Bongo drum: Difference between revisions

Bongo drums are about {{convert|20|cm|inch|0}} high and have diameters of approximately {{convert|20|cm|inch|0}} and {{convert|25|cm|inch|0}}.<ref name="BEPM">{{cite book |last1=Wacker |first1=Jonathan |title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Volume II: Performance and Production |date=2003 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9780826463227 |editor1-last=Shepherd |editor1-first=John |location=London, UK |page=351 |language=en |chapter=Bongo drums |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJvzEzjahkQC&pg=PA351}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Warden |first=Nolan |title=Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313087943 |editor-last1=Torres |editor-first1=George |pages=52–53 |language=en |chapter=Bongó |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MX5BXxjwV9cC&pg=PA52}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ortiz |first1=Fernando |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXpdAAAAMAAJ |title=Nuevo catauro de cubanismos |date=1985 |publisher=Editorial de Ciencias Sociales |page=82 |language=es |author1-link=Fernando Ortiz Fernández}}</ref> The shells of the drums and the bridge (the small block that joins them) are usually made of wood, although fiberglass is also common. The heads are typically made of [[calfskin]] and attached to the shells via steel hardware that enables their tuning (lug tuning). Originally, metal tacks were used, so the skins had to be tightened by heating the skins with a flame and loosened with water or by striking them vigorously.<ref name="BEPM" /><ref name="Lapidus" /> This method of tuning is still used for the traditional bongos used in changüí. Therefore, Fernando Ortiz places the original bongó in the category of ''tambores de candela'' (flame-tuned drums), along with [[bokú]], [[yuka (music)|yuka]], [[conga]], [[Bembe (membranophone)|bembé]] and smaller drums, since these were all tuned with the flame of an oil lamp.{{sfn|Ortiz|1953|p=244}}