A conga drum is fairly cylindrical with hardware attached to the body of the conga drum which tightens the drumhead. Congas are fairly tall drums and much bigger than bongo drums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/conga-drums-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/picture>Bongo drums are smaller and are meant to be held between your knees, like so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Holding-the-Bongos-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/picture>Bongo drums are small drums that come in pairs–you won’t find a bongo drum that’s 3-4 feet tall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These drums are both different from djembes. A djembe<\/strong> is another type of tall drum that is very wide and is often in an hourglass shape (often called a goblet shape), such as what you see here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A djembe is tuned with ropes tightened around a hoop–it has a wide drumhead with an hourglass\/goblet shape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you ask someone at your music store how big a bongo drum is, they’re going to tell you the drumhead size.<\/strong> This is by far the most common way to express how big a drum is. You might not be able to even find the width and height of a conga drum without measuring it yourself! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes the design of the drum is deliberately smaller or larger than normal and that’s where the manufacturer will discuss the actual dimensions of the drum itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So for example, even though Conga drums can be more than 2 feet in length, they will simply say that a conga drum is 9 inches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This doesn’t mean the conga drum is 9 inches tall, it means the drumhead is 9 inches in diameter. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is different than many other types of drums where drum “depth” is often discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bongo drums come in pairs with the larger of the pair being called the hembra, and the smaller of the pair called the macho. These drums come in various sizes, such as the following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bongo drums come in pairs attached by a separate wood block, or (especially professional handmade quality bongo drums) are carved from a single block of wood. Hence, the width of the bongo drums is the width of the two drums attached at the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bongo drum sizes do vary, but they are generally small enough to be played between the knees and you’ll only see at most a few inches in diameter differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conga drums are a bit more interesting and complicated when it comes to drum size. While bongos are just… bongos, and a djembe is just a djembe, a conga drum can have several different sizes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conga drum sizes from smallest to biggest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I need to mention that the size of the drumhead is not really what defines whether a conga drum is a Tumba or a Conga or a Quinto, but it really is for differentiating the congas in a set. For example, some “Conga” drums were 11 inches in diameter, which is most commonly used for quinto conga drums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Super Quinto or Super Tumba sizes are not very common–typically the congas only come in 3 sizes: Quinto, Conga, or Tumba.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Djembes are a completely different animal as far as drum size because djembes have so much individuality. An authentic djembe made in West Africa is completely unique and can never truly be reproduced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, drum sizes do follow some patterns–just know that you can see djembes that are only 12 inches tall, and then you can find some that are 30 inches tall–it all depends<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hand drum drumheads can be made from all sorts of different materials–the traditional material, however, you’ll find is often an animal skin of some sort. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The most common animal skins used for drumheads are calf or goat skins,<\/strong> although hand drum players often experiment with many different types of animal skins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nowadays, though, hand drums can be found with synthetic drumheads <\/strong>which sound different but are strong and very consistent. These synthetic drumheads are similar to other drumheads found on a drumset, which is some form of plastic, often something similar to or composed of Mylar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Believe it or not, Bongo Drums do not get their name from Bongos (an antelope that lives on the African Continent), nor are their skins commonly (if ever) used for Bongo drums. Want more info or want to see what a Bongo antelope looks like? Check out our article that digs more into the subject, here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Djembe-shape-1024x1024.jpg\")
<\/picture>How Are Hand Drum Sizes Measured? (Bongos, Congas, and Djembes)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Big are Bongo Drums?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Width<\/strong><\/td> Height<\/strong><\/td> Drumhead Size<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> ~18 inches<\/td> ~10 inches<\/td> 6-9 inches<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Bongo-Drum-Rug-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/picture>How Big Are Conga Drums?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Are the Different Sizes of Conga Drums?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Most Common Height<\/strong><\/td> Most Common Conga Drumhead Size<\/strong><\/td> Drum Type<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> 30 inches<\/td> 9.75<\/td> Super Quinto<\/td><\/tr> 30 inches<\/td> 11<\/td> Quinto<\/td><\/tr> 30 inches<\/td> 11.75<\/td> Conga<\/td><\/tr> 30 inches<\/td> 12.5<\/td> Tumba<\/td><\/tr> 30 inches<\/td> 13.25<\/td> Super Tumba<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> How Big Are Djembes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Most Common Height<\/strong><\/td> Most Common Djembe Drumhead Size<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> ~24 inches<\/td> ~14 inches<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> What Are Bongo, Conga and Djembe Drumheads Made From?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why Are Bongo Drums Called Bongos?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n