Hand-tighten the lug nuts. Once they are snugly in place, you can turn the drum over to tighten them down with a wrench.

All our band members wear their surdos strapped around the waist. It remains comfortable for long periods of time, and seems not to be bad for the back. It is also the best position for playing with two mallets.

The deep Rio drums are made to be worn over the shoulder, however. Trying to march in a parade with these tall tin cans in front of your legs is tiresome. Strapping it around the shoulder helps the problem a lot. Unfortunately, when I wear a heavy drum that way, my clavicle gets pretty sore. I'm looking for a strap with a big, wide pad.

Mallets can make a significant difference in surdo performance. By choosing your mallets carefully, you can greatly improve sound and playability.

Sound
Generally, if you are playing a marcação or a low part, you want a large, soft head on your mallet. Large heads give a full, rounded sound. It's also better if your mallet is heavy, so it does some of the work for you.

For lead parts, and any time you want a crisp, clean sound, a smaller hard head works best. It provides a clearer note. Many corte players use a wooden stick to bring out even a sharper sound.

Another factor in playability is the length of the stick. This is totally dependent on where you wear your drum. The higher on your body you wear it, the shorter your mallet can be. Naturally, this means Rio mallets tend to be shorter than Bahia sticks. Samba reggae sticks are about 38cm long.

Surdo mallets are not common in San Diego, so I've begun making them myself. I have posted a procedure.

Since I like to change mallets during play, and have broken mallets occasionally, I bought some loops designed for holding flashlights on a belt. Loops made for C-cell flashlights are the perfect size to store my extra mallets. The mallets slide in and out easily. I found these loops at an army/navy surplus store. Here's a shot of it.

An array of mallets for samba-reggae. The pink pair on the left are homemade for my wife, using the technique I described here. The olive pair next to them are standard Bahia mallets manufactured by Gope. They are called "Olodum long". The fat orange pair in the center are also homemade. They are for the fundo or marcacao parts. The red pair next to them are for the same purpose. They are Gope Olodums, but were fatter than the olive ones. The pair on the far-right are staccato mallets for leads. The heads are firm and small, making it easier to play very fast runs and rolls.