Yuka (music)
Yuka | |
---|---|
Stylistic origins | Kongo music |
Cultural origins | c. 1800, western Yambú |
Other topics | |
Yuka is a secular
Music
Drumming
The Bantu word yuka means "to beat" and is also used to refer to the drums used in yuka performances. According to Fernando Ortiz, yuka drums were known in the Kongo language as ngóma bobóla mámbu, where ngóma means "drum", bobóla "deep sound" and mámbu "collective business".[3] These drums are made from hollowed-out trunks of the avocado tree. Leather is nailed to one of the open ends, and the player hits the skin with both hands, the drum being slanted between his legs. The drums come in three sizes:
- caja, the largest and lowest-pitched yuka drum;
- mula, medium sized;
- cachimbo, the smallest and highest-pitched drum, it is also known as tumba, tumbador, llamador or tahona.[2]
Modern
Rhythms may also be played on the drum body, the drummer using a small mallet or a stave in one hand, the other hand slapping the leather. The drummer wears two small rattles (nkembí), made of metal or gourds, on his wrists. The drums may be accompanied by staves on a pattern.
Singing
Like most Afro-Cuban music, yuka singing is based on call and response. Songs have a simple structure and sung phrases are generally short.[2] There is a main motif over which singers are allowed to improvise.[2]
Dance
The secular dance is performed by a couple as a stylised contest: the man chases, the woman avoids.
See also
References
- ^ Suárez Rivas, Ronald (4 November 2018). "Los últimos toques del tambor yuka". Granma (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Linares, María Teresa. 1981. Liner notes to Antología de la música afrocubana Vol. 5: Tambor yuka [recorded in 1978]. EGREM: Havana, Cuba.
- ISBN 9789591002273.
- ^ León, Argiliers 1964. Del canto y el tiempo. La Habana. p. 67.
- ^ Orovio, Helio 2003. Cuban music from A to Z. p. 230.
- ^ Sublette, Ned (2004). "Rumba". Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press. pp. 258–259.