Traditional Junkanoo music instruments of the Bahamas Free

Junkanoo is a carnival‐like parade that takes place twice a year in the Bahamas. The parade grew out of the music practices of Africans who had been enslaved in the Bahamas during the nineteenth century. Today, the parade incorporates large, elaborate costumes, and music played on traditional instruments. The number of participants in Junkanoo has grown tremendously, and moves have been made to incorporate amplified, electronic music in the parade in order to project the volume of the music over the sounds of the participants and spectators. Despite attempts to incorporate amplified music, however, acoustic instruments have remained primary. Junkanoo music performance has retained many of its African characteristics in terms of timbre, percussion, and density, and throughout the past two decades adjustments have been made to the instruments to enhance these characteristics. In this discussion the instruments of the Junkanoo music tradition will be introduced, their timbral qualities will be examined, and their particular functions and relationships within the tradition will be explored.