The Complete Oru Secco

The Complete Oru SeccoThis is a book of transcriptions of the toques (rhythms) from the Grupo Ilu Au recording entitled Sacred Rhythms (1995), specifically the sequence of toques played on bat drums known as the oru seco. The transcriptions presented here are part of the sacred musical traditions of the Lukum people of Cuba. The word Lukum in Cuba refers to the descendants of the Yoruba people of Southwestern Nigeria who were brought to the island in vast numbers by the

This is a book of transcriptions of the toques (rhythms) from the Grupo Ilu A–u recording entitled ÒSacred RhythmsÓ (1995), specifically the sequence of toques played on bat‡ drums known as the oru seco. The transcriptions presented here are part of the sacred musical traditions of the Lukum’ people of Cuba. The word Lukum’ in Cuba refers to the descendants of the Yoruba people of Southwestern Nigeria who were brought to the island in vast numbers by the Spaniards during the slave trade of the 19th century. Their religion is known in Cuba as la regla de ocha (more generally referred to in the popular vernacular as santeria), and its music consists of a number of musical styles that were reconstituted in Cuba from the cultural wreckage left by the institution of slavery. One of these systems, and arguably the most important, is the bat‡ ensemble, which consists of three double-headed, hour-glass shaped drums of different sizes played by three players.