Salsa Beat Machine

Celebrating Christmas and the New Year, we have just completed a new Salsa Rhythm & Timing videos project. We call it the ANET Project – Año Nuevo en Timing , meaning: New year in timing. The goal of the project is to create and publish 3 special rhythm & timing videos with a festive “new year” theme. Following this theme, all the 3 songs we chose are related to celebrating Christmas and the new year.

So let’s dive in…

Bomba De Navidad, Ismael Miranda

Our “bomba” for the Christmas…

Oye compa….
Sabrosa

Mami esto si es verdad
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad
Hay mamita mami
Mami esto si es verdad
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad

Yo me voy con Luis Ramirez a comer lechón
y despues sigue el bacilon en casa de Ramón
Hay mamita mami

Mami esto si es verdad (y lo sabes tu mami)
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad
Hay mamita mami
Mami esto si es verdad
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad

Quintin sonando el bombon,
Rivito en el timbal,
Chino sonando el tambor,
y yo vengo a cantar
sabrosa mi bomba

Mami esto si es verdad
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad
Mami esto si es verdad (mamita mami)
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad

Que vengan los aginaldos la fiesta va empezar
brincando con ron cañita vamo a bacila.
Hay Mamita mami
Mami esto si es verdad
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad
Mami esto si es verdad
que yo quiero bailar contigo esta navidad

Los Reyes magos mami,
te visitaran si en el año te portas bien seguro volveran
muchas cosas rica y linda los reyes te traeran
como tu lo has hecho tan bueno seguro
volveran
Los Reyes magos mami,
te visitaran si en el año te portas bien seguro volveran

Hay tan Margarita y Luisa como bacilaran
cuando vean el monton de cosas que los reyes traeran
Los Reyes magos mami,
te visitaran si en el año te portas bien seguro volveran.

Uno Llega Y Otro Se Va, Orquesta Original De Manzanillo

A Cuban Salsa song, with many Rumba elements, about the new year and its traditions in Cuba:

This song features 3:2 Rumba Clave, Violins, two lead vocals and also “Orishas” (see below). The timing video explains all of the elements, and also includes beat counting and the Salsa basic step synchronized with the rhythm of the song.

The Orishas are spirits or deities that reflect the manifestations of god in the Yoruba mythology. Yoruba people originally came from Nigeria and some parts of Benin. During the slave era, they were dispersed across America, spreading they beliefs and their traditions in Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico and some parts of the United States. This led to creation of several syncretic religions, amongst which is the Santería. Santería became a popular system of beliefs in Cuba, merging the Yoruba religion with Roman Catholic and the Native Indian traditions.

Each Orisha represents a different manifestation of Olodumare, which means God in the Yoruba language. Here are some of the Orishas mentioned in the song:

Orula

Orula is mentioned many times throughout the song. Being the Orisha of divination and wisdom, he became one of the most beloved Orishas in Cuba. He is also considered the great healer and has Osain, the God of plants and remedies as his auxiliary. Many Cubans wear his alternate green and yellow beads necklaces. You can read more about Orula in this article.

Ohcun

Divinity of rivers, love, feminine beauty, fertility, and art. Ochun is one of Orisha Shango’s lovers and beloved of Orisha Ogoun.

Yemaya

Divine mother, divinity of the sea and loving mother of mankind, daughter of Obatala and wife of Aganju.

Obatala

Arch-divinity, father of humankind, divinity of light, spiritual purity, and moral uprightness.

For those of you who are interested in this subject, a good starting point will be Wikipedia’s article about Orishas (Also the source of some of the information presented here).

Felicidades, Cheo Feliciano

A great new way to start a great new year!

This song is a great example of phrase shifting: there are 3 different phrase shifts in it. A phrase shift happens when the “5″ count suddenly becomes the “1″. This usually happens after a break in the music, in cases where the break is only 4 beat long.

In the above video, however, you will find an example of a phrase shifting that goes without any break at all: at 02:23 the mambo section of the song ends, followed by a short, 4-beat phrase, which serves as a “bridge” to the chorus of the song. The transition is so smooth that you can easily miss it while dancing.

As with all other timing videos, we included on-screen annotations to explain the musical structure of the song and highlight the important aspects, such as the phrase shift mentioned above. The phrase shift, by the way, also causes another phenomenon called “Clave Change”. We will explain this phenomenon in depth in an upcoming article, but meanwhile you can rely on the annotation to tell you when it happens.

Final Word

We are already working on our next timing videos, so keep following and subscribe to our youtube channel, to make sure you always receive the latest timing videos from us. We wish you a happy new year and a lot of health, success, and fun on the dance floor!