Cuban music style, rhythm
The term
conga
refers to the music groups within Cuban
comparsas
and the music they play. Comparsas are large ensembles of musicians, singers and dancers with a specific costume and choreography which perform in the street carnivals of
Santiago de Cuba
and
Havana
.
[1]
[2]
The instrumentation differs between
congas santiagueras
and
congas habaneras
.
Congas santiagueras
include the
corneta china
(Chinese
cornet
), which is an adaptation of the Cantonese
suona
introduced in
Oriente
in 1915, and its percussion section comprises bocues (similar to African
ashiko
drums), the
quinto
(highest pitched conga drum), galletas and the pilon, as well as
brakes
which are struck with metal sticks.
[1]
Congas habaneras
lack the
corneta china
but include trumpets, trombones and saxophones, and they have a different set of percussion instruments: redoblantes (
side drums
),
bombos
(
bass drums
), quinto, tumbadora (the lowest pitched conga drum), and metallic
idiophones
such as
cowbells
,
spoons
,
frying pans
and
rims
.
[1]
Congas and comparsas have a long history which dates back to the 19th century, with musical traditions being passed down from one generation to the next. The older comparsas are derived from
cabildos de nacion
or other social groups, whereas the later ones, called
paseos
, are derived from
barrios
(neighbourhoods).
[2]
The music of the congas has become a genre itself, being introduced into Cuban popular music in the early 20th century by artists such as
Eliseo Grenet
and
Armando Orefiche and his Havana Cuban Boys
.
[3]
They have been present for decades in the repertoire of many
conjuntos
, Cuban
big bands
and
descarga
ensembles, also having an influence on modern genres such as
salsa
and
songo
. The
conga drum
, also known in Cuba as tumbadora, took its name from the
congas de comparsa
.
History
[
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]
The
conga
Paso Franco playing in the streets of Santiago
Origins
[
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]
The history of the conga (also known as
comparsa conga
or
conga de comparsa
) is obscure and its origins remain largely unknown. In the early 19th century, although the word "conga" is not found in written sources, there are references to "tumbas", and, according to Brea and Millet (1993:204), "tumba" refers to the percussion ensemble of the conga. "Tumba" is mentioned in connection with
mamarrachos
(summer festivals in Santiago de Cuba) as early as 1847 (Perez I 1988:54). A word that may be synonymous with "tumba" is the word "tango", mentioned as early as 1856 (Perez I 1988:79). Unfortunately, most 19th-century writers were extremely negative towards Afro-Cuban culture and little information about the tumbas or tangos was recorded.
Relation to Kongo ethnic group
[
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]
"Congo" was the word used to designate African slaves brought to Cuba from the Congo region of Africa (currently the
Republic of the Congo
, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
and
Angola
). According to the rules of Spanish grammar, "congo" became a masculine noun/adjective and its feminine counterpart was formed by changing final "o" to "a." This Spanish noun/adjective pair has been used in Cuba to designate anything pertaining to the above-mentioned African slaves and their culture. Therefore, some have assumed that "
conga
" was originally an adjective (as in the expression
comparsa conga
), and that the
comparsa
was dropped and
conga
changed to a noun (del Carmen et al. 2005)
[1]
.
However, the word
conga
may also derive from either "maconga" (song) or "nkunga" (song, sound) in "
the language of the Congo
" (Ortiz 1924:118).
Ortiz (II 1952-5:34) also states that the drum called
boku
(one of the instruments of the conga) is "...typical of the congos."
Goodman
mentions the “
comparsa conga
” in conjunction with a
carnaval
figure known as “
el Rey del Congo
” (the "King of the Congo”), which seems to confirm a
kongo
ethnic connection to the
conga
(Perez I 1988:104).
[4]
Also, the word
boku
means “drum” in
Kikongo
(Orovio 1981:58).
Antipathy after independence
[
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]
In the early years after the establishment of the Republic of Cuba in 1902, there were numerous decrees by successive mayors of Santiago de Cuba banning "African drums and
tangos
". (Perez I 1988:177, etc.) Apparently, these decrees were not faithfully enforced:
“In spite of the prohibitive proclamation, the
tumbas
echoed loudly everywhere, including in the most central and heavily-traveled areas.
