Names for Congas

[zaragenca]

Ok again,..In the Rumba setting the ‘Die Hard Rumberos’ were not using tumbadoras to develop their articulation in the weekly meeting in the neighborhoog,..they wer using wooden boxes of beers,furniture/shelves,containers,etc…The same in the Habana/Harbor,..somebody observed that money could be made with these folkloric music and that’s went the congas were incorporated for the purpose of recording and to give better presentation to the ensemble when playing in public places..That’s how the Tumbadora which was used in the Comparsas,(Carnival),was used for the Guaguanco Ensembles…but the names are originated from the specific articulation which is played by the percussionist,...not by any sizes or diameter of the Tumbadora..Dr. Zaragemca

[bongosnotbombs]

There are also names for these congas that have evolved after rumba, and probably don't have any relationship to rumba and the pre-tumbadora rumba words for whatever it was they were playing then and their position in the music of their percussion ensemble.


An interesting definition from Wikipedia:

The term requinto is used in both Spanish and Portuguese to mean a smaller, higher-pitched version of another instrument. Thus, there are requinto guitars, drums and other instruments

also..

The requinto drum is used in the Puerto Rican folk genre plena, wherein it is a small conical hand drum that improvises over the other drum rhythms

I don't remember seeing these terms in Wikipedia before, maybe they are new?

As regards to the requinto in plena or rumba, which genre was it originally created for first?

or are they describing a different kind of requinto than what we are used to? I know nothing of plena music.
Using the Wiki definition, the plena requinto could simply be a smaller version of any kind of drum they happen to be using.

The quinto part of the name requinto does'nt have to refer to the drum"quinto" (get it?) as it can refer to a guitar as well and still be called a requinto



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1188498862

[bongosnotbombs]

Regarding the word conga itself, some sources suggest that the term is borrowed from the rhythm la conga from Cuba's Carnival,

The word conga came from the rhythm la conga used during carnaval (carnival) in Cuba. The drums used in carnaval could have been referred to as tambores de conga since they played the rhythm la conga, and thus translated into English as conga drums.



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1188489691

[bongosnotbombs]

Then there is always the drum called the "Ricardo", obviously from Dezi Arnaz, who played Ricki Ricardo in "I Love Lucy"

from the drumdojo.com website..

In English, conga drum sizes are usually referred to as "tumba" for the largest, "conga" for the middle size and "quinto" for the smallest. You sometimes find an even smaller solo drum referred to as a "requinto" and the smallest conga of all is called a "Ricardo" conga which is about ashiko size and played to the player's side suspended from a shoulder strap. It was popularized in the band of Desi Arnaz in the 50s from which it more or less gets its name.

and also

Ben F. Jacoby's Introduction to the Conga Drum holds that the drums are called congas in English, but tumbadoras in Spanish. The drums, in order of size from largest to smallest, are the tumba, conga, quinto, the rare requinto, and the side-strap mounted ricardo.


I have read other references to the drum Dezi played, where it is described as a different shape than the modern ricardo which is basically a tiny conga, and there is a cool image of Dezi playing that drum somewhere else on the site, let me go find it.



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1188495070

[bongosnotbombs]

Dezi and his "Ricardo".
Check out Dezi's style there!



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1188494388

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... still.jpeg

[bongosnotbombs]

Modern "Ricardo"

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... icardo.jpg

[bongosnotbombs]

Interesting enough the few photos I have seen of Chano Pozo show him playing a similar or smaller size drum and played in a similar manner as Dezi Arnas



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1188501922

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... chano3.jpg

[bongosnotbombs]

another

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... chano2.jpg

[bongosnotbombs]

and this tiny drum. My best guess is Chano played these smaller drums to be able to cut through Dizzy Gilespie's big band.
I am sure Chano pozo had the ability to play any drum he wanted.
Perhaps if he had lived longer we would call these drums Chano's instead of Ricardo's :;):

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... -chano.jpg

[blango]

Although he is like a clown to me, Desi really did set the stage for the Mambo craze in NY. He made being Cuban cool, as opposed to how Americans looked at forigners at the time.

Perhaps thats why Tito Puente did the whole 'clown' act, with toung hanging out and all

Tony



Edited By blango on 1188514283

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... -desi1.jpg

[JohnnyConga]

Hello Blango.....with all due respect how old are you?....Im 59 and a historian on Latin music especially from NYC.....Desi Arnaz had NOTHING to do with the "Mambo" craze, nothing.... I only wish that before words are put here on musical history, that one would do their homework first...."Mr. Babalu" was none other than the GREAT MIGUELITO VALDES....Desi stole the whole thing from him....Desi Arnaz claim to fame is not as a musician but as a "business man" and the creator of the use of "3 cameras" for televison...He couldn't play congas, at all...he "faked it to make it!"...as they say...and he did....Now Chano Pozo was THE MAN who brought the Conga drum to America with Dizzy. He was a composer,arranger, rumbero, and suppossedly a "palero"....it is typical in Cuba to carry a drum over the shoulder during Carnival time with the "comparsas"....Desi did not invent that either....Chano played whatever drums were availble to him especially when his were stolen on a gig in North Carolina, it is after that incident Chano left Dizzy and the band there, because he didnt' like "racism" at that time, went back to NYC, and this is the time where he was shot and killed in a bar by an irate "pot" dealer who Chano earlier in the day punched out on the street for selling him "bad" weed.....now that is the Truth!....."JC" Johnny Conga....

[OLSONGO]

JC Amen.

Correct me if I am wrong, I heard that in New York someone lit his hands on fire because of envy.

Paz Olsongo

[bongosnotbombs]

There is no doubt Chano was the real deal, and Desi was more of an entertainer, he could sing, dance and of course is best known as a comedian, not to mention being a pretty handsome and charismatic guy, though he is always portayed as a musician.

I've also heard he played with Xavier Cugat?

though there is a lot of footage of him as a bandleader, it's probably more of an act.

I never meant to imply that Desi invented carrying a drum on a sling. I was simply remarking on the similarities in Chano's and Desi's photo's.

Still it's Desi that got the drum named after him, it's still known as the Ricardo.



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1188597826

[blango]

Gee JC,

I know Desi coulnt play the congas. Of course he didnt. did i say that? I said he 'set the stage'

He was an actor.

The point i was trying to make:

Desi along with Carmen Miranda popularized being latin. (Tito Puente did not, however, adopt the fruit basket on the head idea.)

And by being on TV, they led to the acceptance of Mambo by white people with money. That was the key to the whole 'craze'.

From what i heard, Carmen ripped on the congas :laugh:

Tony, 39 but not single

[blango]

By the way,

Since you are an expert,

Please share with us the names of the three Abakua drums, if you will.

Tony