Quinto (drum)

The quinto (Spanish: [ˈkinto], lit. 'fifth') is the smallest and highest pitched type of conga drum. It is used as the lead drum in Cuban rumba styles such as guaguancó, yambú, columbia and guarapachangueo, and it is also present in congas de comparsa. Quinto phrases are played in both triple-pulse (12/8, 6/8) and duple-pulse (4/4, 2/2) structures. In columbia, triple pulse is the primary structure and duple pulse is secondary. In yambú and guaguancó duple-pulse is primary and triple-pulse is secondary.

The optimum expression of quinto phrasing is shaped by its interaction with the dance and the song, in other words, the complete social event, which is rumba.

During the verses of the song the quinto is capable of sublime creativity, while musically subordinate to the lead vocalist. There are natural pauses in the cadence of the verses, typically one or two measures in length, where the quinto can play succinct phrases in the “holes” left by the singer. During the verses the quinto does not demonstrate technical virtuosity so much as taste and restraint.

Once the chorus (or montuno section) of the song begins, the phrases of the quinto interact with the dancers more than the lead singer. At this time, the phrases often accent cross-beats or offbeats. Many of the quinto phrases correspond directly to accompanying dance steps. The pattern of quinto strokes and the pattern of dance steps are at times identical, and at other times, imaginatively matched. The quinto player must be able to switch phrases immediately in response to the dancer’s ever-changing steps. The quinto vocabulary is used to accompany, inspire and in some ways, compete with the dancers' spontaneous choreography. Yvonne Daniel states: "The columbia dancer kinesthetically relates to the drums, especially the quinto . . . and tries to initiate rhythms or answer the riffs as if he were dancing with the drum as a partner."

Each quintero ('quinto player') interprets the requisite phrases in their own way. Quintero Armando Peraza (b. 1924) states: "Although there is a structure of rhythm in columbia, yambú, or guaguancó, the good rumbero will always follow the dancer’s steps and at the same time express his own individuality. Same thing with the dancer, who will have the ‘rules’ of that particular rumba to follow but will put his own particular stamp on each performance. Creativity and individuality has always been and still is the name of the game."

With an emphasis on competition and individual creativity, the rhythmic vocabulary of quinto has evolved into a rich and pliable art form. The rhythmic phrasing heard in solos by percussion and other instruments in Cuban popular music, salsa, and Latin jazz, are often based on the quinto vocabulary. Quinto phrasing is also used as a means of varying the ostinato conga drum part called tumbao (see songo music).

The quinto plays within two main rhythmic modes, corresponding to the two main modes of rumba dancing.

The quinto lock mode is primarily a dyadic melody of slap and open tones, separated by an octave.^{[citation needed]} The lock melody while constantly varied, maintains a specific relationship to clave, and corresponds to the basic side-to side rumba dance steps. The attack points of the lock and the basic steps are contained within a single cycle of clave (the key pattern of rumba). Put another way, the lock spans four main beats, or a single measure, as is written for this article.