The art of playing tres-dos

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Re: The art of playing tres-dos

Postby jorge » Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:35 pm

I found a great example of tres-dos and tumbador talking, although it goes way beyond a two way conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mishzIeYORY

Forget transcribing anything. This is about everyone knowing each other and playing together all the time for most of their lives, rumba, guiro, bata, abakua, cajon, conga, etc. Maximino was a major influence in training all of them and when he calls on the tumbador, whether open notes, bass or cajon, Freddy can answer back without stepping on what is coming. Likewise, Maximino answers Freddy too, it is not just the tumbador calling, it is a melody by both of them without playing on top of each other. And they are both responding to Fariñas' song and Barbarito on quinto too. Of course having Lazaro on guagua, Adonis on clave and coro with Gato and Yosvany on coro too adds even more solidity to the rhythm. They are in another league, leagues (you could say "siete leguas") beyond us. But we can appreciate them as the masters they all are, and be amazed at their music. And Fariñas gave us a shout out too at the end. Ibae bayen tonu.
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Re: The art of playing tres-dos

Postby Thomas Altmann » Wed Jul 20, 2022 6:53 am

Dear Jorge,

it took a while to answer you, sorry. And thanks for the link!

The overall feeling I got from your post was: As long as you aren't Cuban, don't even try to meet the demands for playing modern rumba. I don't think that was your intention, and I can assure you, I wouldn't have accepted that for discouragement.

It may have become clear through several of my postings that I am not a big fan of too much percussive activity behind the quinto, and I don't really like guarapachangueo either. Not that it would matter in any way; like almost everything in the world today, things have now taken an opposite direction, and it is me who has to come to terms with the resulting situation. That said, I actually like the interplay on the clip you recommended; it seems to be about leaving space, which, I think, is a fine premise and a concept that works. I like the technique of the quinto player. He, too, is constantly aware of the ensemble movement, an "equal rights" movement, so to say.

I believe it is this attitude of constant mutual awareness that, while playing along, leads to a performance like this. I don't hear any conscious responding to the singer or to the quinto from Maximino or Freddy. They are just playing along, trying to make their strokes fit on the way, and due to the tuning of the drums, their interaction can be perceived as independent from the rest of the ensemble. Their office is in the same building, but on a different floor, with the quinto reacting as much to them as vice versa. And often enough they are pulling off their stuff with little regard to the other departments.

It is pretty obvious that these guys have shared a lot of common playing experience. Which is always an asset.

From your remark "There are some tres dos calls but the tumbador has to know how to answer and a lot don't", or from Edgardo Cambon's video on Guaguancó https://youtu.be/Qbi-JgS5FnU (from ca. 25:00 onward, especially from 28:00) and other resources (like the one I embedded a couple of posts earlier), one might gain the impression that there is a fixed set of clearly defined calls, to be answered with a obligatory response from the other drummer. Meaning, if you don't know the correct matching response pattern to any given call, you are a rumba dummie.

What you are suggesting now, is that the conversations are not based on predesigned patterns but rather on an improvised interplay that doesn't draw from a defined repertory. And that this improvised interplay can only be achieved by working together regularly for many years. This coincides with what Cristobal Larrinaga told me about Ñongo batá conversations, and my comparison with Dixieland collectives in jazz.

I have listened to some high-level rumba recordings where alleged calls were never responded in any way. They just stood there alone as some kind of variation. So I guess, you can optionally respond to a variation of the other drummer with some variation from your side that you think might fit, but you don't have to. And you are not a complete dodo if you don't. Would you agree with that?

In general, I don't believe that Cubans are per se better people or even just better musicians than anyone else. The only thing they have ahead of us is being Cuban, which is no particular merit. If I cannot play something, I don't resort to the excuse that I'm not Cuban. I have basically been playing Cuban music since 1979. Many well-known Cuban drummers that we (including myself) admire were not even born then. If they play better than you or me, it is for three reasons: (1) They happen to be born in a country where music in general, and drumming in particular, is not disregarded, but taken very seriously; (2) They are exposed to Cuban music on a daily basis from their birth on (and even before), so there is a clear focus; (3) Except for watching telenovelas (preferrably two at a time) there just isn't any better way to spend your time than hanging out and playing with your friends and checking out new licks together. And before Corona and the currency reform young drummers had time galore. (Now they may be standing in cues for hours to get something to eat.)

Omar Rodríguez Calvo, a bass player from Matanzas who is living in Germany, told me the same: He had spent months and years just trying out new things with his mates on piano and percussion. Then there is this competitive spirit.

Many Cuban drummers may plainly be more talented than me; O.K. - granted. I have known drummers from everywhere who could play rings around me. But not each and every Cuban drummer is by nature a hero or demi-god. If they had to deal with various other styles of music, or even do a job like you (if they ever had a chance), their folklore drumming would sound different. Whatever you do the most, you are doing best. John Amira once told me about a famous quinto player in NYC who couldn't even play a solid marcha in a salsa band.

What I want to say is: Cuban drummers are not super-human. If they play the way they do, then there may be a very simple reason for it. I don't want to waste my time with endless cotows to Cubans, while I should better see to get my own stuff together as a musician. As Hermann Hesse said: Even writing you own inferior poems is still better than reading the masterworks of someone else.

Thomas
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