Keeping The Beat - Why Percussion Is The Foundation Of A Band

Anything you find that you can thump on and create a sound is percussion. Hitting two sticks together creates a percussion beat. Finding items to thump on is quite easy. Based upon this, prehistoric cultures also used percussion instruments. The history of percussion is primarily associated with military groups that date back to 700 AD. Around the middle of the 15th century, Turkish military bands included triangles, cymbals and larger drums, which gave a variety to the sound of the percussion.

Percussion is a crucial element in any musical group. Although there are some musical bands that do not include percussion elements, this is very rare. Percussion drives the rhythm and beat of music. This is a necessary element for keeping the musicians on beat. Percussion instruments are among the earliest known instruments. They play a role in almost every ancient culture. Today, a large variety of percussion instruments is available.

Bongo Percussion (drum): People think of the bongos as a toy. Bongos have a rich ethnic history. Bongos were produced in the late 1800s in Cuba. In the 1940s and 1950s, the bongos surfaced as the leading sound for the beat generation. During this period famous bongo drummers gained commercial success.

Conga Drum (percussion): The conga drum came from Africa. Conga is also called the Tumbadora. The conga is a successor of a conical shaped drum of “Makuta.� The conga has gone through several changes since it was first created. Today's congas are more round and made of fiberglass. The original conga was made from wood.



Conga heads were made from rawhide. Rawhide is still the most accepted material for heads, but today, synthetic heads are also available. Originally, the skinheads were nailed to the wooden shell. Before each presentation the nailed heads were heated by a brazier to achieve the preferred tension. Today, the skin is held in place by a series of rings and tuning lugs, which serve to adjust the tension.

Three conga head sizes arrived on the scene from the conical African drum. The name of the head sizes gives insight to that drum's functions.

Quinto - this is a high pitched, small head conga. It is the drum played by soloists. The quinto is used to drum a melody; to emphasize; to sing, laugh, and cry.

Conga - this is the mid-range, medium head conga. The percussionist uses this drum to play the middle parts of three-part rhythms. This is the most useful size. It can be used to play high drum and low drum parts.

Tumbadora (Tumba) - This is the low-pitched, large head conga. The percussionist uses this to play the low drum rhythm parts.

When the conga first became popular with conga players (congeros), they would play only one drum at a time. For this reason, the players were experts in their parts. As the percussionists developed and mastered conga playing skill the music and rhythm, planning grew with increasing difficulty. Within this progress, the percussionists began playing two and three drums at the same time.

Djembe Drum (Percussion): The Djembe is named from the Djem tree. In making the djembe, the shell would be carved in one piece, in the shape of a goblet. It would have two open ends out of a large section of a Djem tree. On the larger open end, an animal skin was stretched to the top. This was held in place by a special tightening procedure using rope. The method has not changed too much today, except many djembes use lugs instead of rope for tightening.

The time-honored African way to play the Djembe is by standing. A harness strap helps hold up the drum and the lower section of the drum rests between the legs. The percussionist uses both hands to play the Djembe but the legs are also vital for balancing and controlling the instrument. It is also customary to play Djembe while sitting down. The percussionist's legs wrap around or the shell for control. The Djembe create a range of percussive sounds. It may have the widest range of sound of all hand drums. People around the world admire the djembe for its healing rhythm and power to make people dance.