Switching from bongos to cowbell - When, where and why?

[120decibels]

I need some help from some experienced bongoceros here. I'm going to ask my teacher too, but I thought I might get a broad scope of opinions.

When, in the form of a typical salsa tune, is it appropriate to play bell instead of bongos? I've seen a lot of different people do different things, so I wanted to get some opinions.

The Salsa Guidebook says that it is appropriate to play bongos during the intro, verses and low voume solos (like piano), and to play bell during higher volume sections like brass solos. Does this sound correct? I've seen some bongoceros follow this approach, but others don't seem to.

Opinions? Experience? I've only recently gone into bongos in depth, so I am looking for a lot of advice.

Thanks,

Zach

[JohnnyConga]

Well first you know that every tune has a beginning a middle and and end. In Salsa music the bongo player usually goes to the Bell(campana) during the Montuno section. Also when there is a piano solo the bongo player drops bell and goes to bongos again. It also depends on the arrangement Some tunes might start out with you on the bell before going to bongos. Listen to "old skool" like Eddie Palmieri or Larry Harlow,or the Great Tony Fuentes with Ray Barretto 's band from the 70's. where the bongo players "stand out" in the music. ...At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA... MONGO LIVES!.....

[Raymond]

What is the tradition is what you have been told. However, the arranger of the song or the band leader or even the bongosero could give it a little twist once in awhile and do not follow the tradition.

When you are playing...the feel of the song will tell you what is appropriate...

[120decibels]

Guys,

Thanks for the replies.

Johnny,

I've been listening to a lot of Eddie Palmeiri's stuff. The bongos on those recordings are very clear and it's easy to hear when the bongocero switches to bell.

I've got a bias, but listening to Rumba Club is good example of how the bongo/bell transition is handled in a more jazz-oriented (new skool) setting. Check out "Espiritista" or "Radio Mundo" (thier last two albums).

Thanks again!

Zach

[JohnnyConga]

Raymond this is for you...If it is what I like to call, "disceplined improvisation" then it's cool, but a mambo is a mambo,and the way to play has not changed in over 50 years. Not that a "twist" wouldn't be welcomed, it's all about how you use it in the arrangement/where. Some cats may have a tendancy to "overplay" there instrument which can be a "detriment" to the "feel of the song",also.......At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA.... MONGO LIVES!

[Raymond]

Got you Johnny. I agree with you. However, there is the ocassional situation when is done otherwise. The arranger and players have to do with it or who knows what happens in the studio. (Hey...some people like to break tradition or what is expected...from an artistic standpoint sometimes is called brilliant and sometimes is called stupidity or lack of tradition. Depends on the eye of the beholder).

A good example for this....and from the old school...Tito Puente's "Cuando te Vea" in the chorus and mambo there is no bongo cowbell playing. The bongosero is on bongos all the way. Some people might agree that the song lacks punch because of no cowbell. Nevertheless, I agree the song tempo allows it and does not miss the song's swing.... But that is an exception.... The later version by Bobby Valentin, that keeps practically the same arrangement, has the bongosero playing the cowbell in the chorus and mambo.

Saludos!

[RitmoBoricua]

Hi, you got something there. In the old days for the most part the bongosero stayed on the bongo the entire song. Now when the bongo bell was introduced just change the dynamics of the music big time. Nowdays you have songs that begin with the bongosero on the cowbell from the get go and sometimes don't even have to switch to the bongo the entire song. I am one that believe the bongo bell adds lots of punch, I could not comprehend hearing for example "El Gran Combo" tune with no bongo bell, such a key factor.

[JohnnyConga]

I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT ANY BETTER GUYS.......JC JOHNNY CONGA....

[Yonatan Bar Rashi]

An unmentioned reason (here) for switching to the cowbell is safety - bongos are often tuned high and rock-hard. To play only bongos all night can be dangerous - mostly to the bloodstream - because slaps pop the red blood cells flowing through your fingers, especially in bongos - held in a low position and forcing hands to swell.

I read in some doctors' encyclopedia that some professions show higher risk for anemia (weakened bloodstream), and bongo players were one of them.

Don't mean to scare anyone, just thought this might be one non-musical reason to switch off on the bell.

[pini]

Hi yonatan ,
Please contact me if u can :

pinhasab@post.tau.ac.il

pini.

[120decibels]

I always thought that anemia was a condition that resulted from low iron content in the blood? Am I wrong?

Maybe the solution is to buy the bongocero a steak!


Zach

[JohnnyConga]

BONGO PLAYING CAUSES ANEMIA???...now I've heard it all...put me to rest.......please people where do you get this stuff? Now i've pissed blood after 9 hours of jamming in Central park cause I strained my kidneys playing. But anemia?......Oh lordy lordy lordy...At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA....

[RitmoBoricua]

Hi. I do not think old timers that have played bongos forever and a day like Candido, Patato, Jack Contanzo, Manny Oquendo, Ray Romero and others have not done that bad after all and their playing is anything but anemic.

[yoni]

Hi Johnny C. and others,

Johnny, I'm pretty sure that peeing blood after lots of hard playing has nothing to do with straining our kidneys.

I've also heard that explanation, but it just ain't so.

We don't play with our kidneys - red blood cells get popped in the blood vessels in our hands during lots of hard playing, and the dead blood cells are expelled through the urine - this is what causes "peeing blood".

If blood is peed often, it's bad news. Like I said, anemia is a weakened conditon of the bloodstream. The red blood cells contain the iron, so anemia can also mean iron-poor blood.

But there are several kinds of anemia, some hereditary and some brought on by lots of high impact where red blood cells are broken, as in boxing, or as in over-hard hand drumming.

Sure the old masters' playing is anything but "anemic", though it's also true they don't hit as hard as they did when they were younger. And for good reason.

If anyone pees blood after lots of playing, I recommend lightening up the touch, learning advanced techniques like double rolls instead of singles (doubles are faster and lighter) and in performance making sure you are WELL-MIKED so you don't have to hit as hard.

It's possible to play intensely without going nuts in volume and breaking too many red blood cells.

All the best,
yoni
(Yonatan Bar Rashi)

[120decibels]

Johnny,

Now I'VE heard it all!!!! YOU PLAYED SO HARD YOU PISSED BLOOD? :0


This forum never ceases to amaze me. All I wanted to know was when to switch from the bongos to the bell. Now I know that some people think you can become anemic from playing and that Johnny has pissed blood. Unreal!

Zach