Glossary

1. Bokú: A conical hand drum played in conga parades; its sound resembles that of the “conga drum” or tumbadora. Conga ensembles usually include ten or more of these drums playing interwoven patterns.

1. Bokú salidor: The most essential and traditional bokú, and the pattern it plays.

2. Cabildos de nación: Mutual aid societies where Africans and their descendants reconstructed and maintained ethnic identities in Cuba.

Campana (“bell”): 1. In Santiago de Cuba: a resonant automobile brake drum played with a metal stick in a conga ensemble. 2. In other regions of Cuba: a cowbell.

2. Can, chan, or un solo golpe: The lowest-pitched of the three campanas.

1. Columbia: The second section of the pilón–columbia–masón cycle. It was derived from the conga genre as played in Havana and Matanzas.

1. Comparsa: A carnival troupe consisting of costumed musicians, dancers, and other performers; marching band.

1. Conga (drum): 1. Tumbadora. 2. In Santiago, mostly among older musicians: any of the ensemble’s three tamboras.

1. Conga (genre): A lively style of music played in street processions throughout Cuba; several local variants exist.

1. Conga (ensemble): The musical group which interprets the conga genre.

1. Conga (parade): A lively street procession led by a neighborhood-based conga ensemble.

1. Conga santiaguera (genre): The style of conga associated with Santiago.

1. Corneta china (“Chinese cornet”): A Cuban adaptation of the suona, a piercing double-reed instrument brought to Occidente (Western Cuba) during the 19th century by Chinese indentured servants.

1. Coro: A repeated chant, chorus, or refrain.

1. Fiesta de Mamarrachos (“Festival of Buffoons”): The traditional pre-20^th-century name for Santiago’s carnival, celebrated in June and July.

1. Fondo: Bokú.

1. Galleta (“cracker”): A thin tambora which improvises in the conga ensemble.

1. Groove: The melo-rhythmic amalgam of recurring patterns that characterize a genre.

1. Llanta: Campana.

2. Maní tostao (“toasted peanut”): The highest-pitched campana.

1. Masón: The third section of the pilón–columbia–masón cycle. It was adapted from the masón rhythm of the tumba francesa.

1. Melo-rhythmic: A term coined by Nigerian scholar Meki Nzewi to refer to "rhythmic organization that is melodically conceived and melodically born" (24).

1. Oriente: The eastern region of Cuba.

1. Pilón–columbia–masón cycle: A brief sequence of rhythmic variations occasionally played by La Conga de Los Hoyos and Conga Paso Franco. Other ensembles sometimes play a pilón–columbia cycle.

1. Pilón (instrument): The largest and lowest-pitched bass drum in the ensemble. It takes its name from the pilón (mortar and pestle), a kitchen implement.

1. Pilón (rhythm): The essential groove of the conga santiaguera as played by all the city’s conga ensembles.

1. Piquete: A group or faction that sprouts up within a conga parade when a singer calls out a coro that inspires the surrounding crowd to join in.

1. Quinto: A high-pitched improvising bokú.

1. Requinto:  The smallest and highest-pitched bass drum of the conga ensemble. It is not considered to be a tambora.

1. Redoblante: 1. Galleta (Santiago). 2. Snare drum (Standard Spanish).

1. Tambora: 1. Galleta. 2. Generic term for any of the three large bass drums (pilón and two galletas or redoblantes) in the conga ensemble.

1. Tumbadora: A tall Cuban hand drum, commonly known as “conga” or “conga drum” outside of Cuba.

1. Tumba Francesa: Afro-Cuban music and dance genre which emerged in Tumba Francesa Societies during the 19^th century. Its three principal subgenres are masón, yubá, and frenté.

1. Tumba Francesa Society: Cabildo de nación made up free and enslaved French and Creole speaking people of color and their descendants. Many of these societies’ founding members arrived in Oriente as refugees from the Haitian Revolution.

1. Un y Dos ("one and two"): 1. The middle-pitched campana. 2. Bokú salidor.