1951 Arsenio Rodríguez - Caminante y laborí - tumbao 1
xx0x 0xxx 0xx0 xx0x 2-3 son clave
xxxx xxxx xxxx xx00 (pickups)
xx00 xx00 xx00 xx00 MIDI example - tumbao 1
bassist: Lázaro Prieto
source: Emiliano Echeverría

notes: Caminante y laborí is yet another gorgeous piece of music from this peak period in Arsenio's career. As shown by the two MIDI examples below, the first tumbao is a unique variation on one of Arsenio's most common bass tumbaos, doubling the bombo (B) by adding the note before it (xx0B) instead of the note after it (xxxB 0xxx) resulting in a tumbao with the same figure (xx00) on all four main beats.

xxx0 0x00 xxx0 0x00 MIDI example (El Cerro tiene la llave)
xx00 xx00 xx00 xx00 MIDI example (Caminante y laborí 1)

Caminante y laborí - tumbao 2
xx0x 0xxx 0xx0 xx0x 2-3 son clave
xxxx xxxx xxxx xx00 (pickups)
xxx0 00x0 xxx0 0x00 MIDI example - tumbao 2

The second tumbao is one of the most melodic examples of bajo cantado, and (not by chance) accompanies one Arsenio's most inspired coros. In fact, this coro was the inspiration for one of the greatest timba tracks, the title track of Manolito y su Trabuco's 2000 masterpiece Para que baile Cuba. Not only is the coro virtually identical, but Trabuco singer El Indio's guías also recall the melodic shape of some of the horn figures in the diablo section.