Now I Know What I Want To Do!

A buddy of mine in New York plays trumpet in salsa bands, and he posted this video of a gig he'd recently played.

He's the trumpet player on the far left.

I've always loved that music, but salsa doesn't use drum set. As I was watching this I thought, "Man, that timbale player is playing some hip stuff," And then it hit me: Maybe I'd like to do that.

I tried the bodhran, I really gave it a go, but I found it to be so counter-intuitive to me that I just couldn't get the hang of it. It is, to me, unplayable.

But playing a drum with a stick, that's something I do know a bit about.

I just keep thinking about that timbale player on Chris's video. You have to admit that it would be a hell of a lot of fun to play like that with a band like that.

Then I say get yourself a set Jay. Even if you don't end up doing anything other than teaching yourself a new trick.....but the upside of joining a band and playing in a setting you haven't done before could be a huge amount of fun too.

Any interest in hand percussion....conga, bongos, djembe? They're all a hell of a lot of fun too. I spent a couple years playing conga and bongos with an acoustic duo a few years back. It's worth stating that I'm not a conga players' toenail, but I had an aboslute ball doing something I hadn't done before.

Why not explore it mate?......I'd love to follow an "old dog, new trick" type scenario on the boards here.

DISCLAIMER: "Old dog" is most definitely just a turn of phrase my friend!!

Salsa is very, very popular here in Puerto Rico, as such we have some amazing timbale players, I've seen some at college integrate parts of a drumset with the timbales to create a sort of hybrid, usually a snare/bassdrum with the typical timbal setup, but I've seen toms used as well and it sounds amazing.

A salsa group's rhythm section is to me one of the most beautiful displays of rhythm anywhere, it's such a joy to listen to. My dad is a timbal player, for a while he lived off just that, nowadays he has a day job but is still playing live with several bands, so I've gotten backstage pass to meet some real salsa stars.

Pocket-full-of-gold said:

Then I say get yourself a set Jay. Even if you don't end up doing anything other than teaching yourself a new trick.....but the upside of joining a band and playing in a setting you haven't done before could be a huge amount of fun too.

Any interest in hand percussion....conga, bongos, djembe? They're all a hell of a lot of fun too. I spent a couple years playing conga and bongos with an acoustic duo a few years back. It's worth stating that I'm not a conga players' toenail, but I had an aboslute ball doing something I hadn't done before.

Why not explore it mate?......I'd love to follow an "old dog, new trick" type scenario on the boards here.

DISCLAIMER: "Old dog" is most definitely just a turn of phrase my friend!!

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LP has a very decent and cheap beginner's set. Comes with a cowbell, and I've got the cymbal and stand.

And, one of my old band mates is a great latin percussionist.

Oh, and I don't mind being called an old dog. I am an old dog, and I worked damned hard for it.

No PFG, I've never found that I had a knack for hand percussion. If I couldn't play it with a stick then I basically sucked at it.

Hey, though, here's one of the things I've found. Very cool to see how it all comes together.

Numberless said:

Salsa is very, very popular here in Puerto Rico, as such we have some amazing timbale players, I've seen some at college integrate parts of a drumset with the timbales to create a sort of hybrid, usually a snare/bassdrum with the typical timbal setup, but I've seen toms used as well and it sounds amazing.

Click to expand...

A local Cuban/Salsa band near me has done the timbale/drum set integration, too; I guess it's possible that salsa bands are becoming more modern these days. Maybe younger audiences want to hear and feel the bass drum?

It is a ton of fun indeed. My last band was very latin and it was fun getting my hands and ears around those different rhythms and time sigs. Glad you are excited about this new adventure, I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with it.

Go for it. You will have a blast. One great thing about Latino music is the room for rhythmic improvisation. The percussion parts are formed as a drum line would be, but with room for personal ideas. Buy your gear used though. A ton of people think they can pick up a percussion instrument quickly (congas, bongos, or the timbales you might be looking for) and after their purchase they figure out it was not as easy as it sounded in their head. Good luck to you and have fun.