Versatility Within French-Speaking Caribbean Countries

 Like every other category of Caribbean countries, the French-speaking countries also display the theme of versatility. Versatility can be seen with the sound of instruments, the materials used for instruments, the purpose of the instruments and the food of these countries.

Firstly, versatility can be seen with the differences in instruments. For the purpose of this blog, percussion instruments will be focused on. The genres Bele of Martinique and Gwoka of Guadeloupe are very similar in that they both are popular in rural areas according to Tour De Force: A Musical Journey of The Caribbean. This is as a result of the acceptance and the affirmed pride in African culture. Besides this, the two genres show versatility in the sounds and the way percussions are played. Both of these genres involve drums in their music. The Bele genre includes the tanbou drum.

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Above is a picture of a tanbou drum that is played in Bele songs. The tanbou drum is a large tambour drum with a low pitch. This drum is played with the player sitting astride the drum with the drum facing outward.  As the drum is facing outward, the player would lean over and beat on the drum with their hands or sometimes with sticks to make a rhythm and use a foot to control the pitch of the beats. This type of drum helps to give the song a rhythm. While the gwoka drums of Guadelope are similar to the tanbou they still are different in the sound and how they are played.

Video taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTDzHod7ytw

Above is a video with the gwoka drums being played. Gwoka drums also known as gwo ka or simply ka include two sets of drums. These drums are the boula and the make. The boula is similar to the tanbou drum of Martinique. It is a large drum that also produces a low pitch. This drum is played with both the hands and a foot to make the beats and rhythm. The boula is used to give rhythm to the singers and dancers that are performing. Unlike this, the make drum is a small drum that has a sharper tone. This drum is usually played with both hands with the player sitting on a slightly raised bench or tool with the drum in the front of them. While the tanbou and the boula are played to add rhythm to a song, the make is often improvised and embellishes the rhythm for singers and dancers.

Versatility can be seen within the sounds of these drums as well as the purpose of the drums within the songs. They vary within the size and the way they are played. Apart from these things, the drums also show versatility within the materials used to make them as outlined in Tour De Force: A Musical Journey of The Caribbean. The different materials and the way they are put together helps the drums to sound different. 

Taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfetsaKmv_s

Above is a video with a Haitian artist playing numerous drums including a tanbou drum. The tanbou drum is made with goatskin or sheepskin at the head of the drum. This skin is attached to a barrel that is wooden. This wooden barrel normally comes from am old rum barrel. This drum had metal tabs connected to the drumhead. These medal tabs allow players to change the tension and tune of the drum. This allows the sound of the drum to change or vary. The gwoka drums are made similarly to the tanbou drum but still some versatility is displayed. 

Picture taken from: https://www.yoair.com/blog/gwoka-the-beats-and-rhythms-of-guadeloupe/#:~:text=They're%20made%20of%20oak,determines%20which%20drum%20is%20which.

Above is a picture of both the boula and make drums. They are made with barrels like the tanbou drum. This can also be from old rum barrels that are make from oak, cedar, mahogany or pear wood. They also use goatskin at the drumhead. The difference between the two drums comes in with the thickness of the goatskin at the drumhead. When it comes to the boula drum, the goatskin is thicker. On the other hand, the goat skin is thinner on the make drum. This allows for the two drums to produce two different sounds.

Altogether, versatility can be seen through the materials and the way the drums are made. The tanbou has a different sound because of the metal tabs and the boula and make drums have different sounds because of the thickness of the goatskin at the drumhead. These allow the theme of versatility to be displayed.

Apart from the versatility within instruments, there is also versatility within the food of the French-speaking Caribbean countries. Continuing with Guadeloupe and Martinique, the national dish of the countries are very different. 

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Above is a picture of grilled snapper which is the national dish of Martinique. This dish includes creole sauce. The dish is made with grilled snapper, chiva, onions, parsley, tomatoes, peppers and other spices.

Video taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxqr5XlXPsg

Above is a video of the national dish of Guadeloupe being made. The national dish of Guadeloupe is porc colombo. This dish is made with cinnamon, thyme, curry powder, stewed pork, green pepper, onion, garlic, sweet potatoes, diced tomatoes, and spicy peppers.

These dishes show that there is versatility within this category of Caribbean islands because of the appearance of the dishes as well as the different ingredients. The appearance of the grilled snapper appears very spicy and surrounded with herbs. While the porc colombo is often served with rice and doesn’t appear watery. The ingredients of the dishes also show versatility as they both have ingredients that bring out different flavors.