Intro #
For DAW users: #
Afro Latin Caribbean Rhythms is a MIDI collection that covers a wide range of styles within the Afro-Latin/ Caribbean idioms and beyond. They are the result of years of research through specialized literature, instructional videos, and transcriptions of authentic live video performances and audio recordings, translated into MIDI format by programming and playing-in using MIDI controllers.
As it is a MIDI collection, by its nature, it does not contain any audio sounds or samples. You must use the MIDI files in conjunction with a percussion/drum module in order to produce the sound.
Afro Latin Caribbean Rhythms was created specifically to be instantly compatible and playable with GoranGrooves Handy Drums: Latin Percussion & Drums v2.2+. You will only get the results identical to what you hear on the product page when playing the MIDI files through that plugin.
Since MIDI is a standard format, you can use the files with other 3rd-party plugins. However, you will most certainly need to adjust the mapping of the 3rd-party plugin and manually manipulate the loops to achieve the required articulations, assuming the plugin includes the necessary instruments and articulations.
For BeatBuddy users: #
The MIDI collection is also provided in BeatBuddy format, with most of the included MIDI loops composed into 275 BeatBuddy songs. The provided installers will install all songs to your BeatBuddy project on an SD card.
In addition to this rhythms pack, you will also need Latin Percussion V3, Pop Latino V2, and Bata drums drumsets for BeatBuddy to play all of the included songs. All 3 drumsets come packaged with the Pop Latino drumset available here. A single installer will install all three to your project on an SD card.
Version 3.0 of the Latin Percussion drumset for BeatBuddy replaces your default Latin/Latin Percussion plugin. It adds several new percussion instruments and removes some drumset samples (toms, cymbals, some snare and kick).
Installation #
To install the MIDI loop collection, download the installer for your platform (Windows or macOS) from your GoranGrooves Library account, then run it. For detailed installation information, see this document.
The installed loops will be instantly available within all GoranGrooves Handy Drums’ V2 built-in MIDI Loop Browser, where you can audition any MIDI files and drag them into your DAW session.
For use with 3rd-party drum plugins, you can download the ZIP archive and extract it to any location. More information here.
BeatBuddy users should download and run the dedicated BeatBuddy installer. More details are here.
The included content #
The content in the Afro Latin Caribbean Rhythms collection is organized by style (e.g., Son, Cumbia, Mambo, etc.).
The main grooves are provided mainly as 4-bar loops. Main grooves that feature an ad-lib soloing instrument are provided in longer 32-bar forms (Bomba, Plena, Rumba Guaguanco, Rumba Yambu, Rumba Columbia).
Fills are provided primarily as 1 or 2-bar phrases.
In the case of “Latin Pop Rock,” several sub-genres are included, clearly marked and organized. Latin Pop Rock combines percussion grooves with drumset parts and is based on the styles found in the main percussion content.
*These grooves utilize the Pop Latino v2.0 drumset on BeatBuddy.
The Oru Seco (bata drumming) contains 25 compositions, each consisting of multiple groove parts. There are no fills or breaks included, other than those that are part of the compositions (calls, transitions).
*These songs in BeatBuddy format are programmed with the “autopilot” feature, enabling them to play from start to finish with no user interaction on BeatBuddy 2 pedals.
Mambo style features a wide range of timbale variations. Variations of the main rhythm, played on either cowbell or cymbal, are provided in combinations with jamblock and timbale played by hand, in both 3-2 and 2-3 clave.
Cascara variations and conga tumbao variations allow you to create many more full ensemble variations for most Salsa grooves. See the section below for more details.
*These are not provided in a BeatBuddy format, but you can create them using the source MIDI files.
Cumbia style also comes with many conga variations (provided as individual solo MIDI parts), you can use to substitute the existing conga parts in the main grooves.
*Not provided in a BeatBuddy format.
Rhythmic parts structure #
All styles come with the main grooves. Fills and breaks are also included in most styles, where appropriate.
All main grooves, fills, and breaks are provided as “FULL” parts that contain all relevant instruments for instant full ensemble playback.
All main grooves are also provided as individual MIDI files for each instrument. Exceptions are main parts that consist of only a single instrument (e.g., tumbao conga variations).
All fills are also provided as the solo instrument (playing the ad-lib fill) MIDI file and the “backing” MIDI file (the other percussion instruments keeping the groove behind the ad-lib instrument).
