Since the drums of leather of origin African to European guitars and accordions, passing through the maracas indigenous people and the melodies brought by the migrations North Americans and Haitians, the identity sonorous of the Dominican Republic is a mosaic of traditions and cultural legacies.
The culture Dominican has three basic roots: Taíno, African and Spanish, recalls the sociologist and historian Carlos Andújar. In addition to others that have been integrated over the years in the formation of the identity national.
When referring to the music DominicanAndújar explains that this has predominantly African roots, but with European influence, especially Spanish, both in the sound and in the dance of the local rhythms.
“There are three elements that are mixed in the music. The organology of the music Dominican It has a lot to do with the music African. Everything that has to do with drumsmarimba, drum and tambora, sticks, the drums, are from the culture African. The rhythmic base (the sound) of the music Dominican is Africanand there is a conjugation organology of presence African What is the percussion“Andújar points out.
The bachataother rhythm Dominicanto be performed traditionally requires a small group of musicians with one or two guitars, a double bass and a set of tools of percussion: bongos, maracas and güiro. These string materials are inherited from the Europeans, but their sound remains African.
Although there is a mix of tools coming from two different cultures, the bachata Dominican it’s a rhythm Africanwhich produces a sensual, deeply dynamic and moving body dance.
“That’s why we dance the meringue we twisted and danced the bachata using the whole body, by the rhythm African “which is maintained. But the choreography is European, because the couple dances are European,” adds Andújar, explaining that Africans dance alone, in groups and loosely.
Musical identity
Before and after the arrival of the Spanish in 1492, the natives had a sound code. “Although we do not have a faithful reference of what the code was like, music At that time, we know what their toolsbecause they are documented, and therefore we can make an extrapolation,” says percussionist and folklorist Edis Sánchez.
He adds that the review historical sonorous Dominican comes with European, African contributions, and now with foreign influence (Americans, Haitians, etc.). “Thanks to that we have a wealth musical very big,” he says.
Merengue and its roots
The identity of the music Dominican It has been based on the meringue. This rhythm It has a late bill with many faces, but, in general, Sánchez defines it as the music of drums of leather that has origin African.
The faces of the meringue could be divided into three: the music of drums with voices, music of drums with tools Europeans (guitars, violins, cuatro, tres, mandolin) and the music of accordion with drums where the carabiné, the mangulina, the comarca, the priprí and a series of styles that converge with that instrumentation were developed.
In addition, there is the meringue typicalwhere there is no tambora pattern.
Additionally, in the music Dominican There is the Creole, the bolero, the son, until reaching the bachata which is a style of drums with strings. That triangle expresses the identity of the music Dominican.
Instruments and their origin
- Drums: with the drums There are melodic forms, harmonic forms, tonalities, etc. All of them tools of percussion are typical of the culture African. “Something that is in the identity of the music Dominican “It’s the ability that artists have to play the same notes over and over again without being musically prepared,” says Sánchez.
- Güira: Although there is no evidence of the güira in the culture indigenous, yes there is maracas and they have been found archaeologically, this is why the sound is Dominican and is Caribbean.
- Accordion: an important aspect of the identity of the music Dominican This is what happens with the accordion. It is a proper instrument Europeanbut the tessitura or the way of singing African of the Dominican They made it so that, when he arrived on the island, he adapted to the singers and not the other way around.
This instrument and the way it is used in the music Dominican It is not the same in Europe as in Quisqueya.
“All the accordions that arrive in the country are transported, taken to an expert, and he changes the tuning so that it adapts; raising the tone, changing its European tonality, which in the country they call ‘sad’, for a high tone, which they call ‘happy’, more adapted to the idiosyncrasy Dominican“, says the folklorist.
The anthropology of Dominican music
Anthropologically, the music Dominican It is diverse. It is rich because of all the ethnic contributions it has. People refer to it meringue because it has three identities: the tambora Africanthe güira indigenous and the accordion European.
The sound is a rhythm with maracasan instrument of the culture indigenous. In the meringueas in the bachatathe maraca became the güira.
Level musicalDominicans are also influenced by the migrations of the States United, they bring new songs and melodies from the freed black man.
The wealth musical It is also shown in all fields and cities through a cappella songs: rituals for saints and the deceased.
Each music and rhythm Dominican has a content historical and social speaker, and a reservoir of information. An example of this is the song that says: “Calunga um, calunga um.” Calunga is a goddess or a spirit.
