Listen to the Bongo drum
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the Bongo drum makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the Bongo drum belongs to the struck drums: a stretched membrane (drumhead) is struck with hands or beaters.
More broadly it is one of the membranophones (drums), where sound comes from a vibrating stretched membrane.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
Bongos (Spanish: bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger hembra (lit. 'female') and the smaller macho (lit. 'male'), which are joined by a wooden bridge. They are played with both hands and usually held between the legs, although in some cases, as in classical music, they may be played with sticks or mounted on stands.
Bongos are mainly employed in the rhythm section of son cubano and salsa ensembles, often alongside other drums such as the larger congas and the stick-struck timbales. In these groups, the bongo player is known as bongosero (or bongocero) and often plays a continuous eight-stroke pattern called martillo (lit. 'hammer') as well as more rhythmically free parts, providing improvisatory flourishes and rhythmic counterpoint.
Other struck drums
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bongo drum sound like?
Listen to 1 recording on this page. As one of the struck drums, its sound comes from the way a stretched membrane (drumhead) is struck with hands or beaters.
What type of instrument is the Bongo drum?
It is classified as struck drums (Hornbostel–Sachs 211.251.2).
Sources & credits
- Bongo (Antti Luode) by Antti Luode – CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q243998 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Bongo drum – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image – CC BY-SA 3.0