Improvised Bomba Drum

[seisporocho1]

Just wanted to share a really simple idea I had and it's a quick fix for those tamboreros that can't afford a $500 custom Bomba drum!

I had a 12 year old - 12" LP Matador that was already warping at the head. I was going to throw it away but then I figured I'd play with first.
I noticed that from the belly down, the drum seemed (except a few cracks) relatively fine. So I cut the drum nearly in half and mounted recycled LP plates and hooks (7 in total). The ring and flesh hoop were custom made by an artisan in Puerto Rico who does pleneras and bomba drums. He charged me about $18. I then ordered a thin Buffalo hide (just to try something different instead of the usual goat) and to my surprise it works great. I have friend bomberos that tried this drum and felt it sounded just like a barril! Of course, I still respect the traditional work done by people like Papo del Valle and other Bomba drum makers so by no means I want to discourage anybody from getting the real deal! BUT if you'd like to get a Bomba sounding drum and don't have the $ for a traditional one, this is an INCREDIBLE alternative as far as sound and feel. If you want, you could also cut the bottom (I didn't) so it opens more like a barril.
Just thought I'd share.

The drum is 22" in height and has a 15.5" head.

[Thomas Altmann]

Hi seisporocho1,

thank you for sharing! I had about the same idea with an old Gon Bops quinto that has completely and irreversibly gone out of round. I bought a set of 3 Gon Bops drums recently, and out of these, the quinto was unusable from the beginning. I already had a Gon Bops quinto of the same line before, so I sacrificed the one I had to purchase with the set. I took it apart, and it's an egg at the top.

I have long contemplated about putting together a special set of drums of different heights and mount thinner heads on them. There are some types of ensembles that could all be covered with the same setup:

Candomblé,
Arará,
Vodou,
Bembe,

and perhaps some forms of African Ewe drumming, although those guys generally play more than 3 drums (as do some Arará ensembles).

My shortened and restored quinto could serve as the middle drum, maybe. I'd have to look for a small 2nd-hand (junior?) conga and have the big drum custom-made. Just in case I'll ever find a bunch of guys again who are burning to work on that kind of stuff.

Did you cut the drum yourself?! And how did you shape the bearing edge?

Thomas

[seisporocho1]

Hi Thomas!

Sounds like you have ideas running thru your head as well!! Awesome.
I don't know much about many of the styles you mentioned (except for Candomble). Would love to learn more about them!
The thing is that many drums are discarded without given the opportunity of being recycled and serving a second life! Whatever drums you can think of, you can create and sometimes out of another drum!

Can you explain to me how many drums are needed for Arara and what sizes?? Pictures?

I cut the drum with a hand held round saw. The edge I formed with a sander. Just have to taper the edge so it's narrower than the walls of the drum itself (not by much). It was really easy.

Seisporocho

[Thomas Altmann]

Thank you Seisporocho. Sounds like you are a gifted craftsman.

In the CIDMUC atlas "Instrumentos de la música folklórico-popular de Cuba", the measurements are approximately given as follows:

Caja: height 110 cm, diam.top 32 cm;
Mula: height 75 cm, diam.top 30 cm;
Cachimbo: height 65 cm, diam.top 29 cm.

Actually they measured two different sets, and the second one had 4 drums; so I rounded these figures a bit. I am sure that there is a lot of variety possible, anyway.

Lois Wilcken ("The Drums of Vodou") gives us the following measurements for a battery of Rada drums:

Maman: 3-4 ft;
Segon: 2 ft;
Boula: 18-20 inches.

For a pair of Petro drums I could take regular conga drums with thin heads.

For the atabaques in Candomblé I had to look up Wikipedia:

Run: 120 cm
Rumpli: 90 cm
Le: 70 cm

I'm sorry I cannot post any photos at the moment.

I am no expert in any of these styles. I would like to work on it. But two reasons why I haven't developed any skills in any of these drumming styles are; I don't have the proper instruments for that, and secondly there are no drummers to work with. I have some scores and I could always transcribe rhythms if I wanted, so I don't see a problem there. As far as Candomblé is concerned, we have Dudu Tucci here in Berlin. He's the man to see for that.

I really like the Haitian stuff, without leaving my batá behind. I know that John Amira has turned more towards Vodou drumming with the time.

But that is New York. I'm over here in sleepy Hamburg.

Thomas

[seisporocho1]

Thomas,
I hear you on the need for more drummers...here in Miami, the same thing happens! The are many percussionists but not many want to do different stuff.
I've just began my Bata journey and am currently studying with Lazaro " Tato" Alfonso here in Miami. Great person and great teacher.
The drums you mention are probably fun to make! You could also find Wine Barrel companies in Germany (if they exist there) and ask for our dimensions. Many make solid barrels with your specific sizes and can be used for drums!! You can even choose from different types of wood.
Best of luck!
I will look into those rhythms myself and look for pictures of the drums used. I love to see the variety of drums our cultures have created.

Take care my friend!

Seisporocho

[bongosnotbombs]

Can you explain to me how many drums are needed for Arara and what sizes?? Pictures?

Seisporocho

I've been taught some Arara rhythms by Sandy Perez. He describes the drums for Arara like this.
(he never wrote down the words so this is the best spelling I have)

Apriti-high drum
Gue Gue - middle drum
Yonofo - medium low drum , improvising drum
Bajo - lowest drum.

He has shown me 3 Arara rhtyhms, Masay, Savalu, and Hebioso. I've seen Sandy play these drums when Yosvany Terry came to
San Francisco and had a concert. The Yonofo was the biggest. I don't have any pictures. but there is this footage of the concert
I'm talking about on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6gpssGEKAo

[seisporocho1]

bongosnotbombs ,

thanks for the video! Looks interesting.
that was Sandy's son plating as well right?! that kid's going to be amazing.

peace