Conga Drums - A Confusing But Moving Family
Conga drums are an integral portion of most Latin American music. In North America, every person has heard of a conga line and regrettably, the majority of us have already been forced to join a single at one particular point or another, frequently through a wedding reception. But the music in the conga is far too diverse to be pigeonholed as wedding reception music. These instruments are made use of not just in genres like salsa and rumba, but in Afro-Caribbean religious music also. Conga drums are a very critical facet of life in South America.
The bodies of conga drums are "staved," or produced of several strips of wood or fiberglass, similar to the building of a barrel. Chances are that the ancestors of modern day congas were, in fact, created from salvaged barrels. The drum heads are of rawhide or synthetic components and are screw-tensioned. The height with the typical conga drum is about 3 feet, and also the instruments are often played in sets of two to four. They could be played from either a sitting or standing position, despite the fact that for the latter, the drums should be mounted on a rack. An artist who plays conga is known as a "conguero."
Despite the fact that the average height of best conga drums is about three feet, there is in fact sufficient size variation to warrant distinct names for different sized drums. However, there is certainly some confusion more than these names. 1 source maintains that the drums are called, in order of biggest to smallest, the "tumba," the "conga," the "quinto," the "requinto" along with the "Ricardo," the last becoming named for Desi Arnaz's character of Ricky Ricardo on "I Like Lucy."
A further source calls the biggest the "tumba," but refers towards the smallest because the "nino" and gives no names for the middle sizes. Nonetheless other names contain the "segundo" plus the "supertumba." Clearly, there is no standardized set of names. Even the term "conga drum" can from time to time be confusing. When some professionals keep "conga" may be applied in both English and Spanish, other individuals aver that it really should be employed only in English and that "tumbadoras" must be utilised in Spanish. All and all, it can be quite bewildering.
But there is certainly practically nothing confusing concerning the rhythms on the conga drums. To generate these rhythms, congueros use 5 basic tones and procedures: the open tone, the muffled tone, the bass tone, the slap, and the touch.
The open tone is specifically what its name implies-a clear resonant tone having a distinct pitch made by striking 4 fingers close to the rim of your head. The muffled tone is like the open tone, but the fingers are held against the head to muffle the sound. The bass tone is made by striking the head using the complete palm in the hand. The slap technique produces a popping sound, and also the touch, once more because the name implies, is actually a approach of barely touching the fingers or the heel of your hand towards the drum head. A final technique exists in which the conguero utilizes his elbow to apply pressure to various components on the head. This can be not a regular system, nevertheless it is generally utilized in modern day salsa and rumba.
As pointed out, the character of Ricky Ricardo helped popularize the conga, despite the fact that the instrument he played on the show was really extra comparable for the Cuban "boku," a different kind of drum. The music in the conga remains popular right now, in portion as a result of present reputation of Latin music and Latin ballroom dances.
The bodies of conga drums are "staved," or produced of several strips of wood or fiberglass, similar to the building of a barrel. Chances are that the ancestors of modern day congas were, in fact, created from salvaged barrels. The drum heads are of rawhide or synthetic components and are screw-tensioned. The height with the typical conga drum is about 3 feet, and also the instruments are often played in sets of two to four. They could be played from either a sitting or standing position, despite the fact that for the latter, the drums should be mounted on a rack. An artist who plays conga is known as a "conguero."
Despite the fact that the average height of best conga drums is about three feet, there is in fact sufficient size variation to warrant distinct names for different sized drums. However, there is certainly some confusion more than these names. 1 source maintains that the drums are called, in order of biggest to smallest, the "tumba," the "conga," the "quinto," the "requinto" along with the "Ricardo," the last becoming named for Desi Arnaz's character of Ricky Ricardo on "I Like Lucy."
A further source calls the biggest the "tumba," but refers towards the smallest because the "nino" and gives no names for the middle sizes. Nonetheless other names contain the "segundo" plus the "supertumba." Clearly, there is no standardized set of names. Even the term "conga drum" can from time to time be confusing. When some professionals keep "conga" may be applied in both English and Spanish, other individuals aver that it really should be employed only in English and that "tumbadoras" must be utilised in Spanish. All and all, it can be quite bewildering.
But there is certainly practically nothing confusing concerning the rhythms on the conga drums. To generate these rhythms, congueros use 5 basic tones and procedures: the open tone, the muffled tone, the bass tone, the slap, and the touch.
The open tone is specifically what its name implies-a clear resonant tone having a distinct pitch made by striking 4 fingers close to the rim of your head. The muffled tone is like the open tone, but the fingers are held against the head to muffle the sound. The bass tone is made by striking the head using the complete palm in the hand. The slap technique produces a popping sound, and also the touch, once more because the name implies, is actually a approach of barely touching the fingers or the heel of your hand towards the drum head. A final technique exists in which the conguero utilizes his elbow to apply pressure to various components on the head. This can be not a regular system, nevertheless it is generally utilized in modern day salsa and rumba.
As pointed out, the character of Ricky Ricardo helped popularize the conga, despite the fact that the instrument he played on the show was really extra comparable for the Cuban "boku," a different kind of drum. The music in the conga remains popular right now, in portion as a result of present reputation of Latin music and Latin ballroom dances.
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