Breaks do not come with individual instrument parts, as all instruments usually play in unison.
File and folder structure #
For DAW users: #
The main “Afro Latin Caribbean Rhythms” folder contains 63 main subfolders for 61 styles, cascara variations, and conga tumbao variations.
Each main style subfolder includes all grooves and fills with FULL instrumentation (e.g., congas+bongos+timbales+guiro), so you can easily audition all loops for the styles in a single place.
Additionally, each main subfolder has a subfolder labeled “instrument parts” that contains MIDI files for the individual instrument parts used in the FULL MIDI parts. That allows for more control over individual parts. All individual instrument solo parts are named to match the main grooves where they are used.
For example:
Afro Latin Caribbean Rhythms (folder)
– Abakuá (folder)
– Abakuá #1 (6_8 feel) (3-2 clave)- FULL.mid
– Abakuá instrument parts (folder)
– Abakuá #1 – bell pattern 1 (3-2).mid
– Abakuá #1 – clave (3-2).mid
– Abakuá #1 – congas 3 players (3-2).mid
Therefore, if you find a “FULL” part and wish to extract an instrument from it, you can easily find the dedicated individual instrument MIDI file used to assemble the FULL part.
This allows for easy combinations of rhythmic patterns from various styles.
Note: Certain FULL instrument parts may only have a single instrument playing unique rhythms, while the rest of the instruments may remain the same. So, when accessing the individual instrument MIDI parts, many parts may be identical, even though they have unique names. This is to allow easy location of an individual part based on the name of the FULL part.
For example, Groove #1 FULL and Groove #2 FULL may have 3 identical instrumental parts (bongos, timbales, guiro) with the 4th instrument playing a variation (congas). Therefore, when accessing their individual instrument parts MIDI files, the bongos, timbales, and guiro for both Groove #1 and Groove #2 will sound identical, while the congas for both Groove #1 and Groove #2 will be unique.
BeatBuddy users: #
The included 275 BeatBuddy songs are organized into 4 folders:
- Afro Latin Caribbean Rhythms p1
- Afro Latin Caribbean Rhythms p2
- Latin Pop Rock
- Bata drumming (Oru Seco)
The provided installer will install everything at once as a single collection.
Nomenclature #
The MIDI files are named as follows:
Style name – #number – part name – instrumentation
Label “FULL”– indicates the file contains all instruments for that rhythm variation. “FULL” indicates that it has everything included for that part.
Labels “Fill” and “Break” differentiate fills and breaks from the main grooves. Main grooves do not have special markings.
In fills, labels like “congas”, “bongos”, “timbales” indicate the instrument playing ad-lib solo. Those MIDI files contain only that instrument part.
The label “backing” is for fills and indicates the rhythmic groove maintained by instruments not playing the ad-lib fill.
Fill FULL = Fill ad-lib instrument + Fill backing
Nomenclature examples:
Mambo #1A (2-3)- FULL.mid
It means it is a Mambo style, variation number 1A in 2-3 clave, played by the full percussion ensemble. This is a main groove, as it does not contain “fill” or “break” in its name.
Mambo #1A (2-3)-Fill #1-FULL.mid
It means it is a Mambo style, variation number 1A in 2-3 clave, fill number 1 for the groove variation #1A, provided as the full percussion ensemble MIDI file.
Mambo #1A (2-3)-Fill #2-bongos.mid
It means it is a Mambo style, variation number 1A in 2-3 clave, fill number 2 for the groove variation #1A, played only by the bongos. It does not contain other instrument parts, as this is an isolated instrument part MIDI file.
Conga drums change names depending on the parts and styles in which they are played. To maintain consistency and avoid confusion, we kept the part names based on the conga drums in our plugin, meant to be played. You will see conga, tumba, and quinto.
The feel #
Unlike Western popular music, where subdivisions are either straight (8th / 16th notes) or swung (triplets) and are equally spaced apart, the unique feature of Latin music is that it simultaneously has a “push and pull” effect between each main beat of a groove.
If we are thinking in 16ths where there are 4 subdivisions per quarter note, the first subdivision is on the beat, while the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are played ahead (rushed/pushed). That increases the space between the 4th subdivision and the following main beat 1st subdivision (drag/ pull). The 4th subdivision falls between the 3rd triplet and where a perfect 16th subdivision would land.
So, it is neither straight nor swung.
