Bongo Percussion – Music
The bongo is a pair of small open-bottomed drums played with fingers and palms. It originated in eastern Cuba and became one of the defining percussion voices of son and timba.
Construction
Two drums of different sizes joined together: the macho (male, smaller) and hembra (female, larger). Played held between the knees or mounted on a stand.
The Martillo
The standard bongo pattern in son and salsa is the martillo (hammer) — a rapid, driving 8th-note pattern that propels the groove forward. It's the rhythmic heartbeat of the canto (verse) section.
Martillo rhythm played on bongo
Notice the player lifting the left hand to play an open tone. Not every bongo player does this.
Bongo and bell
According to Wikipedia, Arsenio Rodríguez, who added a tumbadora (conga) to his conjunto, also had the bongosero play the bell (campana). In salsa the bongosero plays that large bell. In timba, according to Wikipedia, it is played by the bongosero, timbalero or drummer, depending on the band. See Campana.
Origins
The bongo was first documented in eastern Cuba (Oriente) in the late 19th century, in nengón, changüí and son. According to the oral tradition of changüí musicians, it grew out of a pair of larger bokú drums; the large bongó de monte of changüí is said to be its forerunner. According to Fernando Ortiz, the word comes from Bantu (ngoma, drum). According to EcuRed, the bongo came to Havana with son from 1909 on. In the 1920s and '30s, bongoseros such as Óscar Sotolongo (Sexteto Habanero) and Agustín Gutiérrez "Manana" made their name with it.