tambu music

Our inventory is currently under development. We are actively working on rewriting and improving all pages. As a result, you may come across both rewritten and non-rewritten texts. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Tambu is a collective name for various elements of a tradition that originates from the Netherlands Antilles and is now maintained also in the Netherlands. Tambu is primarily the name of a drum. Making a tambu belongs to the tradition. Furthermore Tambu is also the name of the music genre, the dance, the associated singing and the feast during which these elements are performed. There are, however, different elements in the Tambu on the various islands. The tambu as a major instrument is accompanied by music made with a wiri, a chapi , an agan and a triangle. On these metal instruments, often parts of agricultural tools, the rhythm is struck with a metal stick. Bystanders accompany the dance by clapping their hands. Moreover, there is a male of female lead singer and a choir that answers to what is sung, or repeats it. On the Antilles, Tambu is often celebrated in between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. In the Netherlands Tambu-evenings are organised throughout the year in Rotterdam. The community consists primarily of groups of musicians, singers and dancers. For the time being the makers of the tambu instrument are still all living on the Antilles. The community from Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao in the Netherlands, young and old, attends the Tambu festivals. At the same time there is a growing group of non-Antilleans who can be included in the Tambu community. As of 1665 slaves from Africa arrived at Curacao, taking their music and dance with them. In the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Tambu developed out of various West-African dances, music and rituals. The Tambu arose at Curacao as ritual music and a means of communication. The custom spread from Curacao to Aruba and Bonaire. On Bonaire the drum is also known as barí . On Aruba the tambu is used as a musical instruments during the Dande celebration, shortly before New Year’s Eve. The Tambu was originally made from a keg that had been used for transporting foodstuff overseas. A goat or sheepskin was stretched over the keg. The Tambu songs once sung about the abuses on the plantations and all kinds of emotions. In the twentieth century they also covered political and everyday events. Momentarily all kinds of subjects are sung. Couples dancing Tambu are not allowed to touch each other, but they dance close to one another. The Tambu was rejected by the church, the music as well as the dance. Between 1936 and 1952 Tambu music, dance and festivities were even prohibited. In spite of this ban it was done in secret. After 1952 the ban was eased and as of 2012 Tambu celebrations have been allowed everywhere again. Emigrants going to the Netherlands have taken the Tambu custom with them. Now integration with other traditional music groups is taking place. One celebrates Tambu throughout the year in roofed halls instead of in the open air and the code of conduct of the dance is loosened.