A pair of small Afro-Cuban single-headed drums with conical or cylindrical hardwood shells; one of the main drum types of Cuba, smaller than the tumbadora. They are classified as membranophones: struck drums. Bongos are made from hollowed tree-trunks. The shells, which are joined together horizontally, are of the same height but of different diameters. The heads (membrane or plastic material) are nailed or, in the tunable version, screw-tensioned, in which case the drums – invariably a pair – are tuned to clear high-sounding notes at least a 4th apart. In general, bongos are played with the bare hands, the fingers striking the heads like drumsticks.
Created in Cuba around 1900 to answer the needs of small ensembles, bongos remain integral instruments in Latin-American dance bands, rumba bands and jazz and pop bands. Here it is usual for the player to position the large drum to the right, a common practice in the history of drumming. Great virtuosity is possible, the players obtaining numerous subtle effects of tone control, including glissandos, by pressure from the fingertips, flat fingers and butt of the hand.
Many composers have included bongos in their scores, e.g. Varèse, Ionisation (1929–31); Orff, Astutuli (1953); and Boulez, Le marteau sans maître (1953–5, rev. 1957). Some have used sets larger than the basic pair: Boulez called for a run of six in Pli selon pli (1959–62) and a run of four in Figures–Doubles–Prismes (1963). With the development of sets of ‘concert toms’ (a sequence of eight single-headed drums from 15 cm to 41 cm in diameter) composers began to use them in place of bongos, as the sound is similar (see Tom-tom).
JAMES BLADES/JAMES HOLLAND