Most loops in this collection have this feel, created by extracting a groove template from an actual audio recording of a live Latin rhythm section and applying it to the grooves.
In order to maintain the true feel as provided in these MIDI files, do not quantize the loops. Otherwise, you will kill the essential component of these loops and what makes them sound realistic.
Some slow tempo grooves, like the Cha-cha-cha, have a different, more “on the beat”, but slightly swung feel. Again, it is not mathematically grid-perfect.
Another point worth mentioning is the grooves marked with a 6/8 feel, like Abakua, Bembe, Rumba Columbia, etc. The nature of these Afro-Cuban grooves is that they can be felt and counted simultaneously in 3 or in 2, as they are 3 over 2. They are provided here in 2/4 pulse with a triplet feel.
How to use #
Audition the MIDI files before import into your DAW session #
The easiest way to audition MIDI files before importing them into your DAW session (regardless of your DAW) is to use the MIDI Loop Browser built into the Handy Drums: Latin Percussion & Drums v2.2 (or higher) plugin. As these MIDI loops were created for it, everything will play perfectly.
When you decide on the MIDI files you want to use, you can drag them from the MIDI Loop Browser’s interface into your DAW.
For detailed instructions on the MIDI Loop Browser built into Hady Drums and its capabilities, see this document.
Combining parts into a full arrangement #
As mentioned earlier, all content is provided with “FULL” percussion orchestration, which is an excellent starting point and, in most cases, all you will likely need.
You can quickly and easily assemble songs by placing the main “FULL” parts in your DAW session, then duplicating them to suit your arrangements. You may assemble something like this:
Main groove #1 | Fill #1 | Main groove #1 | Break #1 | Main groove # 2 | etc
When combining main grooves with breaks and fills, you may need to trim the beginnings or endings to better fit your arrangements. As the breaks were composed for the purpose of this MIDI collection, they are merely a starting point. Use them “as is” if you like them, or move the notes around, delete them, or add more to fit what you are doing.
When it comes to fills in a percussion ensemble, unlike drumset-only grooves where a drumset groove stops while a drumset fill plays, a single percussion instrument plays a fill over an ongoing groove played by the rest of the percussion ensemble. The groove doesn’t stop. Only a single instrument changes its repetitive rhythm for a short ad-lib solo over the top of everyone else.
Therefore, the Fills marked with “FULL” contain both the ad-lib solo part by a single percussion instrument and the underlying groove maintained by other percussion instruments.
So, when using only the FULL grooves and fills, you must ensure that the fill you are using was meant for the groove you are inserting it into, or that it sounds like it fits. In other words, if you insert a FULL Merengue fill into a FULL Mambo groove, it is going to sound completely off and out of place, as the instrumentation will all of a sudden be completely different.
If you wish to use the solo ad-lib part of an instrument in a different, non-matching groove, use the individual, isolated solo part (provided as a separate MIDI file; see this section above) over the existing groove, minus the instrument that is soloing.
For example:
If you are using Mambo #1A main groove and want to incorporate Fill # 2 from Mambo #6B – locate the isolated conga fill #2 for Mambo #6B MIDI file and use that on top of the Mambo #1A main groove, but delete all conga notes from the Mambo #1A main groove for the portion of the conga fill.
When done correctly, the ensemble groove will play seamlessly throughout, while the congas will vary their repetitive part with the conga fill.
See this document for relevant instructions for putting together full-length drum tracks from individual loops.
Conga tumbao, cascara, and Mambo timbalero variations #
We provided many common variations of patterns played by congueros and timbaleros heard in Salsa music. They will enable you to create many more groove variations in addition to the ones provided here.
You will find them in the following main subfolders:
/Cascara variaciones/
/Conga tumbao variaciones/
/Mambo/Mambo timbale rhythm variations/
These parts are provided for use as variations on congas, cascara on timbales (palitos), or combined timbalero parts (bells, cymbal, jam block, timbale played by hand).
You should combine them with existing grooves by utilizing the individual instrument parts’ MIDI files.
For example, you may mix the following files into a single full-ensemble groove:
Mambo #1A (2-3)- bongos.mid
Mambo #1A (2-3)- clave.mid
Mambo #1A (2-3)- Güiro.mid
Mambo (2-3) parts var #81-FULL (bell+jamblock).mid
Conga tumbao-var #37 (2-3) 2drms.mid
This will give a unique variation not found in any of the “FULL” groove parts.
Have and enjoy!