Carlos A Arcila C

                 This essay intends to present a brief overview about the music of the Colombia Pacific coast, and how the people that are living there, are directly connected with music in different moments of their lives. Also, to show how music plays a dual function in these communities, both religious and profane.

Geographic Location

            The Pacific coast is located in the occident of Colombia. It is a zone of 83.170 square kilometers that includes parts of four departments (provinces):  Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño. This entire region is characterized by high humidity due to its higher rainfall, considered one of the highest in the world with an annual average of 4.000 millimeters and in some places of 12.000 millimeters (Martinez 2005).

This zone is inhabited by Afro-Colombians who live inside the richest region of Colombia because its natural resources, but in very poor conditions. Also, we can find several indigenous communities belonging to different ethnic groups such as: Embera, Awa, and Embera-Chami among others (Martinez 2005).

Customs and values

         The Colombian Pacific Coast is one of the most important regions in Colombia, not only for its natural resources, but also for its people. These people, despite of their marginalized condition, are characterized by an enviable sense of humor, and a wonderful musical wealth. These black communities are inhabitants with a low level education due to a lack of schools, high schools, and universities in this region. Also, the limited participation in development programs from the government, and the huge presence of subversive groups, which are in opposition to the current government, make these people migrate to large cities, widening poverty belts, looking for better opportunities that may improve the quality of their lives. It is worth citing, that these people do not have a better life in the big cities. They arrived with their lives in a bag; all they have are dreams that were growing in their minds day by day. Although these people are strong in their beliefs, the big city is overwhelming and has no mercy; many of them end up in prison, for the reason that their families have to eat, and they cannot get a job easily. Therefore, many become thieves or members of gangs, and just a few can get a job.  The migration of both indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities remains one of the biggest problems in Colombia.

            Those black communities, which remain in the Pacific coastal zone, have a strong sense of unity, and their families are their most important institution. These people show a dominant masculine presence in which the father is the economical support, but women are the backbone of the family. In many cases, the economical support provided by the father is affected by the fact that many men have two or in some cases three women as lovers, at the same time, making it much more difficult to get enough money for all of them. Children start to work at an early age; they go to fish with their fathers or they stay at home doing housework. The economical situation in these dysfunctional families is very awful, making women to take the responsibility for their children changing roles within the relationship. Women become the breadwinners. Because the idea of many children means a lot of labor support, and the circumstances of poverty, neglect, abandonment, and lack of government support, became the principal reason to conform extended families.

Music in community life

            Music plays a very important role inside of these Afro-Colombian communities. The knowledge of these people and their cultures has been transmitted through generation to generation since they arrived from Occidental Sudan, Congo, Guinea Coast, and desert zone, all those places are found in Africa. The Yoruba and Bantu were the most widespread African cultures in the New Kingdom of Granada (Colombia) in the XVII century. These groups of slaves were brought to the coastal regions by Spaniards as slaves to work in the agriculture and mining (Lopez 1980, 69). Many of these people escaped from the plantations or from mining quadrille, penetrating the jungle established in remote areas. This new status of freedom and isolation, as cimarrones, helped them to be purely preserved pure in their own traditions. According to some scholars, they have the most unadulterated musical expression in Colombia. In 1759, once the English dominance was finish, and Cartagena de Indias started to fall in importance as a major port for slaves trade, a slave trade was conducted in Chocó showing a result of 447 slaves with African last name they were: 139 minas, 80 congos,47 araras, 45 carabalies, 30 chambas, 25 chalas, 23 setres, 21 mandingas, 17 popos and 10 tembos. (Mosquera 2004, 37) After the abolition of slavery in Colombia in 1852 (Archivo General de la Nacion 2008) slaves got their freedom but even so they were the ones with the largest restrictions to participate in the society (Escalante 1964, 139). They started creating small towns and began to experience life on their own, and music became an important means to gather people in every event.

            As Hortense Powdermaker state, “The Negro did not come here culturally naked.” (Powdermaker 1939, xi), referring to the African slaves in the Americas, it is important to notice that the same phenomenon happened in the South Pacific Colombian coast. We have to be aware that African slaves not only brought their strength to work, but also their music, customs and beliefs. These slaves were ruled by the same ‘Master’, under the shadow of religion that Europeans used to practice in the name of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, known as the Catholic King & Queen of Spain(Kwintessential n.d.). These religious activities also brought by missionaries who were accompanied by music, and slaves were allowed to bring drums at these religious services, as part of a Catholicism strategy to converting them to Christianity. As a result, slaves started playing their drums mixing them with sacred music (Arango and Valencia 2011). Over time, they appropriated this music to be part of religious context so characteristic of this region, such as:  chigualos, velatorios, novenarios, velorio de santo, velorio, alumbramiento, guali, angelito bailao, muerto-alegre and so on (Morales 1983, 221).

