1. Clave orientation indicated by a single drum

Listen to the track:

Tumbao moderno with clave orientation, one drum, 154 bpm (2.9Mb)

This is similar to the tumbao moderno you've been using with one exception; the pattern alternates between a double open tone and a single open tone. The single open tone emphasises the ponché of the son clave 3-side. Therefore, the double open tones are played on the 2-side, and the single open tone on the 3-side.

Figure 6.1 Son clave orientation indicated by single conga

This pattern puts a lot of rhythmic weight on the ponché, and opens up quite a large pocket to use in the absence of the second open tone. You can get a sense of how strongly the ponché is emphasised when you listen to the tumbao variation in conjunction with the played son clave:

Son clave over tumbao moderno with clave orientation (conga), 154 bpm (2.9 Mb)

The simplification gives a conguero more latitude in the rhythmic positioning of the single open tone within the tumbao. It's up to you, the dancer, to decide the most appropriate way to emphasise or not the ponché, the space immediately following it, and how you'd progress the transition into the next bar.
 

2. Clave orientation indicated by two drums

Listen to the track:

Tumbao moderno with clave orientation, two drums, 154 bpm (4.2 Mb)

One bar of the pattern employs a standard tumbao which indicates the 2-side. The other bar has a pair of open tones played on the low drum incorporated just after the slap stroke indicating the 3-side.

Figure 6.2 Son clave orientation indicated by two congas

It's clear to see the strategy behind the 3-side pattern:

• the slap stroke accents the backbeat, providing a sonic contrast to
• the low open tone which adds weight to the bombó, immediately followed by
• another low open tone, which stabilises the rhythmic anticipation through the subtlety of similarity.

The tumbao flexes back to original form by returning to double open tones on the high drum.
 

Vocalising tumbaos
As a dancer, it is not necessary that you be able to play the congas, but it is an advantage at least to be conversant with the rhythms interpreted on the drums. Rhythms have been passed from percussionist to percussionist and dancer through an oral tradition that dates back to time immemorial. We, as dancers, can use this to learn the sounds of patterns without ever having to touch a drum.

All we have to do is equate specific vocal sounds the various strokes; and since there is no standard for this, here's an example I commonly use.

• The sounds for the main tones are:
  • pak or pahk for the slap stroke,
  • gung or guhng for the low open tone, and
  • ging or geeng for the high open tone.
     
• The softer 'filler' stokes are fru or tu (heel tone) and ku (toe tone), which are rhythmic placeholder tones played with the conguero's palm and fingers respectively.
   

Examples
A standard tumbao moderno thus sounds like:

fru - ku - pak - ku - fru - ku - ging - ging

And the two tumbaos above could be:

fru - ku - pak - ku - fru - ku - ging - ging
fru - ku - pak - ku - fru - ku - ging - ku

and;

fru - ku - pak - ku - fru - ku - ging - ging,
fru - ku - pak - guhng - guhng - ku - ging - ging

Try substituting the syllables until you're comfortable with what you've got. Compare your vocal tumbao to the tracks and you should find that, as you grow competent, the vocal version begins to 'breathe' better because it's being played by a person.

Try it to the slow tumbao tracks, and also to clave only. You'll get a real feel for what happens with the conga, and find that you can be inventive too; adding your own rhythmic accents. With this ancient powerful skill in hand, we can look forward to vocalising tumbao variants in Extras and in our other tutorials.