Conga Drums - A Confusing But Moving Family
Conga drums are an integral
part of most Latin American music. In North America, everyone has heard of a
conga line and unfortunately, the majority of us happen to be forced to join a
single at 1 point or an additional, generally throughout a wedding reception.
But the music of the conga is far also diverse to be
pigeonholed as wedding reception music. These instruments are applied not simply
in genres like salsa and rumba, but in Afro-Caribbean religious music as well.
Conga drums are an incredibly critical facet of life in South America.
mini conga
drums
The bodies of conga drums are "staved," or made of numerous
strips of wood or fiberglass, related to the building of a barrel. Chances are
that the ancestors of contemporary congas had been, in fact, made from salvaged
barrels. The drum heads are of rawhide or synthetic materials and are
screw-tensioned.
The height in the typical conga drum is about 3 feet,
and the instruments are usually played in sets of two to four. They're able to
be played from either a sitting or standing position, despite the fact that for
the latter, the drums must be mounted on a rack. An artist who plays conga is
named a "conguero."
Even though the average height of a conga drum is
about 3 feet, there is certainly actually sufficient size variation to warrant
various names for diverse sized drums. On the other hand, there's some confusion
over these names.
One source maintains that the drums are called, in
order of biggest to smallest, the "tumba," the "conga," the "quinto," the
"requinto" and the "Ricardo," the final getting named for Desi Arnaz's character
of Ricky Ricardo on "I Adore Lucy."
A different supply calls the biggest
the "tumba," but refers to the smallest because the "nino" and gives no names
for the middle sizes. Nonetheless other names include the "segundo" and the
"supertumba." Clearly, there's no standardized set of names.
Even the
term "conga drum" can from time to time be confusing. Even though some experts
sustain "conga" may be applied in both English and Spanish, others aver that it
ought to be made use of only in English and that "tumbadoras" need to be
employed in Spanish. All and all, it can be fairly bewildering.
But
there's nothing confusing concerning the rhythms on the conga drums. To create
these rhythms, congueros use five fundamental tones and strategies: the open
tone, the muffled tone, the bass tone, the slap, along with the touch.
The open tone is precisely what its name implies-a clear resonant tone
having a distinct pitch produced by striking four fingers close to the rim from
the head. The muffled tone is just like the open tone, however the fingers are
held against the head to muffle the sound.
The bass tone is produced by
striking the head with the full palm of the hand. The slap technique produces a
popping sound, plus the touch, once more as the name implies, is actually a
approach of barely touching the fingers or the heel of the hand towards the drum
head.
A final strategy exists in which the conguero utilizes his elbow
to apply pressure to unique components with the head. This can be not a regular
system, nevertheless it is normally used in modern salsa and rumba. 
As pointed out, the character of Ricky Ricardo helped popularize the
conga, even though the instrument he played around the show was truly much more
related towards the Cuban "boku," an additional sort of drum. The music in the
conga remains well known today, in element due to the existing recognition of
Latin music and Latin ballroom dances.
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