            The people in the zone of Pacific Littoral have numerous African retentions as music, musical instruments, dance, ritual, folkways and a large vocabulary, are still preserved inside of these black communities (Escalante 1964, 172).  In like manner, a lot of customs and Spanish music remain in these communities that have a broad repertoire of Mazurkas, Polkas, Jotas, Danza, Ronda, Pasillo, and Contradances (Marulanda 1984).  As expressed by Peter Manuel in his book Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean, the phenomenon occurred in the Spanish Caribbean, ‘in Colombia as well,’ with the prevalence of some music. “The contradance and quadrille, far from flourishing solely in the insular Caribbean have taken root in various forms and at various times throughout the Americas, from Peru to Vermont.” (Manuel 2009, 2). Today, these dances and music are performed in Chocó in the same way that was performed in Europe since the XVI century. This music is principally preserved in the province of Chocó, played by wind ensembles, chirimias, and military bands. In addition, this music has becomes part of the national repertoire from the wind bands through the whole country (Valencia and Ferrer 1994, 16). The contradance was brought in XVII century as a dance, and prevails with certain modifications essentially in their instrumentation. It was performed in ballrooms by military bands or wind bands in leisure time or because it was the fashionable music for bourgeoisie in Chocó (Marulanda 1984). Later, we will go into detail about these songs and dances.

            According to Abadia Morales, the Colombian Pacific Coast has plenty of musical tunes due to three principal factors: the presence of indigenous communities, the Negro slaves from Africa, and the survival of Spanish songs that today are preserved with few modifications(Morales 1983, 211). The Currulao is a dance and a tune that can be considered as principal base rhythm in the zone (212). Inhabitants of this Pacific region say that Patacore, Bereju, Juga, and Pango among others are rhythms derived from the Currulao. This music has high emotional levels of interpretation, and therefore it is very flexible.  The making of this music is something truly quixotic when it comes to transcription. Currulao is in continuous transformation because its variability is a constant, and principally because this music is learned by oral tradition. So for that reason, it does not have notation and the orality becomes the main source of apprenticeship in those communities.

Conformation of a typical group of Marimba de Chonta and Chirimia group

Typical group of Marimba de Chonta

A typical group of Marimba de Chonta is composed of: one marimba de chonta, two bombos, two cununos, and five guasas played by the cantaoras.

Marimba de Chonta: Percussion instrument made by a row of small pieces of wood (chonta) with different measures and width. Under these pieces of wood hang different pipes of bamboo called “guadua”. These pipes have different measures which vary in length according to the small pieces of wood that are put above. This instrument is commonly hung from the ceiling using handmade ropes named “cabuya”  (see picture 1) and is played by one or two performers who use four drumsticks that are individually wrapped at the top with elastic like natural rare gum. The performer who plays in the low register side of the marimba is called “bordonero”. The other one, who plays in the high register part of the marimba, is called “tiplero”.

Fig. 1

        Marimba de Chonta, by Carlos Arcila, 2005

Cununos drum: These kinds of drums belong to the single membrane family and these particular drums are called male and female “cununo”. They are made out of wood and possess a conical barrel shape and measure approximately 60 to 90 centimeters high and 35 to 40 centimeters in diameter. Their bottom is covered with a round piece of wood “balso” or “machare”. The top part of the instrument is covered with “tatabro” skin (wild pig) or deer, using a special process and as their manufacturers say, they are strongly tied with a leather rope. In this manner, wedges are put between the leather ropes and the external wall of the “cununo” in order to tune it by giving strong blows to the wedges. The female “cununo”, is almost the same but a little bit smaller and its tuning is in a higher range than the male “cununo”.

Fig. 2

            Cununos, by Carlos Arcila, 2005

Bombos Macho y Hembra: These kinds of drums belong to the family of the two membranes. Its construction is a cylindrical emptied drum of “balso” wood and its ends are covered with membranes called “parches”. The right membrane is made out of deer skin and the left membrane is made of skin from the male “tatabro”. These “parches” are held by two rings tied with leather ropes which allow to change the tuning. The big one is the bombo macho (male drum) called golpeador or hitter, and the small one is the bombo hembra  (female drum) called “arrullador” that means to lull.

