by jorge » Sat Jul 28, 2012 12:03 am
Most Cubans in the US and in Cuba use floor toms or other similar commercially made drums, with a strap around the neck so you can muffle the skin with one hand and play while walking. Even Afrocuba de Matanzas used a floor tom for their bombo when they came to the US. At the rumbas in La Esquina Habanera and in the Cuban day parade in Union City we used a floor tom with a tympani mallet for a bombo in the conga de comparsa. The guy playing bombo really knows how to play it and it sounded great on the floor tom. We used a tumbadora for rebajador, but there are different size bombo drums that are sometimes used for that part in comparsas in Cuba. Very few Afrocuban rumberos and bataleros really know how to play bombo well, not to mention non-Cuban drummers. There are a lot of bombo patterns and variations, and playing the bombo part right is critical to making the conga de comparsa sound like a real conga. The key is the drummer not the drum.
True bombo drums are very rare in the US. Several years ago, Rogelio Kindelan (Ñoño) had a few from Santiago that he brought to the Humboldt Afrocuban workshop, and that he uses for performances. If he still has them and you can track him down, he might be willing to sell you one, but it will probably be very expensive since he would have to get another one made in Santiago and then go get it. He is up at Humboldt right now, and I think he is based in the Bay area. I don't know of any US drum artisans who make or have made bombo drums, and finding and mounting good skins is not trivial. You are best off buying a floor tom, learning to play bombo on that and if you really get into it and have enough people in your group of rumberos who can play the other parts, over the next few years look around to find a real bombo in the US or in Cuba. Learn to play bombo on a tom and it will be easy to transfer that to a real bombo when you can get one.
Short of going to Cuba, your best bet would be to go to Humboldt next year, assuming Ñoño will be teaching again, and get him to show you some parts. Or track him down during the year and take some classes with him, this year I don't think he taught Conga Santiaguera at Humboldt. There may be someone in LA who really knows how to play bombo and conga Habanera, is Cusito still there? The conga de comparsa Santiaguera really rocks, and the parts including the bombo part are very different from those from the conga Habanera. You need to learn the other parts too so you can really feel how they all fit together and how the bombo fits in.