I’m honored. The guy I studied with in college is Puerto Rican … Jose Aponte. He played with Batacumbele years ago. I am very fortunate to have studied for so long with someone who grew up with this music and could perform and teach it so well.

I'm glad you liked it, Ryan.

@@RhythmNotes I am sorry if I am intrusive or obtuse, but what tones should I tune the bongos to?

You got it!

Glad you enjoyed it

You’re welcome!

Thanks Matt. That's quite the compliment. I was fortunate enough to study with two teachers who are really good drum set players and equally as amazing with Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion -- Jose Aponte and Norm Bergeron.

I loved my time at UNT. It’s always good to connect with a fellow alum.

Glad it was helpful!

That's great!

It's a Shure PG81 in a dry room. I also use EQ and a little compression.

I always thought the same.

@@RhythmNotes I watched a video of Luis Conte describing how songo conga playing is a hybrid of a marcha tumbao with a bongo Martillo to compensate for when there’s no bongo player. Then I saw a video by Ignacio Barrera explaining that Songo drumming is a combination of different Afro-Cuban elements (Congas, Bongos, & Timbales). So my theory is that Songo drumkit grooves are adaptations of a Songo conga adaptations based on salsa bongo/conga tumbaos.

You are on the right track. The thing about Afro-Cuban music is that the truth comes from your teacher, and there are a lot of different teachers with different ideas. I follow the Changuito teachings when it comes to songo because he developed it into the next evolution of Cuban popular dance music with Los Van Van. He also has a songo instructional video that's really good.

Glad it was helpful!

It's 2:3 ... if you haven't seen this video, it's a good jam to hear how bongoceros incorporate the accents into improvisation and interaction with other percussionists. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rZ2haKeQ0rnPh5c.htmlsi=rZFrf4Enbt56LN9K

That's a good question. The technique and sounds are different, but the rhythmic knowledge and feel is the same, particularly with the traditional music. I found that the strength I developed from stick drumming and conga drumming helped a lot with bongo, but I'm not sure that developing bongo technique would help on congas. Bongo is often more satisfying for beginners because it's a little easier to sound good. Plus, it's less of a financial investment up front. But suggestion is to do both if you have the time.

@@RhythmNotes Thanks for answering my question.

I dont think it matters which one you start with. You will still have to learn the technique of the other. The musical language does translate very easily from one instrument to the other, but the applications tend to differ due to the limitations and strengths of each one.

That’s the one

Besides martillo and this accent pattern, it' a lot of improvisation. But the improvisation borrows a lot from rumba licks and common Afro-Cuban improv ideas.

Slower than the breakdown at 01:54 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lbRlfbxjybKucas.html ?