"Bongo-0" by Roberto Sierra / Performed by Eric Hines

Percussion instruments have been used by many contemporary composers almost exclusively as a media to convey certain coloristic effects.  When listening to Afro-Caribbean folk music, one becomes aware that in this genre, rhythm is the most important factor.  The articulations and modes of attack (color) are subordinated in such a way that their functions are mainly to help in the shaping of the rhythmic figures. Bongo-0 follows the same line of Afro-Caribbean music, in the sense that rhythm is the foremost parameter.  In this piece, the bongos are used in the traditional manner, with the exception of several unorthodox striking techniques, such as scratching the heads.  The articulations and modes of attack, as in Caribbean folk music, form an integral part of the rhythmic patterns.  Rhythm and the other parameters are treated in such a way that the form of the piece is a continuous transformation of these.  During this process of change, the voice of the percussionist is utilized as a quasi-percussi