Bomba

This article is about the style of folk music. For other uses, see Bomba (disambiguation).

Bomba
Stylistic origins	Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms
Cultural origins	Puerto Rico
Typical instruments	Barriles de bomba: buleador and subidor, cua, maraca, vocals
Mainstream popularity	Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican Diaspora
Other topics
Music of Puerto Rico

External audio
	You may listen to the "Bomba Puertorriqueña" as performed at the Nuyorican Cafe in Puerto Rico here

Music of Puerto Rico
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Aguinaldo Bomba Danza Décima Jala-jala Plena Reggaeton Salsa Seis
National anthem	La Borinqueña
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Guadeloupe Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Martinique Montserrat St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

Bomba is one of the traditional musical styles of Puerto Rico. It is a largely African-derived music. The rhythm and beat are played by a set of floor drums, cuá and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music: the dancers move their bodies to every beat of the drum, making bomba a very energetic and rich dance.

Bomba is described to be a challenge/connection between the drummer and the dancer. The dancer produces a series of gestures to which the primo o subidor drummer provides a synchronized beat. Thus, it is the drummer who attempts to follow the dancer and not the other way around. The dancer must be in great physical shape and the challenge usually continues until either the dancer discontinues.

The main instruments used in bomba style music are one or two lower pitch floor drums used to create a base rhythm called buleadores, and a higher pitch drum called primo or subidor which accentuates the beat with improvised patterns. Other instruments used are the palitos or cuá, which are sticks that are struck against any, usually wooden, surface. A single large maraca usually completes the sound of bomba, though a güiro has commonly been used in orchestral arrangements.Both of these last two instruments have origins in the Taino culture of the Caribbean Basin.

History

The basic music style was brought to Puerto Rico during the colonial slave trade. It originates in Kongo, although the majority of slaves can be traced back to many different areas of West and Central Africa. The dance was mostly practiced at the northern, southern and western coasts of the island where the majority of Africa's descendants lived. It is said by most bomba practitioners around the island that the town of Mayagüez is considered the birth place of bomba in Puerto Rico. The men use a series of hip and hand movements. The women use similar movements, however the movements are often augmented by the use of their skirts. In bomba shows, the typical apparel worn by the dancers is what slaves may have used in social gatherings. Men wear a white outfit and Panama hat and women wear big plantation skirts and a head scarf or bundaloo.

Instruments

The traditional drums used in bomba are called barriles, since they have long been built from the wood of barrels. The high pitch drum is called "subidor" (riser) or "primo" (cousin), and the low pitch drums are called "buleador" and "segundo" (second).

Rhythmic Styles

There are several styles of bomba, and the popularity of these styles varies by region. The four most common rhythms are called "sica", "yuba", "cuembé", and "holandés", though there are more than 20.

duple metre

• bambulaé
• bele
• calindá
• cocobalé
• cuembe or güembe
• cunyá
• danuá or danué
• gracima
• holandé or holandés
• hoyoemula
• paulé
• seis corrido or seis corridor
• sicá

triple metre

• corve
• holandé seis por ocho
• leró
• mariandá
• rule
• yubá

Performers

So far, Rafael Cortijo has been one of the few successful artists in taking bomba to the mainstream with his Combo in the 1950s and 1960s. Puerto Rican composer Roberto Angleró wrote and sang "Si Dios fuera negro" ("If God Was Black"), a huge hit in Puerto Rico, Peru and Colombia during the early 1980s. Rubén Blades made a cover version of it once; the song was even translated to French and became a minor hit in Martinique.

Willie Colón adds occasional bomba breaks to his songs, most particularly in sections of his biggest solo hit, "El Gran Varón". Ricky Martin also mixes a bit of authentic bomba rhythm with other Latino influences in his aptly named song La Bomba.

In California it has been popularized at by Maestros de Bomba en la Bahía at La Peña Cultural Center.

Further reading

• Aparicio, Frances R., "Listening to salsa: gender, Latin popular music, and Puerto Rican cultures", Wesleyan University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-8195-6308-8. Cf. p. 12 and book index.

External links

• Welcome to Puerto Rico: Music - see Bomba y Plena
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QS-PXr-_5g