And together with the raucous and uncouth sound of the African
tumba
, the well-known
arrolladera
[5]
displayed its contortions.” (Perez I 1988:254)
According to Perez,
“Although the prohibition of African manifestations was reiterated, the
comparsas
were permitted. In reality, it was just a question of maintaining on paper that which could not really be enforced due to the express desire of the
bourgeoisie
, to whom these manifestations were a diversion, ‘something colorful’ and amusing.” (Perez I 1988:179, note 13)
Debate
[
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]
Opponents to the
conga
in print outnumbered defenders. The
conga
was a thing of the illiterate Afro-Cuban working people, while the writers of editorials and angry letters to the editor were upper-class Hispano-Cubans. One prominent attacker of the
conga
, and perhaps the most florid in his prose, was the long-time mayor of Santiago,
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz II
(father of American TV star
Desi Arnaz
), who expressed the feelings of some upper-class Cubans in a newspaper article of 1925:
“I will have you know that the initial days of our traditional masquerades – which have just passed – have left painful impressions in my mind. Allow me to explain. In every way, the carnival has been a joyful celebration of the soul of the people, an exhibition of good artistic taste, a competition of original ideas, a contest in which thought and action have always vied in giving objective form to the perfect conception of Beauty and towards the noble intent of the dignification of society; Paris, Rome, Venice, Madrid and Havana itself offer in their
carnestolendas
lessons on how complaisant liberty ought to be used in those periods of fantasy in order to educate the wishes and aspirations of the citizen. But here, in our city, in one of those scientifically inexplicable regressions towards a dark past, certain elements of our commonwealth seem committed – under the pretext of
carnaval
– to the repugnant task of checking human progress and causing harm to Civilization with their excesses.
I refer to the ‘
conga
,’ that strident group of drums, frying pans and shrieks, to whose sounds epileptic, ragged, semi-nude crowds run about the streets of our metropolis, and who, between lubricous contortions and abrupt movements, show a lack of respect to society, offend morality, discredit our customs, lower us in the eyes of people from other countries and, what is worse, by their example, contaminate schoolchildren, who I have seen carried away by the heat of the lesson, panting and sweaty, engaging in frenetic competitions in corporal flexibility in those shameful tourneys of licentiousness.” (Perez I 1988:337)
On the other hand, an opinion poll of 1936 on the
conga
elicited the following comments:
“…Let the hours, the minutes and the seconds pass as they will, as long as they do so as quickly as possible so that I can slap that
bocu
... From today, it is only 18 days until the
carnaval
starts. How it torments me to think that there are still so many days to go; I wish it were tomorrow;... I want you to know... that the sound of the
conga
nourishes me, the sound of the frying pans gives me life and the sound of the
bocu
drives me crazy. Several days prior to the beginning of rehearsals, I went to see a doctor; I felt overwhelmed, sad, pensive. He prescribed and gave me some injections, and I felt absolutely no different, but as soon as I heard the sound of the first
bocu
, I was completely cured, I felt strong and ready for anything. And I advise those who are unhappy and listless to get an invigorating injection of
bocu
,
conga
and frying pans and you’ll be OK in 24 hours.” (Perez II 1988:22-3)
Conga of Los Hoyos
[
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]
Invasion of the Conga de Los Hoyos in Santiago 2014
Los Hoyos
is a district in downtown Santiago de Cuba and home to the conga of Los Hoyos. The date of the founding of this
conga
is unknown, but it was already in existence in 1902 (del Carmen et al. 2005).
At first, the instruments of the group were a
pilon
, some
bocues
, a cowbell and a
guiro
. Later, two
redoblantes
were added, the number of
bocues
was increased and the cowbell and
guiro
were replaced by frying pans. Later still, the frying pans were replaced by the
campanas
(automobile brake drums or other pieces of metal chosen for their distinct sound qualities). Also added were the
quinto
and the
requinto
. Los Hoyos first began using a
corneta china
in 1916 (del Carmen et al. 2005), one year after the instrument was introduced by the conga Los Colombianos from Tivoli.
[1]
During the
carnaval
season, Los Hoyos performs a traditional event known as an "
invasion
," in which it marches around the streets of Santiago and visits the neighborhoods where the other famous
congas
[6]
are located. This "
invasion
" commemorates the invasion of the Army of Liberation at the end of the
War of Independence
. Los Hoyos also closes the traditional parades of the
Carnaval
of Santiago de Cuba (del Carmen et al. 2005).
Instrumentation
[
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]
A
campana
: the "
can,
" formerly belonging to the
conga
San Agustin
Walter Goodman
(1838?1912), an Englishman who lived in Santiago de Cuba from 1864 to 1869, left what may be the earliest written description of the instruments of the
conga
: “… an odd orchestra composed of drums, frying pans, tin utensils, graters and
guiros
(Perez I 1988:102)."
