Cuban Timba--New Salsa Style--any tips?

[winston]

Hey, just wondering if anyone has experience with Timba, an outgrowth of salsa that's popular in Cuba and NY. I have an opportunity to try out for a timba band in the next couple of weeks and I need to know what makes it unique as a style. I was given a CD (without artists' names) and a list of Latin Real Book charts, but that's about it.

I have several years' experience playing different Latin styles (Brazilian sambas, bossas & choros; boleros, tumbaos, mambos, songo, etc.) but not much salsa. This is a group of serious players (Cuban trumpeter who played with Ibrahim Ferrer, some of the baddest-ass percussionists in the area) so I can't be faking it. I've heard Los Van Van and the Afro-Cuban All Stars (and I've checked out www.timba.com) but would appreciate any help from TB'ers--thanks.

[Matthew Tucker]

OK - not quite the answer you're after, I've never come across Timba - but I'm in a similar boat, just starting with a new salsa band and we've had one rehearsal so far. Playing DB, not a baby bass. I think I've got the Tumbao right - more or less. But the biggest challenges so far are 1) Pitch! A lot of the work seems higher up on the fingerboard in that no-man's land just below the neck joint. Found it hard to pull off an exact G on the D string every time - so back to pencil marks for a while. 2) Sound: the DB is boomy when amplified particularly down low and just ain't right yet. So apart from playing with EQ I'm going to try muting the sustain a bit with a sock threaded through the strings near the bridge. My instinct tells me this gives a shorter, punchier effect. 3) stamina: Holding down repeat octaves and fifths in half position for minutes at a time cramps me up if I try to hold a good "crab claw" LH position - and I end up just choking the chicken. But that's got to improve my strength. 4) Spanish: No habla. Donde esta la casa de Pedro? The cues for the percussion breaks to montuno etc are often just the end of the verse. I don't know the songs lyrics well enought to follow them and just counting the bars isn't good enough - changes all the time!

So next rehearsal - sock, lyric sheet, pencil

Got any more hints for me?

[Savino]

heres some great timba from NYC

http://www.latimbaloca.com/index2.html

check out pana's tasty bass lines

[pedro]

[[Spanish: No habla. Donde esta la casa de Pedro?

Need directions?

[Marty Forrer]

Matthew, I played in a latino band for four years, and got that Baby Bass sound by threading a handkerchief through the strings right by the bridge. Gave just the right amount of muting, and very handy if you're gonna sneeze onstage......

[Matthew Tucker]

I tried a sock, a handkerchief, some velcro ... but in the end I settled on a piece of high density closed-cell foam with slits cut into it. I just slip it over the strings when I want the effect and it doesn't look too daggy.