Ricky Martin Tour Percussion Rig

Ever wonder what I absolutely have to take with me when I’m on the road playing percussion with Ricky Martin? This post will give you a behind the scenes look at every single piece of gear that I travel with on tour— with detailed descriptions, and a bunch of on-stage photos from our stop in Buenos Aires, Argentina during our 2020 Tour in Latin America!

So let’s start off with the center of the rig that features the Congas, then move to right side to check out Timbales Setup, and lastly over to the left where I have the Bongos, a Djembe, a Roland SPD-SX Pad, along with different effects and minor percussion.

CONGAS

For this latest configuration with Ricky, I’ve been using (2) Latin Percussion Raul Rekow Signature Series 11.75” Congas, and (1) 12.5” Tumbadora in a Black Satin Finish made from New Zealand Pine. The main reason I went with these drums is because they’re top tuning, which makes life on the road so much easier— and of course their stunning good looks! Which fit right in with color scheme that was needed for the tour.

These drums are certainly on the lighter side in terms of weight, which can at times take away some of the volume and projection you can get from a standard weight conga drum. However, since we’re playing with IEM’s (In-ear Monitors) volume isn’t really an issue for me on this particular gig. On the subject of IEM’s, although they’re not pictured here, I rock a pair of 1 of 1 Custom 4-Driver monitors made from silicone for added comfort.

Back to the drums, they’re equipped with Remo Fiberskyn 3 heads. Anyone who’s played an outdoor festival knows the perils of having rawhide heads on tour: they might drop an octave in tuning between soundcheck in direct sunlight, and a late night show time, when the temperature cools down. So synthetic heads are a must! For this specific gig and repertoire, I generally tune the main Conga to D4, the Tumbadora to G3, and the third conga to A3. This gives me a nice melodic tuning that has some weight when I play the more salsa oriented songs, but that’s also high enough to help me cut through a bit above the drum set.

Each of these congas is equipped with an Earthworks DM20 Microphone, which I absolutely love in live situations, and are the same mics we use for our online conga lesson videos here on the site! These mics have a beautiful and unique finish, stand up to the wear and tear of the road with their stainless steel encasement, and capture my sound exactly as I hear it acoustically.

I have them mounted on the conga rims with LP’s EZ-Mount Mic Claw (with a custom sawed down rod) which makes it a bit easier to maneuver these specific microphones when dealing with congas.

TIMBALES, PANDEIRO, SNARE, AND CYMBALS

Moving on to the timbales section of the rig, I’ve got one of my favorite sets on earth: an LP 14”/15” Stainless Steel. Equipped with Remo Clear Ambassador heads, these bad boys really cut. As far as tuning, once I have my conga tuning dialed in, I rarely reference a specific pitch when tuning the timbales. I just make sure the interval between the low and high timbale is between a fifth and a sixth apart, and make sure the high drum is cranked up enough to really cut through.

I’ve got a pair of Earthworks DM20 Microphones pointed slightly off-axis coming up from underneath the drums, and an SR25 mic as an overhead which does a great job of picking up everything on that side of the rig.

Just to the left of the hembra, and slightly above the timbales, is a modified LP Stanton Moore Mountable Pandeiro. What I was really looking for, is a way to emulate the sound of a Brazilian Surdo in a much more compact form. So I removed the jingles from the pandeiro, and equipped it with a napa style Remo Bahia Bass head, which are often used for surdos.

With the proper tuning and amplification (I use a Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum mic), this thing sounds HUGE!!! And it’s small enough to position within my timbale setup, so I can incorporate it seamlessly into different grooves.

Earthworks SR25, 16" Sabian O-Zone Crash

Just to the left of the timbale, and below the surdo is a 6”x10” Gretsch Ash Snare Drum in a black satin finish. I also swapped out the original matte black hardware for chrome, to keep a consistent look with the conga drums. I went with this specific size mainly due to the fact that it was the most comfortable to fit in the setup.

However, after starting to mess around with this sized drum for the first time back in 2014 when I started out with Ricky, I quickly realized that it was the perfect compliment the snare drums that Tony Escapa employs on his drumset.

Allowing me to help support many of the Brazilian influenced sections that we play together, while still being able to carve out my own frequency with the higher tuned, smaller drum.

It’s equipped with a Remo Coated Ambassador head, a carefully placed moon gel to deaden the ring a little bit, and an Earthworks DM20 clipped right onto the hoop with a drum mount that comes standard with every DM20.

