hatian compa - any patterns

[rumbaman]

Hey rumberos all the blessings to you all . Does anyone have any good patterns of hatian compa. I know it sounds like merengue but i know its not . Help me please .

rumbaman

[Sakuntu]

Here is the basic conga pattern for Konpa:
o=open
t=touch (closed tone for time keeping purposes)
b=bass

1)Basic 2 bar pattern for Konpa:
1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a
oo tb t b t booooo tb t booooooo

2)Popular Variation:
1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a
bo tb t b t booobo tb t booobooo

Please note that contrary to cuban music where the conga is the main drum, in Konpa the main drum is the tumba. This rhythm should be played on a tumba with the conga used only for fills. A common fill is 16th note triplets starting in the second measure on beat 3 and ending on beat 4 (all open slaps)

Again contrary to cuban music where the congas have a prominent role in the rhythm section, the role of the congas in konpa is mainly to give "feel" to the music. The main instrument is the drumset (primarily the cymbal)

Becuase konpa is not known for its great congueros there are no "greats" that I can tell you about. From my 14 years of listening to konpa I'd have to say that the best older konpa conguero I've heard is Yves Joseph of "Tabou Combo" (check out their album 8ieme Sacrement or Respect ) and the best new school konpa congero is Shabba of "Djakout Mizik" (check out their album Manneguita) Again This is just my opinion. Hope this info helps.

Toujou Sou Konpa!

[dannydrumperc]

We used to play these in the band I was in:

conga: OOHF SFOF SFOO OOOO | OOHF SFOF SFOF OFOO *
cowbell: X--X X--- X-X- X--- |X--X X--- X-X- X---
hi-hats: C-CC -CO- C-CC -CO- | C-CC -CO- C-CC -CO- **

* O = open tone; H = heel stroke; F = finger stroke; S = slap
** C = closed; O = open

[Sakuntu]

This ones for "tout fanatik konpa" (all the konpa fans out there), I've been working with playing the Konpa cowbell pattern (or "Gong" as they say in Kreyol) with my feet while playing the above konpa rhythms on tumba. try it out- its a good coordination exercise thats challenging but not too hard. Heres the cowbell pattern:

1a2a3a4a1a2a3a4a
x xx x x x

the gong player in konpa also plays a floor tom muffled with a towel on beat 4 in both bars as he's playing the cowbell. maybe if I get another foot pedal and and a small heavily muffled kick drum....Then I'd be Richie gajate garcia (el pulpo!)