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 By Trevor Salloum
Interest in hand drumming has exploded, with everyone from inner city youth, to the elderly-even corporate executives-trying their hands on the skins. One of the most enjoyable of these hand drums to re-emerge is the bongos. Among the most adaptable percussion instruments, bongos are well suited to many styles of modern music, including Latin, rock, funk, rap, jazz, symphonic, flamenco, etc.
Bongos have many advantages, one in particular being their small size. As a drumset player, I've often envied vocalists and horn players because of the portability of their instruments. Now drummers can take their bongos to a jam session and not have to schlep so much gear. And modern amplification allows the bongos to be played with virtually any other instrument. Also, bongos require minimal maintenance and are quite durable in construction.
History
Many people think of the bongos as a toy or novelty item, but they have a rich cultural history. Bongos were developed in eastern Cuba in the Guantanamo province in the late 1800s, and are the principle drums of the music styles known as changüi and son (pronounced "sone"). These styles are a blend of the rich African and Spanish cultures of Cuba and contain the roots of modern salsa.
In the '40s and '50s, the bongos emerged as the guiding sound for the beat generation. During this period famous bongo drummers gained commercial success, as evidenced by Jack Costanzo ("Mr. Bongo"), who accompanied the Nat King Cole Trio. I'm sure many of you recall having your parents buy a set of bongos because of their reasonable price and suitability for small hands.
Design And Construction
Bongos consist of two drums, the macho (small) and the hembra (large), which are joined by a bridge. (In Spanish "macho" means male and "hembra" means female.) The bongos are usually made from oak or mahogany, with metal lugs and rims. Most bongos are constructed from wood, but some companies manufacture fiberglass models.
Bongos usually feature one of two styles of bottom rims-either aluminum cast, as in LP
Galaxy, Matadors,
LP
Fiberglass, Generation
II, LP
Generation III and the Valje Armando Peraza Series. The heads are usually made from the skins of cow, calf, mule, goat, or kangaroo. In Cuba you will occasionally see X-ray film being used on the macho. (I prefer natural-skin heads and wood drums both for sound and aesthetics.)
When purchasing bongos, choose an instrument that meets your needs. Many of the professional models, such as LP
Galaxy, Generation
II and III and Matador have superior tone and solid construction, but maybe heavy for a beginner. For the price, the best beginner bongos I have seen are the LP Aspire Bongos. They are made of Siam Oak, have fairly durable hardware, are lightweight.
Playing Position
The bongos are traditionally played with the hands and fingers, in a seated position with the drums held between your knees. Your back should be straight, with your forearms resting on your thighs and with your feet positioned flat on the floor. Occasionally, the bongos may be played on a stand to provide easier movement between various percussion instruments. (Timbale sticks may be used instead of hands to obtain a varied tone and greater volume.)
Basic Patterns
The basic traditional bongo pattern is called the martillo (meaning "hammer" in Spanish). This rhythm has been used in various styles of music including Latin, jazz, rock, and folk. The following is the basic martillo pattern, as well as two basic jazz and rock patterns.
Legend
r - right
l - left
cs - closed slap (left thumb is placed against head while right strikes with finger(s)
f - finger(s)
th - thumb
rs - rim shot with finger(s)
o - open stroke
* - rest
macho-small drum
hembra-large drum
Listen
The most valuable resource for learning the bongos is listening to the recordings of the great bongoseros (bongo players). I would suggest starting with the early recordings of the son musical style. Son is best represented by groups such as Sexteto Habanero, Septeto Nacional, Sexteto Boloña, Sierra Maestra, and Isaac Olviedo. These groups typify some of the early roots of modern salsa.
Try to obtain recordings of Latin music by Arsenio Rodriguez, Machito, Cal
Tjader, George Shearing, Tito
Puente, Stan Kenton, Nat King Cole, Ismael Rivera,
Willie Bobo, Celia Cruz, and Poncho Sanchez. And listening
to the bongosero legends like Armando
Peraza, José
Mangual Sr., Jack Costanzo, Candido
Camero, Ray Romero, Willie Rodriguez, Manny Oquendo,
and Mongo
Santamaria will provide exposure to a wide variety
of individual styles. Finally, investigate the more
recent wave of dynamic bongoceros, including Anthony
Carrillo, José
Mangual Jr., David Romero, John Santos, Louis Bauzó, Luis Chacon, and José Miguel Velazquez.
Internet Newsgroups
(These newsgroups often have interesting discussions on bongos and bongoseros)
rec.music.afro-latin
rec.music.makers.percussion
rec.music.makers.percussion.hand-drum
Trevor Salloum is is a percussionist, author, and teacher. He has made several trips to Cuba to study Afro-Cuban rhythms. He recently wrote The Bongo Book, published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc., 1997.
Used with permission from Modern Drummer Magazine, January 1998 issue.
Books
Progressive Steps To Bongo And Conga Drum Technique by Ted Reed (Ted Reed Publishing, 1961)
The Bongo Book/CD by Trevor Salloum (Mel Bay Publications , 800-863-5229)
Internet Web Site
The Bongo Page: www.rhythmweb.com/bongo
For more information on Trevor Salloum, please visit his website.
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