I have switched from using tan pouch leather on the Seabreeze Park band
organ to using kangaroo leather of the same thickness -- when I can get
it!  It is a bit hard to find because supply houses like Columbia Organ
Leathers and The Leather Supply House can't always obtain it.

Kangaroo is much stronger than tan pouch leather.  You can easily tear
the latter with your fingers, but the kangaroo is next to impossible to
tear.  Since using the kangaroo on the beater pneumatics of the snare
drum, re-covering the pneumatics every two years or so is no longer
required.

Kangaroo does need sealing because, while it is strong, it is as porous
as the tan pouch leather.  I use RTV silicone thinned with naphtha for
sealing the leather.  To permit gluing the overlap of the hinge end of
the pneumatic, the overlap surface has to be kept free of sealant.

Rather than seal the leather after the pneumatic is glued up -- which
is a more messy job than I like to see -- I seal the precut strips.
I lay them out on a board, with a strip of masking tape or blue
painter's tape covering the tail end of the strip that will take the
overlap.  After the covering operation is completed, it is a simple
matter to add a tiny smear of sealant to the overlap area to ensure
that every bit of the leather has been sealed.

The kangaroo is a pleasure to work with.  It handles much better than
the rubber cloth that formerly was used.

Matthew Caulfield
Irondequoit, New York