Fig. 3

            Bombo Macho and Bombo Hembra, by Carlos Arcila, 2005

Guasa: It is an internodes bamboo called “guadua”, which has more or less fifty centimeters length and eight centimeters diameter. Inside the guasa are seeds that produce the sound when it is shaken. The ends are covered with the same wood and large chonta thorns cross the “guasa”. Its sonority is low and poor, so in a performance, between five and six “guasas” are used at the same time. This instrument is generally played by the “cantadoras” or “guasaceras” (female singers).

Fig. 4

             Guasa, by Carlos Arcila, 2005

            This typical group of Marimba de Chonta can be used to perform a wide repertoire of secular and religious music. Different towns of this zone in the Pacific, play more or less with the same group configuration. Sometimes these groups can be seen performing with one or two marimba players and three or five guasa players called “cantaoras”. It is important to know that “cantaoras” are women who sing and play the guasa at the same time. This does not mean that men are not allowed to sing and play the guasa, they can do it, but it is much more common for women.  Some small groups can be seen performing currulaos with one “cununo,” one “bombo,” and one “marimba”.  This is not frequently seen but happens in occasion.  

            Commonly the typical marimba group stands in a semi-circle where the cantaoras are in front of the group. Behind of them are the male and female cununos and male and female drums, and beside the drums is the marimba de chonta. This configuration is the most common standard formation on the scenario or just while they perform. Another way to perform music in the area of the Pacific Littoral can be seen in December when the festivities start within a religious context, doing processions and marches along the main street of the town carrying the statues of saints or the Virgin Mary on their shoulders. The marimba is carried by two volunteers in the procession, in the same way, bombos (male and female drums), cununos (male and female tubular drums), are carried by the performers while they are playing, while they are marching, beside the cantaoras (singer woman who also play the guasa) who are singing and playing. It is worth citing, that in Guapi exists one of the most important religious celebrations. They are called the “balsadas,” the most colorful celebration and really, they are amazing. The festival of the town begins with the ‘Balsadas’ (many boats down the river), on December 7^th with the Immaculate. This day, its inhabitants have a greatest demonstration of joy in celebration of the town’s patron, on the Guapi river. These boats are adorned with nature elements that habitants get from the environment. Also, the river is lit with torches, and the boats carry a group of musicians who sing and play the music from the region while others burn fireworks (Observatorio Pacifico y territorio 2011).

Chirimia Group

            Today, a typical group of chirimia is comprised of: one bass drum, one snare drum, a pair of small clashing cymbals, clarinet, saxhorn, and saxophone. The amount of wind instruments depends on the group configuration. The name “chirimia” comes from the instrument that Spaniards brought with them during the colonization, which was very popular in all colonial centers. Groups of chirimia previously played the melody with carriso flutes (made with wood pipes from the region called carriso, kind of bamboo) and then the carriso flute was replaced by clarinet.

            The bass drum: It is the same type of drum (bombo macho) that is played with the marimba group. Its construction is a cylindrical emptied drum of “balso” wood and its ends are covered with membranes called “parches”.

            Snare drum: “a small double-headed drum with one or more snares stretched across its lower head.” (Merriam-Webster 2011).

Cymbals clashed, clarinet, saxhorn, and saxophone are European instruments that came with the Spanish military bands.

            According to Napoleon Garcia, a priest in Quibdo, the first instruments to arrive at the municipality of Quibdo came with the Claretian Missionaries. In 1935 the priest Isaac Rodriguez came to Quibdo, and he founded the parish school of music in 1948. This school was very important to musical development in Quibdo Chocó. He taught music theory, composition, and he was conducted the wind band and children’s choir (Arango and Valencia 2011).

Rhythms in the Colombian Pacific Coast

El Currulao

            The Currulao is the musical genre more representative on the Pacific coast department (province) Cauca, but is danced and performed in the whole Pacific zone. It may be part of the profane music, as well as found within the religious context for special events. Although the Currulao is considered as the most pure musical genre in Colombia, it cannot be ignored that, it is the result of a mixture of three cultural heritages, it is a musical syncretism “Arturo Ramos, the Brazilian anthropologist, was one of the first to employ it in this context” (Herskovits 1958, xxxvi) in which African, European, and Indigenous cultures take part in it. The Currulao is “Zambo” and its mayor traits are African; they can be found present in their drums and responsorial songs. The following are some musical transcriptions that show the differences between: bombos, cununos, guasa, and marimba de chonta. These transcriptions are the result of a long study made in the municipality of Guapi Cauca, and in the city of Cali Valle, with the most outstanding musicians from the South Pacific coast. To understand how the instruments are played, I am proposing some conventions for each instrument.

Drums conventions

(           Hit the membrane in the left side with the mallet stick.

o          Open blow. Hit the membrane with the mallet, letting it vibrate.

