Latin Drum Set Patterns – Where did they come from?
You have come across this cool drum set part and find out that it is a Latin groove. Latin styles are often generically lumped together even though that is much like lumping together drum set parts from rock, punk, reggae, blues, r&b, jazz, country, and metal. There are a lot of styles out there that not everyone has been exposed to or if they have, are not truly familiar with. Most of the traditional Afro-Cuban Latin styles did not originate with drum set being a part of the instrumentation. The percussion instrumentation depending on the exact style may have consisted of timbales, congas, guiro, maracas, bongos, cowbell, etc. Therefore, the drum set parts are usually based on the original parts of one or a combination of the previously listed instruments. The drum set part will change based on the instrumentation of the ensemble. For example, the drum set part would be different if the ensemble has a conguerro and a timbalero than if it just had a conguerro or even no percussionists
