method still used in Africa in the Ewe, Adowa and the Igba drum families). Cumaco ensembles may include more than one large drum. Mina ensembles only have one large drum and a smaller one, the aforementioned curbata. Cumacos are often laid on the ground and played by sitting astride (soloist) and squatting alongside. Minas are held on a diagonal with a wooden fork, so the soloist may stand in front of the drum head. Bibliography Max H. Brandt African Drumming from Rural Communities around Caracas and Its Impact on Venezuelan Music and Ethnic Identity - published in Music and Black Ethnicity: the Caribbean and South America edited by Gerard H. Béhague - North-South Center Press at the University of Miami, 1994. Jesús Chucho García Barlovento: Nuestro Patrimonio Cultural - Caracas, Fundación Afroamérica, Centro Cultural BID, IACEM n/d Venezuelan musical instruments