Batá drum set owned by Thomas Altmann

SONOC Batá Set owned by Thomas Altmann

This red set of batá drums of the Cuban SONOC brand (egrem) was the exhibition model of the Frankfurt music fair in 1989. The itótele (middle sized drum) on top of the picture is relatively oversized. The faked traditional skin stringing is wrapped around the shells for ornamentation only. All iron fittings were adjusted by the Schalloch company in Hamburg. The bells used as the chaworó of the big iyá drum are permanently installed, inexpensive standard sleigh bells that are fixed with a wire at the collar of an old conga skin that has been clamped between crown and batá head. The fardela is made of a special mixture prepared by the owner of the set, affixed to both the iyá and the itótele (picture below left). Pancho Quinto said these drums sounded as great as his own fundamentos.