As far as accessories, I’ve got an LP 229 Mambo Bell, an ES-6 Timbale Bell, a Black Beauty Senior Cha-Cha Bell in chrome, a Red Jam Block, a Brass Jingled Tambourine, and one of my favorite pieces of gear, my Stack Ring K-Man Stack. This a really funky sounding piece developed by Stack Ring and Snarky Puppy percussionist Keita Ogawa, made from recycled cymbals that you can actually adjust by loosening the tension to get a bit more sustain, or tightening up for a more concise “chick” sound. There are also an assortment of clamps and rods that I’ll detail below, at the end of this post, in the full gear list.

For my cymbals on this side of the rig, I’ve got a 16” Sabian HHX O-Zone Crash, which is one of the most versatile crashes I’ve ever come across, and a 17” Custom Sabian AAX El Sabor Crash. This custom crash normally comes in 16”, but I asked for that extra inch to help compliment the O-zone crash and make sure that pitches were far enough apart. The Ozone is also a bit darker which I really like in tandem with the surdo and snare, so I opted for the main timbale crash to be a bit brighter.

BONGOS, DJEMBE, AND SPD-SX PAD

For the bongos, I have the matching set of LP Raul Rekow series drums, equipped with Remo Fiberyskyn 3 heads. There’s another DM20 with attached with an LP EZ-Mount Mic claw, that does a great job of capturing the distinct frequencies of the Bongo. As far as the tuning, just as with the timbales, once I have the congas dialed, I rarely aim for a specific pitch. At times I’ll try to have the bongos a 5th and an octave be the hembra and macho, but mainly just making sure they compliment the tuning the congas and are tuned high enough to cut through.

Just to left is a Roland SPD-SX pad, which I find to be the most versatile and easy to use pad on the market. I use the pad to bring along some extra sounds that I can’t fit on the rig, as well as for some song-specific one-shot samples that are almost impossible to recreate acoustically.

Right below is an LP 11” World Beat Djembe. It’s not an instrument I would recommend for a gig that involves a lot of soloing on the djembe or generality for more traditional African music, but for the purposes of this gig, it’s perfect. It’s got a nice warm fundamental bass tone, and a decent crack when it’s tuned up. I’ll be replacing the head with a Remo Renaissance head as soon as we get back on the road!

MINOR PERCUSSION AND EVERYTHING ELSE

This last part of the rig is always one of my favorite to put together. Now ideally, I could just bring cases upon cases of every single piece of gear and minor percussion that I have back home. Realistically however, as percussionists we have to do our best to choose the instruments that best fit the music we’re playing, while we adhere to any space constraints when traveling. So this is really the bare minimum that I can get away with on a pop gig like this.

I’ve got a set of LP 513 Double Row Chimes, which I’ll confess I only allow myself to use a handful of times per concert during the ballad sections, ha! Row chimes aren’t exactly my favorite sound in the world, but they’re absolutely synonymous with certain eras and styles of music. Just to the right of the of chimes, is a 4” TreeWorks Triangle which I use mainly for small accents, in softer dynamic sections.

Moving down to the first mounted row of the percussion table, I’ve got an artisan made set of Key Chimes from Brazil which I absolutely love— they give me the shimmer of a set of chimes, with a nice wash, and no particular scale. Really a killer a sound effect have at your disposal. Just to the right are a combination of two different sized Indian ankle bells, which provide me with a beautiful metallic texture, that I can use as an effect or remove and use as a shaker. Moving to the right is a small cola nut rattle which I really like to hit with a stick or mallet in tandem with either a shaker, or certain grooves on the djembe and bongos. Lastly on this row I have a very cool rattle made by a friend in Mexico. Each seed in this rattle is contains with some small metal beads, that give it a unique combination of a woody seed sound and a slight metallic “chick” and crispiness. The last mounted accessory here is a set of pin chimes bottom left, which love to hit in unison with a djembe bass tone, or any other super low frequency sound.

If you look closely, you’ll see an Earthworks SR25 microphone, directly behind the key chimes. The reason I like to favor this specific spot for in terms of mic placement, is because the key chimes are the softest instrument of everything that’s mounted on the table. The rest of of the effects in that row, are configured from softest to loudest (left to right) so that I get a nice balanced volume going in to the mic when I play.

