Trinidad Traditional Drumming

Starting with the first enslaved African people brought to Trinidad by the French Catholic planters, African creolized drumming has had a strong presence in secular society. This presence persevered through a series of oppressive laws and actions of the ruling elite which threatened to abolish these drumming styles from the Trinidadian culture. This study will examine the use of African creolized traditional/folk drums and the prominent drumming rhythms of Trinidad. The study of Trinidad traditional drumming has not been documented in the current dialogue of Trinidad percussion. Often this area of interest receives only a brief mention lacking significant detail and is overshadowed by more prominent areas of study including steelpan and Calypso music. The purpose of this study is to understand origins and provide a beginning exploration of Trinidad traditional drumming. Focusing on the culture and history of traditional/folk drums (i.e., cutter, fuller/foulé, and bass drums) in Trinidad will provide a contextual baseline for this study. An introduction of traditional/folk drumming instrumentation and derivation of these instruments leads into an analysis of Trinidad traditional/folk drumming styles including Belé, Piqué, Kalinda, Bongo, Coromantee, Temné, Manding, Congo, and Ebo. Analysis of these predominant styles aims to compile the historic use of these rhythms in Trinidad traditional/folk music.

Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2174. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left.