Bumbac the calypso drum
Hello my dear Steemians, I hope you are well anywhere in the world. This publication will be destined to develop a theme of cultural interest and will serve to contextualize a little to my followers of the place where I live, to shape those particularities that are born of the people as the creative subject.
The musical Caribbean
Talking about the Caribbean is very different from living in the Caribbean. It is common to find in Hollywood productions movies of pirates looking for treasures or a wealthy man lying in a hammock under a coconut palm drinking piña colada. That's why my intention is to move the reader to the real Caribbean that is not shown on movie screens.
To speak of the Venezuelan Caribbean I will use as an excuse the story of a percussion instrument, the Bumbac is a drum whose function is to serve as the basis for a genre called Calypso Venezolano. This is one of the many genres that were born in the misnamed new world. Genres with cadences in minor tones that sound nostalgic but impregnated with an energy that at times makes you forget the bitterness suffered by these people mistreated and enslaved by three empires, Spanish, English, and French.
African slaves grew sugar cane. they were not allowed to talk to each other. the need arose to use an alternative means of communication.
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It is interesting to note the social and critical content that handle rhythms such as Salsa or merengue, cumbia or Calypso itself, which not only achieved a harmonious musicality to make the human body dance very fast moving their hips, these genres tell a story of slavery, a history of the past, an effective means of communication with which they managed to maintain their identity, the most genuine of their origins intact through time.
steelband appeared after the abolition of slavery by the 60's´s.
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The Calypso is a genre born in Trinidad and Tobago una island located on the east coast in front of Venezuela. The enslaved Africans were in charge of gestation of this cultural manifestation, they used it to meet at night and the primitive name it had was "Caya" which technically was a song, which means when people get together for some kind of reason.
Calypso Rose is one of the greatest exhibitors of the Caribbean genre in Trinity..
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After the abolition of slavery, the English in their eternal quest for gold for the British crown moved a group of African descendants to English Guyana which in turn is bordering the Callao Venezuela one of the gold people most referenced by historians and seekers of the aforementioned Dorado.
The Bumbac in its beginnings
The Africans came to Callao in the 18th century to work in agriculture and extract gold. They brought their cultural identity to these lands and so they innovated again, managing to build another drum with some particularities different from the drum they had built in Trinidad and Tobago.
cowhide detail. Primitive Bumbac.
To achieve the almost perfect confection, they saw in the oak barrels that were used to store rum and wine or gunpowder, the perfect cylinder for the construction of the drum, then with remains of cattle leather or goat that cut to perfection they were able to tie to the barrel and this way the production of the first drums with which they executed the same calypso that they had already composed in Trinitarian lands was finished.
This means that the cultural transference remained intact during this voyage.
But the development of the Calypso in Trinidad and Tobago was not the same, there the drum was stylized and ended up becoming the current SteelDrum that first appeared in the 60's´s, metallic drum that was made thanks to the recycling of drums used to store hydraulic oil or petroleum derivatives. While in Venezuela the manufacture of Bumbac remained almost intact, the difference is that today synthetic leather is used as a membrane, since cowhide has to be tempered in the sun or with fire for tuning. And the wood is industrial veneer which undoubtedly gives a much lighter weight to the primitive drum.
the metal ring has nuts to securely hold the leather.
Manufacture of drums Bumbac, Calypso all year round.
The Calypso has expanded to all the length and width of the State Bolívar, commonly this musical genre is executed in the epoch of Carnivals because thus it was chosen by its interpreters as the epoch of the year to meet and to make a gigantic party where they can play the genre during all the assets.
Nowadays this rhythm is not only played during the carnival season, it is played all year round. It is normal to see a weekend some celebration where you can hear some drums playing calypso. But who makes these drums today? That's how a few meters from my house I met Mr. José Gregorio Lugo, popularly known as Lugo Kaikó who has been making Bumbac drums and other instruments used to play the popular rhythm for more than 29 years.