As for whats on the table, I’ve got two different sets of shakers, which I pieced together with LPs Soft DuoShake and Medium DuoShake varieties. I really like the weight and feel of having three separate shaker tubes held together in each one. The combination of the the Soft DuoShake in black and one Medium Shake in grey, gives me a nice sizzle with just a bit of articulation for softer dynamic sections. The all-grey Medium DuoShake bundle allows for a bit more volume and clearer accents when I need to play a groove at moderate or louder volumes. There’s also an LP Raw Sound Enchancer Jingle, which I toss on my snare drum for certain songs where I’m looking to get a dirtier, more metallic sound.

Moving on I’ve got a double row LP Dimpled Brass Tambourine in black, and just out of the shot, another LP Brass Tambourine of the wood variety. The black plastic tambourine is one of my favorites made LP, there’s a nice balance between the volume of the jingles when you ride and when you play accents. It also has a great wash to it when you shake it. The wood tambourine is actually is a bit louder and more articulate, mainly due to the material of course, and the spacing of the jingles. This is my go-to tamb for the more uptempo songs where I really want need to support a backbeat based groove, with a traditional tambourine pattern.

Sabian Cymbals, LP Percussion, Roland SPD-SX

Lastly, in the cymbal department, I’ve got a 20” Sabian HHX Legacy Ride, which has one of sweetest swells of any cymbal in this frequency range. It’s dark enough that it compliments the brighter cymbals that Tony uses, but still has a nice sheen and body, that feels present even when it’s played all alone. One the right I’ve also got a 12” Sabian AAX O-Zone splash, which is a bit darker than your average splash, while still maintaining the airiness. Mounted under each cymbal is a CRS-1 Cymbal Isolation Mount, which does an incredible job helping getting the purest sound out my cymbals, and allows to mount my tambourine, for example, to the same cymbal stand, and not worry about striking one instrument and getting unwanted sound out of the other. The sticks that you’re seeing across these different photos are the Marc Quiñones Salsa Model Timbale stick made by Zildjian, which are the most comfortable and balanced timbale sticks I’ve ever come across, and a set of 15” Vic Firth CT1 timpani mallets— a super sturdy pair great for all around playing.

Slightly above the Bongos is another SR25 microphone which I use as the main mic for playing shakers and tambourines. It allows me to get up close when I need more volume, and back off a bit in softer sections for a more controlled approach. This microphone also helps capture some of the airier frequencies of the Bongos and Djembe as it’s positioned almost directly above them.

LOGISTICS AND SETUP

Paulo Stagnaro Ricky Martin Percussion Full Rig

I’m sure you’re wondering what exactly I use all this gear for, and why I chose to set it up in this particular way. So let’s start front and center. This one was a really a no-brainer for me. The congas are definitely the drum that I play the most on this particular gig, and having them in the center also allows me to access all of the minor percussion, as well as the bongos and djembe, and the timbales set up to my right.

On the left side of the congas, the reason I choose to have the the the djembe and bongos here, are to allow to me play certain grooves more comfortably when incorporating two or three of these instruments at once. It also allows me to get closer to the over head mic when playing a shaker or tambourine while being able to reach either the congas, bongos, or djembe quite easily, with my right hand.

The timbale set up for me always feels more comfortable when it’s to my right. This is mainly due to the fact that being right-handed, I use this hand most often to play different bell patterns while my left hand is more commonly used to comp (accompany). For certain grooves when I play snare, congas, timbales and surdo all at once with sticks, this particular configuration allows me the most versatility. I can play certain Brazilian influenced patterns using the snare and surdo for the main groove, or play a groove on timbales and accessories, with the snare just off to my right for certain accents.

Paulo Stagnaro Ricky Martin Percussion Rig

All of these choices really just boil down to personal preference and functionality. There’s no right or wrong way to go about putting together your own rig. You just want to make sure that along with the instruments you’re choosing to best fit the music and repertoire, your physical setup should also be configured in a way that allows you to play as many things as you can from the most comfortable positions possible.

If you’re interested in learning more about these individual drums, we currently have over 150+ Step-by-Step Online Timbale Lessons and Conga Lessons, to help you gain a deeper understanding of each instrument. Remember, we’ve got to learn to run before we can walk, so developing a solid foundation on each individual instrument first, will make it easier when it comes time for you to build your own touring rig and play all of these instruments in tandem!

- Paulo Stagnaro, CongaChops.com Founder

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Below you’ll find detailed a list of every single musical instrument and accessory you saw in these photos:

DRUMS: