Timba Gears

What Are Gears?

When a band develops a specific combination of piano, bass and percussion parts,and   returns to it  multiple times in multiple songs, we call this"gear.  It could be as simple as repeatedly using one  groove for the cuerpos and another for the for the coros,  or breaking down singer to talk to the crowd.  Using this basic definition,  we could say that all dance  music has of gear system, but the Cuban music of the 1990s took the concept to an unprecedented level of complexity and creativity.  In fact,  when answering the obligatory question"what's the difference between salsa and timba?,  the most important part of the answer revolves around the subject of gears.

 The Cuban bands of the 1990s came up with a much wider spectrum of gears than their predecessors,  but more importantly,  many of them devised visual,  verbal and/or musical signals to enable them to apply the gear changes spontaneously in different ways for different performances of the same song,  i.e,  to improvise the form of the piece.  For example  the singer or musical example,  director might give a hand signal or cry out  out "bomba”,  after which the bassist would begin to slide or cry his or her right hand down the low string of the bass in a distinctive pattern,  with the percussionists simultaneously changing their patterns to a pre-determined combination that works with the bass to create the tembleque-inducing bomba groove.  These "gear changes"  can be written into arrangements or spontaneously invoked in live performance by hand or vocal signals.

Why Are Gears So Important for the Pianist?  

If you're the bassist,  conguero,  drummer,  timbalero,  or bongosero,  understanding and being able to navigate a band's gear system is absolutely essential - every gear change requires a corresponding change in your part.  But you're a pianist,  and while that makes you the only member of the rhythm section whose part doesn't always change when the gear changes,  some gear changes do require a piano change and others result in a drastic thinning of the texture that creates the effect of turning your accompaniment part into an extremely important solo,  so you have to be ready to be thrust into the spotlight on very short notice.  To play piano in a timba situation,  it's essential that you always know what gear you're in and when the next gear change is coming

The Genesis of the Gear Concept

Gears is a term that I coined.  It has no Spanish equivalent.  All Cuban bands use gears but they don't have a standardized system of terms f teaching them.  Some use hand signals without having corresponding names

During the writing of The Tomás Cruz Conga Method,when  asked Tomas to explain how,  when when we During and why he switched between the many intricate patterns conga  we were including in the books,he  kept answering using unfamiliar terms like "bomba, “marcha”, pedal"  and “songo con efectos"  Tomasito was as surprised to learn that North American salsa musicians weren't familiar with these concepts as we were to learn that the concepts existed. I had envisioned the dramatic changes in   live timba  drum and bass parts as wild and brilliant improvisations on the parts of the individual musicians, but armed with new inside information,  I was able to understand that it's really more like a basketball team running plays - with some improvising,   but within a carefully designed and well-rehearsed structure.

Tomasito's revelation greatly increased the scope of the conga book project and delayed its release by 18 months while we processed the new information.  Finally,  my brilliant co-author orlando Fiol was able to explain the Paulito FG system in both languages to everyone's satisfaction,  enabling me to complete the books.  

Tomasito's gear explanations were a huge breakthrough,  but we soon discovered that the gears and cues that the Paulito FG band used didn't have a direct correlation to those of other important bands.  This was actually intentional to some degree.  Each group strives to create its own unique style and identity -or in Spanish its sello - and one of the most important elements of that sello is the band's gear scheme - the types of gears they use and the methods they use to switch from one to another.  Thus,  as we discovered,  you can become comfortable with the gear routine of one band only to find yourself lost at sea when you move on to the next one.

it took another light bulb flashing over the head of orlando Fiol point the way to a broader to explanation of gears encompassing not only the style of Tomasito's band but all the other timba bands as well.  After several more years of refinement and testing this theory against live the performances of different groups,  I can now present this "general theory of gears” for the first time.  As we work our way through the various pianists of Volumes 6 and beyond we’ll be able to use these terms and concepts to understand the gear systems of each of the important timba bands.  It will be further explored in the upcoming series Beyond Salsa Percussion

Kevin Moore. (2010). The Cuban Timba Piano Revolution. Santa Cruz,CA: All rigths reserved.