The bombo criollo, or simply bombo, is a family of

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s derived from the European

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

(also called in Spanish ''bombo'') and native Latin American drum traditions. These drums are of smaller dimensions than the orchestral bass drum, and their frame can be made of wood or steel. They can be held vertically or diagonally on the body or a stand. The specific make of the instrument depends on the regional tradition. In Argentina, the bombo criollo is called

bombo legüero Bombo legüero is an Argentine drum traditionally made of a hollowed tree trunk and covered with cured skins of animals such as goats, cows (leather) or sheep; ''legüero'' signifies that you can supposedly hear it a league away. It derives from t ...

and played in many folkloric styles. In Cuba, bombos are the largest drums played by the street comparsas in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. In other countries, the term tambora is commonly used. The bombo should not be confused with the Puerto Rican bomba, a genre of music played with hand drums called ''

barriles de bomba The barril de bomba is a traditional drum used in bomba music of Puerto Rico. The ''barriles de bomba'' are built from the wood of rum storage barrels and goatskin, adjusted with tourniquets, screws, cuñas or wedges. At least two drums are req ...

'' (bomba barrels), which are unrelated to the European bass drums.

Argentina

The bombo legüero is a common instrument in Argentine folk traditions such as zamba and chacarera. The body of the drum is made out of a hollowed tree trunk, and the head is made of animal skins.

Cuba

The bombo or tambora is the lowest drum used in ''

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

santiaguera'', the music of the street carnivals from Santiago de Cuba. They are tuneable, two-headed military drums introduced in the island by the Spanish settlers. In

tumba francesa Tumba francesa is a secular Afro-Cuban genre of dance, song, and drumming that emerged in Oriente, Cuba. It was introduced by slaves from the French colony of Saint-Domingue (which would later become the nation of Haiti) whose owners resettled ...

and

tahona Tahona, alternatively spelled tajona due to its pronunciation or taona, is a secular style of Afro-Cuban music developed in the 19th century in Santiago de Cuba after the arrival of Haitian slaves following the Haitian Revolution. It is named afte ...

, two styles imported into Oriente by Afro-Haitian slaves after the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...

, the bass drum (slightly smaller than the bombo) is called tambora, tamborita or tambuché.

Tamboras

In some Latin American countries the term tambora is used to refer to bombos criollos. Nonetheless, tamboras are generally wider than other bombos criollos, possibly being an adaptation of both European bass drums (''bombos'') and side drums (''redoblantes'').

Colombia and Panama

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, tamboras are used to play

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

. Traditionally, this kind of tambora is played with sticks and fixed on a stand.

Dominican Republic

In the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, tamboras are two-headed drums used in

merengue music Merengue is a type of music and dance originating in the Dominican Republic, which has become a very popular genre throughout Latin America, and also in several major cities in the United States with Latino communities. Merengue was inscribed ...

. They were traditionally made from salvaged rum barrels.

Mexico

Mexican tamboras have a diameter of 20 to 26 inches. There are two types of tambora in Mexican music: a traditional, with no cymbals, used in the folk ensembles ''tamborileros del norte'', ''violín y tambora'' and ''jaraberos'', and the one used en Mexican brass bands, as in '' banda sinaloense'', '' tamborazo zacatecano'' and ''

duranguense Duranguense is a genre of Regional Mexican music. It is a hybrid of Technobanda and Tamborazo. Its popularity peaked in the mid to late 2000s among the Mexican and Mexican American community in the United States, as well as in many parts of Mexi ...

'' which has a cymbal over the frame and a stand for the drum. A felt mallet is used to beat the drum.

Venezuela

The Venezuelan tambora is played in

gaita zuliana Gaita zuliana (often simply called "gaita") is a style of Venezuelan folk music (and dance) from Maracaibo, Zulia State. According to Joan Coromines, it may come from the word "''gaits''," the Gothic word for "goat", which is the skin generally us ...

. It is a one-headed drum played with sticks. The player can sit on it or put it between his or her legs to perform rhythms on the instrument, strucking the head, the rim or the body of the drum.

References

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External links

Colombian tamboraBombo in Cuban musicTambora in Mexican music
Drums Directly struck membranophones Central American and Caribbean percussion instruments North American percussion instruments South American percussion instruments