ENJOY ABOUT THE CONGAS

The conga is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum of African origin, probably derived from the Congolese Makuta drums.

The Conguero ~ Mario Flores

A person who plays conga is called a "conguero".

Although ultimately derived from African drums made from hollowed logs, the Cuban conga is staved, like a barrel. These drums were probably made from salvaged barrels originally.

The Latin Rumba Dance

They were used both in Afro-Caribbean religious music and as the principal instrument in Rumba. Congas are now very common in Latin music, including salsa music, as well as many other forms of American popular music.

Most modern congas have a staved wooden or fiberglass shell, and a screw-tensioned drumhead. They are usually played in sets of two to four with the fingers and palms of the hand. Typical congas stand approximately 75 cm from the bottom of the shell to the head.

The drums may be played while seated. Alternatively, the drums may be mounted on a rack or stand to permit the player to play while standing.

Because congas are an understudied instrument, opinions vary on the names of the drums. Although they originated in Cuba, their incorporation into the popular and folk music of other countries has resulted in diversification of terminology for the instruments and the players. A sampling of current conga websites finds the following:

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.

The Conga Page at Rhythm Web agrees with the congas vs. tumbadoras terminology.

Music of Puerto Rico refers to the drums only as congas, but gives the names as tumba for the largest, niño for the smallest, and does not provide names for the two middle drums.

Alex Pertout's The Conga Drum: an Introduction points out that the names for the individual drums vary even in Cuba, and gives the names of three drums: tumbadora (largest), conga or segundo (middle), and quinto (smallest).

The Glossary Of Latin Music Terms agrees with tumba / conga / quinto, but defines the extra super quinto drum, smaller than the quinto. The term tres golpes may also be used for the conga.

Artdrum.com's History of Conga Drums also agrees with the terms tumba / conga / quinto, but allows the synonyms segundo (for conga) and tumbadora or salidor (for tumba).

Poncho Sanchez, in his Conga Cookbook, added a drum below the tumba, which he called the supertumba.

Conga players are called congueros, while rumberos refers to those who dance following the path of the players.

The term conga was popularized in the 1950s, when Latin music swept the United States.

Cuban son and New York jazz fused together to create what was then termed mambo, but later became known as salsa.

In that same period, the popularity of the Conga Line helped to spread this new term.

Desi Arnaz also played a role in the popularization of conga drums. However, the drum he played (which everyone called a conga drum at the time) was similar to the type of drum known as boku used in his hometown, Santiago de Cuba.

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.