Download or read book Conga Oriental written by Richard Opheim and published by Okamehachimoku Media. This book was released on 2020-02-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conga oriental is the version of the conga that has existed in Santiago de Cuba since the second decade of the 20th century and afterwards in Guantánamo. The instruments of the conga oriental, treated in Part I, can be divided into four classes: aerophones (cornetas chinas), idiophones (campanas), bimembranophones (bombos or tamboras), and unimembranophones (bocues). Part II introduces ensemble playing and covers such diverse topics as entradas, efectos, marching formation, tempo, and ensemble tuning. The conga ensemble is known principally for playing the eponymous conga toque, but other toques, namely toque masón and concierto, are also described. Finally, there is a chapter on how the conga oriental is played by various professional folkore groups. Part III is a short essay on the conga song. The two principal points of analysis are song structure with emphasis on the AABB structure unique to the conga and a theoretical grouping of conga songs according to provenance. Short histories, ensemble scores, and diagrams of the marching formation of the ten principal congas of Guantánamo and Santiago are reproduced in Part IV. Part V concerns itself with such wider topics as the congueros and the milieu in which they perform, including most importantly the Carnavales of eastern Cuba. The last chapter gives a brief resumé of the general history of the conga oriental.