congaplace.com

Posted: **Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:23 pm**

Hello, does anyone out there know how to play a ballenato on congas? Can anyone show me how is done? Does anyone have a mp3 sample? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Also does anyone know of a conga teacher in miami that knows a few colombian rhythms? Cumbia, ballenato and other rythms?
Thanks!

Posted: **Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:03 pm**

If you were in Sydney Aus, Id show you what I play.. :p

Will try and get it uploaded for you when I get home.

Posted: **Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:19 pm**

For a teacher that might know some Vallenato rhythms on congas go to FIU perc. dept. and look up "POCHO" he is Alex Acuna's nephew and plays drums as well as all perc. Tell him I said Que Pasa?......"JC" Johnny Conga....

Posted: **Fri Dec 03, 2004 5:34 pm**

Saludos Net,JC and Abakua, don't get discourage,the Vallenato(got the name becouse is comming from (El 'Valle de Colombia'), but also you need to learn,Porro,Cumbion,Merecumbe,Paseo,Gaita,etc.The percussion pattern is one of the less complicated in the latino music,but it is very spicy when put it together with La cadencia(articulation) of the Bass,the Accordion, Maracon and tambora/or timbales.I learned with Foncho Castellar which was the king of the Vallenato in Houston at that time.

Edited By zaragemca on 1102096285

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:01 pm**

Thanks guys. I would love to learn a modern 3 conga version of the ballenato so if anyone has something to share please let me know.
Thank you

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:22 pm**

Zaragemca, Vallenato comes from Valledupar, not El Valle. Here in Colombia, El Valle (del Cauca), is the Department (like a State in the US) where Cali is located. I believe Cali is well known to salseros, at least that was my impression in a topic where we discussed something about Vallenato, some months ago.
Nevertheless, Valledupar means Valle de Upar, so it isn't incorrect to say that Vallenato comes from El Valle: it just isn`t el Valle that everyone knows... at least in Colombia. :p.

Valledupar, a city in the Cesar Department, is well known for Vallenato (I believe it must mean something like "from Valledupar"), a rythm popularized with Carlos Vives, and I recently discovered that it should also be known for the beautiful women. Jejeje, at least I just met a beautiful one.

Good Luck!!!

Posted: **Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:31 pm**

Yes,dvon, that is my understanding Valle de Upar(even when I didn't mention the specific name of the Valle).My interest for that music start before the'raising of Carlos Vives',I got fire up with Los Corraleros de Majagual,Los Graduados,Los 8 de Colombia,Sonora Dinamita,Aniceto Molina,Foncho Castellar,etc.Also two of my percussion students went to Colombia and I have been in touch with them since.

Edited By zaragemca on 1102355816

Posted: **Tue Dec 07, 2004 7:42 am**

saludos dvon,

it's good to know that someone from Bogota is on this board. Though I live in San Francisco, I have very strong connections to Colombia for both business and personal reasons. And based on my travels, I do not doubt your statements about colombian women. :;):

Regarding the word, I believe the "nato" part of Vallenato comes from "nativo" or native. So, "vallenato" roughly would indicate something native of the valley. I have heard about the vallenato competition that they have in Valledupar. I hope to attend that someday in the future.

Actually, there has been strong interest among the people on this board regarding the ritmos of vallenato and the caja, but information has been difficult to find.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to learn the caja from the vallenato recordings that I have. Obviously, I cannot watch technique from a CD and often the caja sounds quitely in the background until it jumps out to accent the phrase. And as you know, the caja drum is quite different from a conga in size and shape. The technique ( the little bit that I remember from watching 3 person bands in Cartagena ) was different from the conga but I don't know the details.

Information has been difficult to find on the internet. If you know of any good information regarding the techniques of the drum and the ritmos, I would be very interested.

Also, I would be interested if you know a caja teacher in the Bogota area. It is possible that I will be taking a trip to Colombia in the next year.

hasta pronto....chao.

cjk

Edited By CongaCaja on 1102526606

Posted: **Tue Dec 07, 2004 7:48 pm**

In the Colombian music the new orchestras switched the tambor for the timbales and added a floor tom for the repiqueteo(tamboreo),which is the tecnique I teach in relation to that music, (which I got it from Marino,the ex-timbalero of Los Corraleros),and found out that others colombian timbaleros used the same tecnique,the same for the articulation of the congas which are played during the tamboreo(repiqueteo),the Guiro(or Maracon),the accordion and the Bass riffs.

Edited By zaragemca on 1102449193

Posted: **Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:05 am**

Hi Congacaja and Zaragemca:

I must confess that I´m not a fan of Vallenato music. It seems to me that Zaragemca knows a lot more about technique than myself. Recently I have been listening more to vallenato, but I must say that my interests are closer to afrocuban rythms. In the original vallenato setup there aren`t any timbales, though. I believe it is voice, acordeón and caja, and more recently a bass player is also part of the setup. Oh, I almost forgot the "guacharacha", which is a very important part of vallenato. I haven`t learn the caja patterns, but they don`t seem very difficult.

Congacaja let me know the dates you will be coming to Colombia. I can contact you with any teachers, and if possible I will also invite you to a vallenato "rumba" or party. I`m planning to go to next year's "Festival Vallenato", in Valledupar of course. Let me know if I can help you with anything.

Good Luck!

Posted: **Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:36 am**

dvon,

Hola otra vez....pues, my interests are in afro-cuban music as well, but that does not prevent me from having interest in vallenato and other music as well.

I imagine that my trip to Colombia will be several months from now ( tal vez octubre, mi novia es una colombiana que vive aca en San Francisco pero le extrana su pais ), but I will let you know. I would happy to attend a rumba/party of vallenato.

gracias y hasta pronto...

cjk

Posted: **Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:46 pm**

Congacaja,

Where is your girlfriend from? Just curious...
Well if your trip is in October, there's a chance that I will not be here, but in San Francisco... ironic, not

?

Anyway, if I'm still here, "la rumba vallenata sigue en pie", don't worry.

Good Luck!

Posted: **Fri Dec 17, 2004 4:57 am**

My girlfriend is from Bogota. I met her there via a peruvian friend (que vive en Bogota) while I was traveling on business...4 years ago. In the past, I was a computer consultant to companies such as GrupoAval, Deceval and others.

We in San Francisco and her sister lives with us as well. The rest of her family still lives in Bogota. Below is a link to some photos. You may recognize some of the locations :;):

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/vallenato64/my_photos

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/chjokr/my_photos

Let me know if you are going to be in SF and will let you know about our plans regarding Bogota

hasta pronto... cjk

Posted: **Fri Dec 17, 2004 8:19 pm**

Saludos,when I was playing with Foncho Castellar, the bass player was a girld from Bogota,but I also got to meet a few 'Calenas'.

congaplace.com

Ballenato on congas - Need to leard ballenato on congas