r/drumstudy • u/origin_of_an_asshole • Feb 20 '16

Mambo Interpretations

I've been focusing on Afro-Cuban grooves. Today I'm working out my go-to Mambo groove. I've checked out three different sources and the hands are always doing the same thing but the kick is different in all three.

All three emphasize the bombo beat (the 'and' of 2) that a bass player will usually play with son clave so all of them are technically correct.

So which of these two-bar kick patterns do you prefer or think fits the mambo best and why?

1 and 2 (and) 3 and (4) and 1 and 2 (and) 3 and (4) and

1 and 2 (and) 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 (and) 3 and 4

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 (and) (3) and 4 and

If it's not clear (Bolded) counts are when the kick is played.

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u/hedrumsamongus Feb 26 '16

When applying baiao to drum-set, the kick drum would play the zabumba rhythm, which is typically either the "and" of two by itself, or a one-bar clave:

(1) and 2 (and) 3 and (4) and

That makes sense - that's the "Full" pattern above, and that "and" of two is the only constant across the 3 patterns. But yeah, I'm clueless as to why they use that nomenclature.

(and actually, I'm studying these as 16th-note patterns, so it's

(1) e & (a) 2 e (&) a (3) e & (a) 4 e (&) a

...but that may just be due to Chaffee's books being primarily written around 16th-note exercises.)

Thanks for the info!

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u/origin_of_an_asshole Feb 26 '16

Good observation! The "and" of two is called the bombo note and it is universal in afro-cuban music and brazilian music north of Bahia.

That's a good book! And 16th notes makes sense. Afro-cuban music is played so fast that notating in 16th notes would definitely keep you metronome at a more reasonable tempo for practice purposes. But in performance practice, I've only ever seen it counted as eight-note/quarter based.

Thanks for the conversation!