LP Laptop Conga LP1436

This is a fun little box. I'm no conguero, but I've always wanted a conga to mess around with the tumbao I learned a dozen years ago in college, and to play along with Eddie Palmieri records for fun. My 2 year old daughter also likes drums so I thought this would fit the bill for my small apartment and casual intent. It's pretty spot on, being small, easy to store and not very loud. The sound is pretty much what you hear in online review and demonstration videos. One thing to note is that it seems to replicate the open tones of a conga well, but other aspects like slaps and bass tones sound very flat and lifeless - like you're slapping a piece of wood instead of a drum head, which is exactly what is happening. The LP videos tend to focus on open tones, but there are some other videos on YouTube showing more varied strokes. Nevertheless, it sounds pretty much like a conga to me so I'm happy. The rectangular shape is weird, since an actual conga is round. If you place your arms in the same position as you would for an actual conga, you will strike this drum with a different portion of the hand/fingers. So far, I have "solved" this by turning the rectangle counter-clockwise by about 30 degrees so that the corner is facing me and each hand is striking on a different, adjacent side. This partially restricts my access to the "second conga," but I don't even know what to do with a second conga so that's fine with me. Again, I'm no conguero and know nearly nothing about technique, but it seems to sound much better when I turn it and it's easier to play - particularly the slaps. I considered other alternatives like the Compact Congas or a tiny requinto, but I figure if I'm going to compromise I might as well compromise all the way. This is pretty much perfect for my situation, it's fun to play, and I can play a conga tumbao on it, so I'm sold.

Certainly it doesn't have the rich tones that a regular conga with a skin head would have,... or even a synth head, but it sounds really good. It has nice resonance and you can easily get several different sounds out of it - more so, I think, than with a regular conga. But then, I'm used to drumming on odd things more than real skin drums (If you can make a deck of cards sound musical....I'm probably better at making music with cards than congas or bongos, haha). Reviews state that it is more a cajon than a conga. Well, yeah, the head IS made of wood. If you've ever hand drummed on tables, furniture, the window ledge of your car door... or just about anything you can get your hands on, then you are going to love this. The tone/pitch difference in the two drum sides is perfect. It's just a bit larger than I thought it would be ( I didn't really look at the dimensions, not that it would matter anyway, but it is 19.5 x 11.5 x 3"), but this is totally portable and can satisfy that need to drum on everything and is a great little portable drum to practice on. It sounds enough like a conga that you can play it with a band - you'd need to mic it for sure. It is loud enough that it can be heard in different rooms in my house, but certainly not as loud as a regular conga would be. The issues I have with this (and I didn't downgrade because of it, because I've just solved them myself) are 1) Does not come with a bag. 2)There are two screws on the side edge for placement of the strap. But they are only on one "side", the front or the back, depending on how you play. I prefer playing with the low drum on the right, so the strap works well for me. Turn the drum around and the strap is attached to the bottom side of the drum - can't see that working out too well for those that prefer the low drum on the left, which I also do sometimes. 3) The strap itself is useless. It is advertised at being a lap strap or shoulder strap, but even with adjustments, it is too short and useless as a shoulder strap. As a lap strap it is useless for me as the drum isn't sliding off my lap without it. It isn't even useful for carrying the drum on your back. Toss. I bought myself a drum strap and I use that for playing while standing. I would often play bongos like that and used a guitar strap. This drum strap I got is actually very useful with the bongos as well.

this cajon is ok when you get it! If you place something on your legs to reflect the sound it is great.I use it as a box cajon to practice in a chair."between the legs" lap, or between my legs. to reflect the sound, I found AN 18 X 18 FLEXIBLE FLOOR TILE, CUT IT IN HALF, the back was sticky so I put them together, sticky side to sticky side,Place on your legs , put the cajon on top of it and play.

I don't often leave reviews unless the item is really bad or really good. This one is really good. I wouldn't say the tone is exactly like a set of congas, but it is a pleasing, resonant, woody tone. The bass on the lower "drum" is nice and percussive and slaps on the higher "drum" pop nicely and cut well through group ensembles like drum circles. Furthermore, this thing is so lightweight and portable that I have no excuse to not bring it with me when I travel which means I'm never left without a drum when the urge suddenly arises. Excellent for motorcycle trips.

The Sound is not great (especially for the quinto side). Sounds a lot more like a Cajon, then the actual conga set... And the playing dynamics are very different from conga playing, so it does not really help with conga playing. You need to look at it as a Cajon more than a congas practice tool...

After playing the laptop conga for a couple of days I have come to these conclusions. The instrument sounds more like a cajon than a conga and is better for some rhythm patterns than others. For example I really liked playing Guaguanco and other folkloric rhythms such as Bembe on the laptop conga. So you would have to experiment and see which rhythm you like to play on it the most. One complaint I have is since you can't tune it, (well the one I received) the low drum is G# and the high drum is D#, for you congueros out there, I would have preferred the standard tuning of G for the low drum and C for the high drum. Of course the portability is very nice and a strap is included to put around your waist or leg so you don't have to worry about it sliding off your lap when you sit. To sum it up, for gigs, or practice where you don't need a true conga sound yet something close, and/or you don't feel like hauling your congas around, this is a good buy. And the price I feel is reasonable.

I love this thing. It's comfortable on my lap, has a beautiful and varied tone depnding on where it's struck. A very simple and user-friendly percussion instrument. Very satisfied with my purchase.

Hmmm, comparing this device to real congas is like comparing playing an overturned 5 gallon bucket to real drums. While this item is not completely a waste of 190.00 bucks, it does not remotely have that rich, deep, resonant sound you get from real congas. If u just cannot have congas due to space issue or the noise factor, then I guess this item can be used as a substitute, but it will take a lot of imagination and there is a learning curve on how to keep this item balanced on your lap. LP ,as usual , makes percussion products with top notch quality, so that's a plus with this item. Would I buy these travel congas if I knew what I know now? Hmmmmm, probably not for the price I paid (190.00). If u gotta get them, get them, but when u unbox them, there is a real good possibility the first thing to come to your mind will be WTF? Hope this feedback helps.

Great for impromptu jamming and practice. Easy to get desired tones out of it Positionally does take a bit to get used to if like me you are used to having the smaller drum directly in front of you but it’s not a real issue Wish it came with a bag though……

Strumento bello e suona bene!! Grazie Amazon, grazie LP

... but need some lessons to really enjoy it

Amazing that you can get so many sounds from such a small & portable item. Sounds "like" two congas but you'd notice the difference, however, I don't have the space for congas & wouldn't want to lug them to a gig so this is brilliant. In anycase, different has it's own benefits, if you already own congas this will give you a different tool. I'm a beginner and was initially disappointed with the sound of the bass but with some practice they are sounding better and my more experienced friends get pretty good sounds from the get go. Some reviews have criticised the sound but I suspect they didn't persevere long enough. Also, because they are square not round the sound varies more with where you hit it (higher / harder in the corners) so again it takes a while to find the best sounds. Only slight niggle is the strap screws on. A guitar strap type fixing would make removal and fitting easier. Unless you tighten the screws they will rattle and when tight the strap doesn't rotate which it should to move from playing to fitting back in the box. I bought this as damaged from amazon warehouse market place for a much reduced price. Only damage was to the box so very pleased.

was man aus dieser kleinen Kiste herausholen kann. Auch im Blindtest wird man sie nicht mit einer echten Conga verwechseln, aber das erwartet wohl auch niemand. Schöne Alternative, wenn man nicht viel schleppen will.