The present-day instruments fall into four categories. First are the
campanas
(Brea and Millet 1993:181), which are instruments of metal struck with metal beaters. Preferably, brake drums from older model American vehicles (1950s or older) are used. Originally, before brake drums were available, frying pans were used (Perez I 1988:310, Perez II 1988:23, etc.) and possibly plow blades as well (Perez I 1988:106 and 134).
The second category is the
bocuses
(sing.
bocu
alt. pl.
bocues
), also called
fondos
("bottoms").
“The
boku
is a single-headed drum, skin nailed to the shell, shell open at one end, long, shaped like a conic section and made of staves with iron hoops that circle them and hold them together. They are heated with fire and played with both hands and no sticks. The musician or
bokusero
carries the drum on his left side, hung over the shoulder with a strap.” (Ortiz II 1952-5:34)
Nowadays, the skin is usually held on by a metal hardware system similar to that of the commercial
conga drum
. Anywhere from four to 16
bocuses
are used in one
conga
(Brea and Millet 1993:179). The
bocuses
play simple interlocking parts with few variations (however, the sum of the parts results in quite a complex drum melody). A smaller
bocu,
called a
quinto
or
bocusito,
plays complex off-beat figures and improvisations.
According to Ortiz, the
bocu
was adopted by the
conga
when African drums were banned in the early years of the Republic.
“The fact that the modern Cuban
boku
originates and is found only in the cities of Oriente, permits one to suppose that the
boku
, with or without exact Bantu morphological antecedents, is an unusual type of drum in Cuba; but was adopted by the Cubans when, upon the prohibition of African drums, they resorted to new types of drums which, due to their unaccustomed appearances, were not imputable to Africans.”(Ortiz II 1952-5:36)
A third category are the bimembranophone
tambores
(Brea and Millet 1993:200), mentioned in documents as early as 1916 (Perez I 1988:217)
[7]
There are three
tambores
: one
requinto
and two
galletas
. The
requinto
(Brea and Millet 1993:198), first mentioned in writing as early as 1931 (Perez II 1988:9), is shaped somewhat like a snare drum- about 50% wider than it is tall. It is hung from the left shoulder with the top of the drum slightly skewed to the left and is played with a stick on the right-hand skin while the left hand mutes or opens the left-hand skin. Its part is simple with few variations. The
galletas
(also called
congas
- Orovio 1981:186) are like bass drums, but flatter. They are both played with a stick in a manner similar to the
requinto
, except that they are hung from the shoulders in such a way that the skins are nearly horizontal to the ground. The higher pitched of the two is called a
redoblante
(Brea and Millet 1993:197). It measures approximately 2 feet in diameter and 5 inches high. In addition to its basic pattern, there are many
floreos
(variations) that it can play. The lower-pitched
galleta
is called a
pilon
(Brea and Millet 1993:196) or
pilonera
(Ortiz II 1952-5:242). It measure about 2 inches larger in each dimension than the
redoblante.
This drum plays a basic pattern with few variations. All three of the drums utilize a metal hardware system for attaching the skins to the drum shells.
As with the
bocu
, Ortiz asserts that the
tambores
were not originally used in the pre-Republican
congas
. “One is soon aware that these
congas
[
galletas
], like the drums of the
comparsa carabali
, are ‘white’ imitations of drums whose African morphology has been disguised” (Ortiz II 1952-5:242).
The final category includes only one item: the
trompetica china
or
corneta china
(literally “Chinese trumpet/bugle”). This double reed instrument, called
suona
in Chinese, was brought to Havana in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants. It was being used to play traditional Chinese music in the Chinese theaters in Havana's Chinatown, when an Afro-Cuban
comparsa
named “Los Chinos Buenos” adapted it to use in place of an
inspirador
("lead singer"). Although it was very difficult for anyone not standing within ten feet of the
inspirador
to hear him or her singing during a street performance, the
trompetica china
, due to its peculiar raucous and nasal sound, could usually be heard by the entire
comparsa
and its followers. In 1910, the
trompetica china
was brought to Santiago de Cuba by soldiers of the Cuban army (Ortiz II 1952-5:451). The first
conga
to incorporate its use was Paso Franco in 1915 (del Carmen et al. 2005). By 1924, it was a well-established feature of the
conga
(Perez; I 1988:310). Today, the sound of this instrument is recognized by Cubans as the symbol of the
carnavales
of
Oriente
.