Mr Lugo is one of Calypso's most experienced drum builders in the region..
Lugo kaikó tells us that at the age of 14 he began his musical career and as a Bumbac drum builder with a group called "puertaerta" with which he learned the trade of playing calypso instruments and making them. In 1994 he formed his own group called Kaikó, which means music, reunion, party, song, and dance. The word has origin patois (patúa) that is a dialect that was formed in the Caribbean islands as a result of the use of the colonized parts of English, French and African languages.
their drums have a very modern style but do not lose the essence of the first drums..
Lugo has built to date some 5000 drums of Bumbac making it one of the most recognized builders of Ciudad Guayana. Only for America 2007 cup, they made him an order of 360 drums that he made in only one week with the participation of 5 people. Usually, this ingenious luthier works alone and sometimes his own family participates in helping him in some tasks that require the presence of more people.
The manufacture begins with the selection of wood veneer which is very light after cutting the wood is bent to hold it with aluminum rings so you can nail it easily and place the corresponding reinforcements that will give strength and will make the drum stay in the common cylindrical shape, also drilled the holes where the ring that presses the membrane.
leather synthetic brand map.
All the elements are manufactured by Mr. Lugo, except the synthetic leathers that are trademarks known for use in battery. Thus we can notice that the modern manufacture of the drum is very simple in terms of manufacture. Once the drum is finished, it is painted in the color indicated by the person who orders it. Due to the country situation that crosses Venezuela currently only built by orders. In the past, 25 drums were made monthly, so says our friend Lugo.
Synthetic leathers provide a continuous refinement without resorting to the cumbersome process of sun-tempering.
The musical group Kaikó since its inception was designed as a fundamental objective to investigate, disseminate and project several popular Venezuelan rhythms being the Venezuelan calypso the most emphasized for being the most representative of the region.
part of Kaikó drum production.
The group has 4 record productions being the fourth recorded along with the group Junior Kaikó children's academic group thus manage to maintain a seedbed of new members who are taught to play the Caribbean genre.
Calypso Kaikó Group Logo .
Currently, the group Kaikó is investigating the instrument to give a specific musical tuning, this drum does not have a tuning like other instruments such as congas or timbales or the same battery which makes it very difficult to maintain an order in the different compositions that have made other groups in the region.
Product seal .
The factory not only manufactures drums Bumbac also manufactures other drums like cumacos, charrascas, drums of gaita.
The Seedbed. "Children singers of Bellavista"
Andreina Jaramillo is approximately 20 years old forming children through a non-profit organization that she founded with the name of Niños Cantores de Bellavista, Bellavista is the name of a community that has high rates of violent deaths and traffic of stolen cars, the idea of forming a musical group was to rescue children and move them away from violence and mafias through the sustained teaching of musical workshops.
Andreina Jaramillo.
In this way, Andreina has worked with more than 50 children and currently prepares a new generation.
The singing children not only learn to play Calypso, they also learn other musical genres of Venezuelan popular culture. Like the Parranda, Galerón, Joropo oriental in others. The music classes given by Andreina are completely free, and in some cases has the support of the government or private sector. Due to the economic situation in Venezuela, she often has to finance events for the children's performances.
The children who participate in Andreina's program are of scarce resources, a close bond has been maintained between the representatives and the organization, supporting them with their own resources.
Some of the children already know the gender .
At this time of school holidays, the organization actively organizes a plan of musical workshops for new members achieving the participation of 6 children, some of them already had knowledge about calypso, the central idea of this workshop is to attract new members for "the children singers of Bella Vista".
these are the instruments with which the Venezuelan calypso is executed
Cuatro.
Venezuelan Calypso
After 300 years or so since the calypso was gestured until today not only trinidad and tobago and other Caribbean islands play the popular rhythm, also in Venezuela follows the tradition with some different nuances. the important thing is that the tradition does not die.
So far this small but significant publication that shows the origins and topics of the current Calypso
I hope it was to your liking. Thank you for reading.
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