Afro Cuban Folkloric Music
Bembe drums
Bembe drums are war drums. In Matanzas, any upright, pegged, cylindrical drum played with one or two sticks in the Lucumi Santeria tradition is called "bembe." The typical bembe drum set has three pieces: the cachimbo, the mula, and the caja. The Bembe Macagua is an exception because it includes a fourth drum, called the baja. Unlike the bata drums, bembe drumming allows for improvisation around a standard rhythm on the caja. And, in the case of an Orisha who joins the drumming celebration, it is the Orisha who tells the drummer how to hit the drum, not the drum that tells the Orisha how to dance. A particular gesture that the Orisha makes tells the drummer how to hit the drum, and thus together they communicate to the heavens and to Olofi.
Guiro ensemble
Güiro or shekeres (pronounced chekeres, with a hard "ch" in Matanzas) are hollow gourds wrapped in varying patterns of cord and seeds or beads so that, when struck on the bottom or shaken, they make a distinctive sound. There are three shekeres in a set: the uno (the smallest), the segundo (the middle one), and the caja (the largest). In Matanzas, they are played with a full set of 3 tumbadora or conga drums.
Palo Drums- Afro Dominicana
Palo is an Afro-Dominican sacred music. The drum and human voice are the principle instruments. Palo is played at religious ceremonies - usually coinciding with saint's days - and at special occasions. With roots in the Congo region of central-west Africa palo shares much the same pantheon of deities/saints as the Afro-American religious traditions of Cuba, Brasil, Haiti and elsewhere in Latin America.
Palo is common in many regions of the Dominican republic today.