    Close blow. Hit the membrane muting the sound with the mallet.

       Hit the barrel and the membrane at the same time letting it vibrate.

~          Mute the membrane sound with the right hand.

+          Hit the barrel with the mallet stick.

Cununo conventions

a            Open blow. Hit the cununo membrane letting it vibrate.

b            Close blow. Hit the cununos membrane muting the sound.

Guasa conventions

*         To avoid scattered seeds sound

s          To allow scattered seeds sound

 Raise the guasa

i          Left hand

d         right hand

Fig. 5

 

Bombo macho

Fig. 6

Bombo hembra

Fig. 7

Cununo macho

Fig. 8

Cununo hembra

Fig. 9

Guasa base

Fig. 10

Bordon marimba

Fig. 11

Requinta marimba

            It is worth to knowing, that the currulao is the mother of 90 % of rhythms in the region. Therefore, more or less the same pattern can be found in the Juga, Patacore, Bereju, Bambara negra, Pango, and Bambuco viejo.

            The Currulao has a beautiful and somewhat complicated choreography. First, the men wave a handkerchief following the music metric in a row in front of women. Then, men dance in front of women drawing an imaginary square on the floor while women stay calm in the same place following the time signature of the music. Next, women move around men dancing backward while they are in the initial position. Next, both cross back in the centre of the stage and after they move toward the same initial position. Next, women and men begin stomping alternating their feet, and spinning in the same place. Next, the couples go to the center of the stage and get face to face and after that, they make a shaped eight figure for later return to the initial position stomping, marking the steps. At the end, the couples make one intercropping row lead by a woman and leave the stage following the music (Marulanda 1984, 236).

La Juga

            The word “Juga” is a lexical deturpation of the word “fugue” used in classical music, in which Johan Sebastian Bach was the maximum exponent, and by reference to the way in that two voices are singing (Morales 1983, 218).

Patacore

            Etymologically, this seems to be derived from a voice, in the language of a tribal group of Cholo or Embera, designated to the banana plantain (Morales 1983, 213). Patacore has the same musical structure that can be seen in the Currulao. According to Genaro Torres Solis, a marimba de chonta performer in Guapi, the differences are in the “rebueltas”, which means: how the performer plays the “requinta.” As in the Currulao, the Patacore has “bordon” and “requinta,” but these vary from region to region. As reported by Guillermo Abadia Morales, Pango, Bereju, and Patacore are very closely related, having many similarities. The notorious difference lies in the conjugation of voices when they are performed (214).

 

Bunde or Chigualo

           

            This term has a very broad meaning. Many songs that belong to the repertoire of the Pacific Littoral are called Bunde, but when these songs do not become part of the playful child repertoire, they are part of the mortuary songs repertoire. The Chigualo or Bunde is a funeral ritual, like a “death cults” in which the pain for the loss of a familiar changes in rejoicing and happiness because of the entrance of the child’s soul in the kingdom of the spirits. The women put the body of a dead child into a hanging wooden box. The coffin is pulled and swinging, which represents the travel towards heaven. This travel, symbolize the transformation of the dead child into an angel.  Music, alcohol, dances, and melancholic song transform the grief into a drunken joy (222).           

Alabao

            As expressed by Octavio Marulanda in his book El folclor de Colombia, the Alabao is a choral funeral that takes the chanting of Christian praises, making of it a funeral song for adults. Women mainly sing it in a non-metrical way. The Alabao is an

a cappella chant (Marulanda 1984, 220).

Arrullo or Arrorro, Salve, and Villancico

            In agreement with Abadia Morales, all of them are religious tunes of praise. The Arrullo or Arrorro, are lullaby chants related with the birth of Jesus Christ, and they can be performed as a Bunde. The Salve is an Alabao dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Also, it can be performed in funeral ceremonies. The Villancico is Hispanic in origin as shepherd song, which has become at Christmas celebration songs. As in Arrullo, the Villancico may be performed as a Bunde or lullaby (225).

Contradanza Chocoana

            As reported by Peter Manuel in his book, Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean, “While some have argued for a French origin of the dance, the prevailing scholarly consensus traces its origin to sixteenth-century England, once it crossed the Channel to become enthusiastically adopted and domesticated in France and Holland.” (Manuel 2009). The contradance arrived to Colombia, settling in the Chocó principally. To date, the contradanza in Chocó is very commonly performed with a few modifications, preserving the original figures. As a musical genre the Contradanza Chocoana is still performed in important cultural events, its time signature is 2/4, and it has AABB form structure  (Morales 1983, 230). The Contradanza like the Mazurka, Polka, and Jota, is among the richest examples of folkloric dance in Chocó. These dances were learned by slave miners at the masters parties, they used the same clothes, ornaments, and musical instruments; albeit these instruments were subjected to some modifications as occurred with the “flauta de carrizo” which in turn was replaced by the clarinet, though the structure prevailed as above mentioned. The dance starts with a quadrille in groups of four holding hands making a circle with lively movements, they go back and forth with side slopes on both sides (Marulanda 1984, 232).

