{"id":75,"date":"2019-10-18T19:41:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-19T00:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/?p=75"},"modified":"2019-10-18T19:41:31","modified_gmt":"2019-10-19T00:41:31","slug":"are-bongo-drums-made-from-bongo-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/are-bongo-drums-made-from-bongo-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Bongo Drums Made From Bongo Skin?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interesting question! Why is it the bongo antelope and the bongo drums share the same name? It seems logical to think that it’s because of the skin of the bongo drum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo taken by Trisha Shears<\/a>: License<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Are bongo drums made from bongo skins? Bongo drums with animal skin drumheads are most typically made with goat or cow skins. Although they share the same name, bongo drums are not typically or even traditionally made from the skin of a bongo antelope.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That leaves some questions, though–what’s with these conflicting names? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bongo Drums and Bongo Antelope <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From what little is available to research, bongo drums have their distant origins somewhere in the African continent, and hit mainstream in the way we see them today in Cuba. The bongo antelope’s native lands is over several countries in Africa. (bongo drum Wikipedia<\/a>) (antelope Bongo Wikipedia<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Origins of the Bongo Drum<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To be frank, nobody knows where the bongo drum exactly started,<\/strong> but as near as anyone can guess, the drum has its roots in West Africa due to other similar drum designs that we know came from there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do know that the bongo drum came into more popular knowledge in Cuba, which is why we think the instrument was invented there in the way we know it now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What About the Past?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Because the origin of bongo drums and the current stomping grounds of bongo antelopes are in the same part of the world, <\/strong>it’s possible that at some point, the skins of bongo antelopes have been used in the past for ancient drumheads for drums that don’t resemble the bongo drums we use today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the skins used for bongo drums are sourced from many different types of animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which Animal Skins are Used to Make Bongo Drums?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Today, however, cow and goat skins <\/strong>are the animal skin of choice for making drumheads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides goat and cow skins, many animals are also commonly used, and in reality the skin of any animal can be used as a drumhead. FurAndHide.com, for example, makes drum skins out of goat, deer, elk, buffalo, horse, moose, cow, and even bear. (furandhide.com drumhead page<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Are Bongo Drums Called Bongo Drums?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, if bongo drums are not made with bongo antelope skins, why are bongo drums called bongo drums? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, from my research, there isn’t a solid source with a clear answer. At some point around in the 1900s, the Bongo drums came to be, but we don’t know exactly who invented them or where the name come from. Some rumors state that an artist named Bonko led to the coining of the name “Bongo”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another possibility is the relation to the instrument “boungu”, played by the Lokele tribe. (source<\/a>) The boungu is essentially a talking drum, which operated more like a gong rather than a typical bongo drum. The drums have different parts with different thicknesses allowing for multiple tones when struck, allowing for communication similar to Morse code systems. To learn more about the boungu percussion instruments, check out Phil Tulga’s website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are just guesses though as to why bongo drums are called bongo drums. The true answer to the question is unclear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, it’s not likely that the bongo drum and the bongo antelope share anything except a first name. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Material are Drums Made Of?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bongo drums are typically made from wood because of wood’s rich and deeper resonance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing a search on MusiciansFriend.com for bongo drums, I opened up 16 or so tabs with search results and I found the following materials used to make bongo drums:<\/p>\n\n\n\n