Old Island Drums

[Berimbau]

Now Z, please remember that Don Fernando came from a different time and place. He was born into a family of some means in 1881, spent years in Spain, and attended an elitest law school where he fell under the dubious sway of postivist pseudoscientific theories. Positivism was rooted in the racist assumption that criminality was biologically bred into the non-Aryan and the underclass.
When Ortiz returned to Cuba, the press was full of rumors of white baby snatching occultists who sacrificed these innocent lambs to appease the bloodthirsty appetites of their foul African Gods. With a mission to study the mysterious "dark" underworld of abakua and other African "cults," Ortiz set out to understand their worlds and the tenants of their religions. In the end, he was converted!!! What Ortiz discovered in Afro-Cuban culture filled a void in his own soul, one which the vicious lies of his racist mentors no dount had wounded with their negativist positivism. By 1945 Ortiz was publishing far more informed articles such as his "Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race." As Malcolm X once said, "I always admire a man who has the courage to change his mind." I do, too. This is yet another reason why I find the odious warmonger Bush without any redeeming characteristics whatsoever.
Well Dr. Z, I think that for once, we are on the same page!!!
There was, is, and unfortunately, probably always will be. a large criminal class in Cuba. These folks are that island's leaders. Their disregard for people's rights and personal corruption are only surpassed by the Bush administration's. I don't know if power actually corrupts, but most powerful people seem to be. The world's leaders are the sorriest bunch of hypocritical assholes imaginable, swine utterly without shame and no end to their destructive appetites and selfish avarice! But then, you got me on a good day when I'm feeling rather charitable.



Saludos,




Berimbau

[Zeno]

Zeno, a little from Ortiz might shed some light on the ka drum- tumba francesas connection. Writing abot the ka drum in his "Los Instrumentos," Don Fernando tells us that "Aun es muy frecuente tocar asi en las tumbas francesas de Cuba y Haiti."
I think that when the Haitians immigrated to Cuba, they took BOTH Kongo and Fon derived drums with them. Again the "ethnic" origins of material culture are seldom barriers to their adaptation by other groups. Probably by the time of the Haitian Revolution many of the diverse African traditions in Haiti had already intersected to create a trully transcultural music.
Dr. Z I'm not exactly certain what you meant in your post, so let me try and clarify it. If you were claiming that Ortiz was unaware of the Haitian-Cuban connection, I assure you he certainly was, and he writes eloquently of it in his "Los Instrumentos." Obviously there WERE some things he might have missed, afterall, that's something which we ALL do, but in this instance, he was on it!
Now if what you meant in your post was to claim a Kongo origin for the peg tuned drums of the tumba de farncesas, I would strongly doubt it! The African technology represented by the peg tuning system is a VERY strong diagnostic marker in localizing the origins of these instruments in the Gulf of Guinea. Fon, Ewe, and Yoruba, to name the most important of these trans-Atlantic culture bearers. Kongo drums tend to use nailed heads or the rope and wedge system. Myriad examples might be forwarded, but this should not be necessary.
Now these tumba francesas drums, although ultimately originating in the Fon speaking areas of Benin, were imported to Cuba FROM Haiti, and are as such, somewhat different from contemporary drums from Benin. or Haiti. I think that they are also distinct from the older forms of Arara drums also present in Cuba.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a multi-track, multi-time series of events which were unique from place to place. Each of the Diasporan cultures experienced successive waves of African culture bearers, each group coming from different places in Africa and at different times. The picture is further complicated in the Caribbean by successive waves of inter-island migration, and something known in Cuba could easily re-appear in Jamaica, something from Haioti comes to Cuba, etc. Caution with those tumbas.



Saludos,



Berimbau

Berimbau,
Where in Ortiz does he mention the Ka drum? Can you direct me. My page numbers may be different, but tell me in what section that is.

The Tumba Francesa I saw in Guantanamo did not have special pegs for the snare. Pegs were for mounting the head, just as you can see in the Leaf photo that the peg is used to hold on the head. The snare which is usually just a string is tied to the ropes.

Did you notice in the Ortiz the photos of Tumba Francesa drums made from barrels in addition to the carved ones. By the way, that one photo in Ortiz of the Guantanamo house pictures that very same ancient shell used for cata that I saw when I was there only a few years ago.

Here is some material from the CIDMUC pages. Maybe you can translate for us, or if not you, if there are some lurking scholars around, maybe they could give us the important gist.



Edited By Zeno on 1140755582

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... Read_1.jpg

[Zeno]

I had to reduce the file size, hope it is readable....

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... read22.jpg

[Zeno]

and next:

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... dmuc_3.jpg

[Zeno]

and....