Dance
[
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]
The
conga
is danced with small sliding steps, advancing alternately. Imagining two measures of
2
4
time (the traditional time signature for the
conga
), if the right foot starts on the first eighth note of the first measure, then the left foot steps on the third eighth note of the first measure, the right again on the first eighth note of the second measure, the left on the third eighth note of the second measure, and so on. This basic step is called the
"arrollao."
The arms are bent at the elbow and swung opposite to the rhythm of the feet (Fernandez 1974:91).
Basic step (
arrollao
).
There are many variations on the basic step, as well as simple figures such as "kick," "single turn," "cutting sugar cane," "shining shoes," etc.
Variation on basic step (Fernandez 1974:92)
A common variation on the above variation is to eliminate the tie.
Selected discography
[
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]
See also
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Roy, Maya (2004).
Musicas cubanas
(in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Akal. pp. 39?84, 238.
ISBN
9788446012344
.
- ^
a
b
Millet, Jose and Brea Rafael 1989. Del carnival santiaguero: congas y paseos. In Oscar Ruiz Miyares (ed)
Guia cultural de Santiago de Cuba
.
- ^
Zayas Bringas, Enrique G. (1998).
Origen y evolucion de la musica cubana
(in Spanish). Havana, Cuba.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Walter Goodman
1873.
The Pearl of the Antilles or an artist in Cuba
. Spanish transl. Havana 1965. A section entitled
Mascaras en Santiago de Cuba
(“Masquerades in Santiago de Cuba”), is reproduced in Perez I 1988:97-106.
- ^
Perez (I 1988:256-7, note 4) says:”
Arrolladera
. It refers to the large masses of the public who follow the
comparsas
(
congas
) and who march in a rhythmic shuffle, following the
comparsas
who play drums,
tumbas
, frying pans, cowbells,
cornetas chinas
, etc., orchestrated in a very distinct style by musicians that sometimes improvise, going in front of or in the center of the
comparsas
. This multitudinous form of dancing is called
arrolladera
, because of the way of dancing forward, always shuffling the feet, while performing movements of the waist, arms, head and the body as a whole and from this, one says that a person who performs the latter is
arrollando
. By semantic extension, anything that goes forward without being stopped by any obstacle whether material or of any other kind.”
- ^
Their names are San Agustin, Guayabito, Alto Pino, Paso Franco and San Pedrito (del Carmen et al. 2005)
- ^
The word
conga
meaning a kind of Afro-Cuban drum is used in 19th century documents, but, if Ortiz is correct in saying that the
tambores
were invented around the turn of the century, it must have been a different instrument.
References
[
edit
]
- Brea, Rafael and Millet, Jose. 1993. Glossary of popular festivals. In
Cuban Festivals
, ed. Judith Bettelheim (2001), 173–205.
ISBN
976-637-001-X
- del Carmen, Maria, Hernandez, Yohemis and Gonzalez, Carlos Alberto (2005).
"Focos culturales: Los Hoyos"
. Direccion municipal de Santiago de Cuba. Archived from
the original
on 2006-07-21
. Retrieved
2007-01-24
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- Fernandez, Maria Antonia. 1974. Bailes populares cubanos. La Habana: Editorial Pueblo y Educacion
- Orovio, Helio. 1981. Diccionario de la musica cubana. La Habana, Editorial Letras Cubanas.
ISBN
959-10-0048-0
- Ortiz, Fernando. 1924. Glosario de afronegrismos. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales.
ISBN
959-06-0001-8
- _______________. 1952?5. Los Instrumentos de la musica afrocubana I. La Habana: Ministerio de Educacion (Fernando Ortiz Foundation facsimile reprint of five-volume original edition in two volumes, 1996).
ISBN
84-86415-82-9
- _______________. 1952?5. Los Instrumentos de la musica afrocubana II. La Habana: Ministerio de Educacion (Fernando Ortiz Foundation facsimile reprint of five-volume original edition in two volumes, 1996).
ISBN
84-86415-82-9
- Perez, Nancy. 1988. El carnaval santiaguero, Tomo I. Santiago de Cuba: Editorial Oriente.
- ____________. 1988. El carnaval santiaguero, Tomo II. Santiago de Cuba: Editorial Oriente.
External links
[
edit
]
- Cutumba performing
conga
- see a video of the
conga
performed by Santiago de Cuba's foremost professional folklore group.