Mazurka Chocoana

           

            The Mazurka Chocoana is written in triple meter, with an accent on the first beat of the measure, unlike the accent on the second or third beat, as the Polish Mazurka folk. In agreement with Leonidas Valencia, in his book El Choco y su Folklore, the Mazurca Chocoana has a very structured choreography and a lot of body expression, giving dancers much more elegance (Valencia and Ferrer 1994).

Polka Chocoana

           

            Like Mazurka and Contradanza Chocoana, the Polka Chocoana came with the Spanish in time of conquest and colonization (Morales 1983, 229). The Polka Chocoana, is a ballroom dance invented originally in Eastern Bohemia, Czechoslovakia; it is an animated couple dance, that upon arriving in Chocó, originated what today is know as Africa-influenced Polka Chocoana (Valencia and Ferrer 1994, 17).

Jota Chocoana

            In Chocó, there are two varieties; one is called simple Jota, and the other, minor Jota. The minor Jota, refers to the musical tone in which it is played, missing long time ago in Europe (Morales 1983, 230).

            The Contradanza, Mazurka, Jota, and Polka Chocoana are called influenced tunes, due to their origin and small changes to which they were subjected. These small changes are reflected in changing the time measure, which is sometimes fast, sometimes slow, because native musicians started composing music within these formats. These dances are part of Colombian’s culture, and they are still being performed by Wind Bands, and Chirimias (Valencia and Ferrer 1994). The rhythms above mentioned, are only a few of the large quantity in the region.  

The oral tradition in the Colombian Pacific Coast

            The oral tradition became an essential part in the culture of Afro-Colombians, principally in the way that these inhabitants, expresses their lives, and events that are related to their environment. Singing, and telling histories or transmitting the knowledge generation to generation. The orality, is the main source of inheritance becoming one of the most important aspects for the survival of Pacific culture, keeping alive their culture and beliefs. Below, there is a history narrated by Genaro Torres Solis, in a conversation we had at his home, on August 7, 2006, on the vereda Sanson Guapi Cauca.

            I remember when my father told me: son, do not let me drop the bambuco viejo (also called currulao). Believe me that here we danced straight eight days without stopping; the houses were falling to the ground and got up again. In those days, everything was good. We would dance, drink guarapo (drink made from the sugar cane) and play music until we fell down drunk, but everyone takes care of you.

There are many tales that relate the marimba with the devil. There is a special one, narrated by Genaro Tores Solis:

            When my father was here making marimbas, a short man with a small hat made from leaf of palm tree came and told him: Hi my friend – and my father replied – hello my friend, I’m here doing a couple of marimbas – in this moment, the small man jumped from the stairs that were below and stood beside may dad. My dad began playing the marimba from this key (on the mid-high range), no, no, no, don’t play in that key – said the little man – you should play from here Jose Torres (my father) you have to play like this; and he showed him how to play two keys up. Then, my father was the best marimba player ever in this region, because that man came and taught my father how to play the marimba. I was there, also my mom, but she was in the kitchen and she asks me: Genaro, yes mom – I answered very polite because we are not rude with our parents – who’s that man? - I don’t know, but he is playing marimba with my dad. Then, My mom said – hopefully, not the wrong enemy and she saw through the window and said: Oh yes, he is (referring to the devil) immediately, she began to pray and when we began looking for him, only saw the smoke that the short man left behind him, but he left my father very skilled.

            Finally, one can say that music in the Colombian Pacific coast is virginal. It is waiting to be recognized by the whole world as an important cultural heritage. These people are full of customs and traditions, their music has been preserved for years, but today it is in danger; it is disappearing for lack of apprentices interested in continuing the tradition. The old marimberos are dying and their music is dying with them. As above-mentioned, these musical syncretism were an experiment in coincidence, but this coincidence became the heart of our Colombian music, by the combination of the Indigenous, Spanish and Africans. It is time to look after these Afro-Colombian communities, helping them to preserve their music and culture. They are part of our national identity. Fortunately, the Marimba music was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee made the decision in Nairobi, Kenya. (Colombia Reports 2011)

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