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Stands for Bugarabus

Bugarabu Videos

Bugarabu Photos

Personal Experience

My bugarabus: Maiz, Jalapeño, & Salsa

What is this page for?
There seem to be several billion web pages about jembes (you would think people would get tired of them by now), but precious few about the bugarabu (bougarabou), which I consider to be a much better sounding drum. I thought a centralized website was long overdue.

The bugarabu is greatly overlooked. Jembes are fashionable, so everyone flocks to them based on bandwagon mentality and lack of experience with other drums. They have their place, but they aren't the ultimate drum. I think if people actually listened to bugarabus with an open mind, not one expecting to hear a tinny djembe, many would prefer the warm, full sound of a bugarabu.

I figure, since you’re one of the few people who is actually searching for info on these drums that you are either a) a researcher looking for information for an academic paper, b) an owner who is looking to understand his/her instrument better, or c) an owner who is frustrated to not able to play right now and must do something with her/his new instrument, even if it’s something geeky like surfing the Net for scraps of info. For you academics, I’ll define the drum.

What is a bugarabu?
A bugarabu is a wooden, roughly conical, West African hand drum with an animal skin head. I know of no synthetic variants as of this writing. They are similar in shape, size, and sound to Cuban congas, which has caused some people to speculate that they are related. They normally have cowskin heads, important to their special tone, but some are made with goat or even antelope. The cowskin heads may still have hair, which gives them a soft, mellow, but heavy sound, or may be shaven, which sound quite conga-like.

Along with kpanlogos, among other drums, bugarabus have been claimed as ancestors of the Cuban tumbadora, or conga. Despite their similarities, a direct relationship is doubtful. The African slaves brought to Cuba were mainly Bantu, Yoruba, Ibo, and Ewe from a region spanning from Angola and Zaire to Nigeria and Benin. Bugarabus originated in Guinea and Senegal and spread to neighboring countries like Ghana, Mali, and Ivory Coast.

Bugarabus have two basic forms today. One is the traditional peg drum. This is the style played by Saikouba Badjie. The heads are fastened to the shell with round wooden pegs. They are tuned by holding them close to the drying warmth of an open fire. The other style is the more recent rope-tuned variety done with the same “Mali weave” popular for jembes. As with jembes, this is a modernization.

The name is more often spelled bougarabou, but I prefer the simpler spelling because it seems natural to pronounce the ou as in about. It is properly sounded more like the double Os in food. Where the word is stressed I don't know. I have heard a man from West Africa say it, but I couldn't distinguish the stress.

Where they fit in the drum pantheon
Bugarabus are well suited to a role of laying down a groove with mid and bass parts. However, the smallest drum(s) are capable of laying down higher-register leads in the range somewhere between congas and jembes. In fact, bugarabus are often compared to congas and jembes.

In contrast to jembes, bugarabus have cow, rather than goat skin heads. This gives them a warmer, fuller, more powerful tone. The head attachment is the same, which gives them a similar appearance. However, the jembe shell is more bowl-shaped and has a much narrower waist. The lower half is a narrow pipe that flares slightly. Bugarabus taper more gently towards a much lower waist. The waist is normally delineated by a collar of variable size. The bottom flares much like the jembe. These two drums are about the same dimensions and weight.

In sound, bugarabus are more often compared to congas. Beyond the obvious differences in the head attachment and tuning, the conga has a thicker, harder head. The bugarabu most often has an African cow skin head, a bit thinner and softer. Frequently, the heads of bugarabus retain the animal's fur. This gives them an even mellower sound. The body of most congas is made with staves, like a barrel, while the shell of a bugarabu is carved from a single piece of wood. Congas are normally taller and much heavier.

A third drum that bears some resemblance to the bugarabu, but is rarely mentioned, is the Brazilian atabaque. Also of stave construction, the atabaque in one sense has a strong similarity. Although the shell is long, narrow, and tapers very gently, when an atabaque is placed on its traditional stand, it has, in effect they same sort of flaring skirt that the bugarabu has. Atabaques have two methods of attaching/tuning the calfskin heads. One is a rope system that also uses wooden wedges pounded into the ropes to tighten the head. The other is the same hook-and-ring system the conga uses. Another similarity: the atabaque often has unshaven heads.
Atabaque Webpage

How bugarabus are played
In the past 50 years, the method of playing bugarabus has changed. Once played individually, like most African drums, they are normally now played in sets of three or four. Some speculate that this arrangement derived from the Cuban multiple conga technique that evolved in the 1950s. The classic position is to place the drums on some kind of rack, slanted away from the drummer, putting the heads at an angle much like when playing seated with a drum tilted away and held between the knees. The newer rope-tuned models are often positioned on a stand that holds them more upright, sometimes completely vertical.

In a trio, the highest drum is set in the middle and the lowest on the right of the drummer. This is also the most common arrangement for a set of three congas. In a group of four, perhaps the most common set, the lowest is to the drummer's far right. The highest is in center-right next to this drum. Sharing the middle, on the left, is the second-highest drum. On the far left is the second-lowest drum.

Links to Other Sites
There aren't many websites dedicated soley to bugarabus, which is why I have created this one. Here are the few links I have found that feature bugarabus prominently.

Seku.com

A Nice Dutch Bugarabu Page

Personal Experience with these Drums
My early experience with bugarabus was seeing them played at drum circles. Most had goatskin heads on them, and they seemed like "poor man's djembes". The players wore them like djembes and played them with the same techniques. They are not designed for this.

I've always had a special love for the sound of congas. They are the quintessential hand drum for me. I grew up hearing them and associate them with the ultimate sound of a hand drum: warm, woody, resonant, and full. They produce a wide range of sounds, from mid-lows to cracking highs. The only area that they don't reach well is the bass. But since I like playing in ensembles, I think there should be an independent bass drum to cover that range anyway.

While the sound of congas melts my heart, the logistics don't. They are tall, heavy, and have sharp, hard metal tuning gear sticking out of them. They are also slippery when I'm trying to hold one between my knees. Lastly, they are expensive.

So, I have been looking for alternatives for a long time, a drum that has a similar sound to a conga, but more convenient and with simpler, friendlier construction.

Not long ago, a friend recommended bugarabus to me. He had one and swore by it. At first, I could only remember the "poor man's djembes" and I purchased kpanlogos instead. They are Ghanaian drums that are close relatives of congas. They had a simple and quick tuning system. The heads are attached and tuned by six pegs that are thrust into the shell. To tune: just hammer in the pegs. Quick, easy, and looks cool.

These were my main drums for over a year, but I ran into issues. The pegs made the drums delicate. My drumming partner tipped his kpanlogo over and broke one of his pegs. The pegs would sometime be loose, so it was a challenge to keep the drums tuned properly. Finally, they could not be tightened nearly as much as a conga. The sound was too soft for me.

Finally, I reevaluated the bugarabu. I researched them online, watched many videos, and took part in online discussions. Many compared their sound to congas. The more I hread the more interested I became.

Here's what I learned.

• They have cowskin heads. If thick enough, they can sound quite a bit like congas.
• They are lighter than congas.
• They have no chromed tuning gear sticking out the sides.
• They are easy for me to repair if they get damaged (unlike the kpanlogos).
• I can change the heads relatively easily (unlike kpanlogos).
• They are rope-tuned, my favorite system, and one I am very familiar with. My main concern was: how tight can you get a cowskin drum by tensioning with rope?

Finally, I resolved to sacrifice my beautiful kpanlogos to Craig's List and buy three bugarabus.