Quinto (drum)

Quinto

Oak Gon Bop quinto drum, c. 1976
Percussion instrument
Classification	Membranophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	211.221.1 (Instruments in which the end without a membrane is open)
Developed	19th century, Cuba
Related instruments
congas: tres dos, tumba
Musicians
Chano Pozo, Mongo Santamaría, Candido Camero, Armando Peraza, Francisco Aguabella, Carlos "Patato" Valdés, Ray Barretto

The quinto (literally fifth in Spanish) 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.^[1]