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... dmuc_4.jpg

[zaragemca]

Greeting Zeno,those articles are written more to impressed people that anything else,since there is not way that somebody is going to fing out the veracity of those numbers,and I understand perfectly the relation of Hz,kHz, and the sound/decrease, which I have to use many times for the equalization of the Sound/System,the setting of Crossovers,and the 'threshold' setting for Compressors...One statement is conflicting 'how you are going to obtain more 'Grave' sound from a drum which the skin is damped with the heel of the foot,also the duration of the sound/wave from a drum is related to the pressure which it is applied to the skin,(more pressure faster decrease of time,and higher reach in the Hz. scale...Also who did the mesurament of this test?,what instruments were used in this approach?, who did the calibration, or, setting of this instruments in order to guaranty these results?.Dr. Zaragemca



Edited By zaragemca on 1140827504

[Zeno]

Actuallly I do not really care about the acoustic information and am sorry now that I didn't delete it off those quotes. I would be more interested in any other general information that might be at the beginning. Why, for example, do they show the drum being played with someone sitting on it in the illustration? Does it mention that Tumba Francesa drums are played this way sometimes? Forget about the Hz and the the acoustics. What else does the article say? What else of real interest might be contained in those words?

Zeno

[zaragemca]

Well in that case I do agree with you into the historic value of the information,.."(he is refering that in those days few people would know how to play Tumba Francesa,also he is talking about the positioning of the drums,how they were layering the druming position,the articulation of the sounds in relation to where and how the drums was played,the differents frequencies obtained when they were playing the drum close to the edge, or toward the center,some of them laying down on the floor,some of them with forward inclination and the drum sustained between the legs,and some of them played in a seat/up position,also the names of the drums according to the place in the drumming ensemble)"...With the time, these approaches were modified,the Araras,the Bantus,the Carabalies,all have differents approaches which were being modified during interaction which each other in the Havana's,(Rumba and Carnivals scenarios),they were forced to change the approach of drumming becouse the competition was fierce,so it became better with more sophistication of the patterns and the sublimation of the structure created to develop the vocalization of the solos,and the multy/percussion patterns.And again I was bless to observed that through years.Dr. Zaragemca



Edited By zaragemca on 1140829682

[Berimbau]

Dear Zeno,
I've been in NOLA for Mardi Gras so I missed all this new stuff on tumbas francecas. I'm really far too hung over to translate much of anything today, so please bear with me!
As I said earlier, I don't really know too much about this tradition other than what Olavo Rodriguez and Ortiz have written. Dr. Z's suggestion that the Bantu may have influenced some of these performance practices sounds tenable enough, and I say go with him here.
Now Gerhard Kubik will be visiting me here next week and he has worked with the Fon in Benin, so I will ask him if they play any of their drums in a similar manner. He should know.



Saludos,



Berimbau

[zaragemca]

Saludos,Berimbau,but I would like for you to keep in mind that the people actualy living on Benin are not exactly the same which were there in 1500's when the first set of slaves came to the Caribbean,as I said before part of the actual population in that part of Africa,(West/Africa),have been replaced...(the original war of the African Empires,the Jihad of the Muslims,the wars of the European,the traffic of slaves,and Famine have taken a toll in the original population.),Secondly after the Haitian revolution,the French/Colonos and slaves concentrated themselves in the Oriental part of Cuba,(Baracoa,Santiago de Cuba,Holgin,etc.),so that is the reason that the Tumba/Francesa was established in that part of the country.Dr. Zaragemca



Edited By zaragemca on 1141330485

[JohnnyConga]

I myself learned some, Haitian rhythms while living in Miami that has some very fine Voudoo drummers-Damballah-Ton Ton, and others. It is common practice to sit on the drum and play it while you "dampen" the sound, with the heel of your foot, to change pitch. That is what I know...."JC" Johnny Conga...

[Berimbau]

Dr. Z and I are on the same page...... again!! Should I worry? Only kidding, Z!!!! I totally agree with you visa vis the tumbas francecas. What I wonder is if the horizontal approach to drumming is practiced in Benin, otherwise, I would say that the Bantu influenced the Haitian source of that venerable Cuban tradition. But what about the tumbas in old Jamaica, French set girls, etc? If you can, try and find those old Belissario prints. It DOES look a lot like the Cuban thing!


Saludos,


Berimbau

[zaragemca]

Saludos a few years ago there was a festival here were a lot of African Ensembles were featured,(including Benin),they were playing some mid/range,and big drums with sticks and following the dancing path of the dancers.,but nothing like Tumba/Francesa..The main thing in the show was the costumes and the dancers....With Jamaica it is another situation,in the British/Colonies they didn't allow drumming,so jamaica would have to way to their independization to use any drumming, but after the liberation they were more concerned with moving to other places like Cuba,(looking for better places to work),than with creating drums.Dr. Zaragemca



Edited By zaragemca on 1141661887

[Berimbau]

Actually the drum bans in Jamaica were, according to researcher Marjorie Whylie, entirely ineffective. For an island so small, Jamaica boasts an extraordinary amount of hand drum traditions.
Some of the traditions such as the various types of Maroon drums have been on the island for centuries, others came with the so-called "late arrivants," African indentured laborers from Kongo and Nigeria.
To name a few Jamaican hand drum styles: Maroon, Buru, Nyabinghi, Kumina, and Jonkanu. Even the Southeastern US had an "underground" African-derived hand drum tradition, which I will illuminate in an upcoming publication. As Caetano Veloso once sang, prohibiting is prohibited!


Saludos,



Berimbau

[davidpenalosa]

Berimbau,
Please announce when your article about the Southeastern US "underground" African-derived hand drum tradition is published. I can't wait!
-David