Candombe
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Candombe is a drum-based musical form of Uruguay. Candombe originated among the Afro-Uruguayan population of Montevideo and is based on Bantu African drumming with some European influence and touches of Tango.
Origins
Candombe's origins lie in the Kings of Congo ceremonial processions from the period of African slavery in South America. Candombe is related to other musical forms of African origin found in the Americas such as Cuban son and tumba and Brazilian maracatu. The form had evolved by the beginning of the 19th century and was immediately seen as a threat to the elites, who sought to ban the music and its dance in 1808.
Instruments
Candombe is performed by a group of 50-100 parading drummers called a cuerda. The barrel-shaped drums, or tambores, have specific names according to their size and function: chico (small, high timbre, marks the tempo), repique (medium, improvisation) and piano (large, low timbre, melody). An even larger drum, called bajo or bombo (very large, very low timbre, accent on the fourth beat), was once common but is now declining in use. Tambores are made of wood with animal skins that are rope-tuned or fire-tuned minutes before the performance. They are worn at the waist with the aid of a shoulder strap called tali and played with one stick and one hand.
Performance
Today there are 80 or 90 cuerdas in existence. Candombe is still performed regularly in the streets of Montevideo's central neighbourhoods on Sunday evenings as well as on many other occasions, and massively on January 6, December 25 and January 1. During Uruguay's Carnival period, all the cuerdas participate in a massive Carnival parade called llamadas ("calls") and vie against each other in official competitions in the Teatro de Verano theatre. The monetary prizes are modest; more important aspects include enjoyment, the fostering of a sense of pride and the winning of respect from peers.es:Candombe