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A street carnival scene in Cuba. The first African drums were heard in Cuba, since the 16th century, only during the celebration of certain feasts, such as the Día de Reyes (Three Kings Day) and Carnestolendas or Carnival, because their use was restricted to some mutual aid societies, called "Cabildos de nación", where enslaved Africans and their descendants were allowed to gather and ...
Conga drums are classified according to their size, which correlates to their pitch: larger drumheads have a lower pitch and vice versa. Originally, drums were tuned by adjusting knots and tension ropes on the drumhead, or, more commonly, where the drum heads were tacked or nailed to the top of the shell, by careful heating of the head.
Religious traditions of African origin have survived in Cuba, and are the basis of ritual music, song and dance quite distinct from the secular music and dance. The religion of Yoruban origin is known as Lucumí or Regla de Ocha ; the religion of Congolese origin is known as Palo , as in palos del monte . [ 11 ]
“The fact that the modern Cuban bokú originates and is found only in the cities of Oriente, permits one to suppose that the bokú, 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 ...
The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. [1] Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban music is often considered one of the richest and most influential regional music in the world.
Cabildos were institutions that made possible the conservation of the idiosyncrasy, religion and culture of the African nations in Cuba. The songs, dances, and drum rhythms that were played for African deities in a land that was so hostile to the Africans slaves were the mechanism by which slaves were able to keep alive their Africanness and ...
Makuta drummers from Sagua la Grande, Cuba, 1947. Makuta drums are tall cylindrical or barrel-shaped Afro-Cuban drums, often cited as an important influence on the development of the tumbadora or conga drum. They are used in sacred dance-drumming ceremonies associated with the descendants of slaves brought to Cuba from Central Africa.
Among the most important ones we should mention the Claves, the Bongo drum and the Conga, derived from original African instruments; as well as the Tres, a descendant of the Spanish Laúd. There are also others less well known folk instruments such as the Tingo-Talango or Tumbandera , the botija and the Marímbula, a sort of African Mbira.