Salsa

Lock everything to the clave first (2-3 or 3-2) and let the conga tumbao, timbales, and bongó cáscara breathe inside that grid at 180 BPM. Because the count is fast, players and producers usually feel salsa in half-time around 90 BPM, which keeps the piano montuno and bass tumbao from sounding frantic. Write the bass anticipated (off the downbeat, hitting the 'and' of beat 2 and beat 4) so it pushes against the piano rather than doubling it. Stack the horn section as call-and-response mambo and moña sections rather than continuous pads, and reserve the full brass for the montuno and mambo climax. Salsa romántica (~175) leans on the rhythm section and softer dynamics, while salsa dura (~200) and Cuban timba (up to 250) demand tighter percussion edits and more aggressive horn stabs.

A typical salsa builds from a sung verse (canto/largo) into the montuno, an open call-and-response section over the piano vamp where coro, soneo, mambo, and moña sections trade and intensify toward the end. Arrangements often run 5–7 minutes to give the montuno and percussion room to develop.