The word bongos is often mistakenly employed to explain other forms of drums such as djembes and congas, however, bongos are really two individual percussion instruments that are attached to a particular an additional. The lesser of the two drums is labeled as the hembra, which is the Spanish word for female, and the bigger drum is referred to as the macho, Spanish for douleur.

However the actual origin of this style of drum is unable to be correctly traced, the Atlantic slave trade released bongos to Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean, Middle East, and Asia from the continent of Africa. The common bongo drums are normally constructed from wooden with rawhide, goatskin, or some other model of bestial for the heads of the drums, which are attached to just about every other with a thick piece of wood.
Metallic, or other completely different styles of other natural or artificial elements can also be put into use.

Bongo drums produced from ceramics with rawhide heads are most regularly noticed in destinations these kinds of as Egypt, Asia, and some Center Eastern nations and are regarded there as tbila.

For the rookie as properly as the veteran percussionist, bongos are an beautiful decision of drums as they are not only portable, but also low-priced and very easy to tune and enjoy once you end up being familiar with the diverse strategies.

A pair of bongo drums is made up of:

– Macho

– Hembra

– Shell

– Head

– Rim

– Bearing edge

– Middle obstruct

– Tuning or base ring

– Lugs or hooks

When actively playing a pair of bongos, the drums are frequently held among the knees even though sitting down down with the hembra (scaled-down) drum on the player’s left towards the calf region, and the macho (greater drum) from the proper thigh. The trick is to maintain the drums with the suitable sum of gentle pressure to just keep them in place, but not as well tightly. In the circumstance of bands or orchestras, bongo drums are often played by using a stand as an alternative of keeping them.

The palms and fingertips are often used to strike the instrument’s drumheads, but some of the more contemporary parts also phone for the use sticks or brushes to yield a wide range of distinct appears. The hembra will manufacture a large sounding thud, which is emphasised when the player permits their fingertips to rest on the head momentarily when striking. Utilizing a few fingers at to begin with, practice striking the heads until eventually you can gauge the ideal amount of strain, remembering to use the pads of the fingertips as opposed to the knuckle joints that are higher up on the fingers.

A snapping movement of the wrist will manufacture crisp tones that can also be muted employing a half of the hand atop one of the drum heads to get a multitude seems. For a greater pitch audio whilst striking the heads, use the idea of the thumb or finger to press firmly down onto the middle of the drumhead.

The most widespread pattern played applying bongos is best-known as the martillo pattern, which is played in 4/four time and resembles the sound of a trotting horse, while many variants are applied as the additional skilled participant may perhaps improvise and include their private beats and rhythms.

Most bongoceros, or bongo players, have their individual personalized tastes when it arrives to tuning their drums. As a normal rule of thumb, the macho should be tuned initial, and tuned quite high until lightly tapping the head final results in crisp, thoroughly clean tones. The hembra isn’t going to want just about as much pressure as the other and should really meticulously be tuned until finally its audio complements the macho.

Based on the substance applied for the head, when tuning the bigger drum, some standard cracking or popping noises can be manufactured by it reseating by itself beneath the rims. As is the circumstance with all varieties of drums, if the heads are not evenly tensioned, a ringing sound will consequence which can be rectified by ensuring just about every lug or hook is tightened correctly.

Some drums will also call for damping, also identified as muffling, applying basic adhesive tape and a very few items of foam weather conditions-stripping hooked up to the underside of the drum’s heads in a person or a great deal more spots.

Now you are ready to come to be a bongocero, go and get your to start with arranged of bongo drums.

Trying to find extra data bongo?See our internet site for added information.


Sponsored Links

Author:

This author has published 11 articles so far. More info about the author is coming soon.