Play the contagious ‘tamboo bamboo’

By Lara Pickford-Gordon, snrwriter.camsel@catholictt.org

Tamboo Bamboo was the precursor to steelpan and was born out of resistance to the British ban on beating drums during Carnival. Tamboo bamboo bands are rare today but one of these rare gems is the Gasparillo Tamboo Bamboo Specialists from Parforce, Gasparillo.

In an interview at Parforce, three members of the group—Neil Joseph, Steve Whitticker, and Anderson Henry shared their experiences and how the simple bamboo is turned into a musical instrument.

The group has 20 members but for performances there may be six to 12 players. Most members are between 25 to 35 years. The veteran players told The Catholic News when they were younger, it was not easy to get into the tamboo bamboo band in the community.

Henry said one of the leaders discouraged him. “…he didn’t want the small ones to play.” He added, “The older guys didn’t want the younger ones to play, the mixing; mostly you going wake and you drinking and thing, and they didn’t want that…”

At 18 years, Henry was determined not to be excluded. “I want to play the tamboo bamboo, because it is contagious”. He recalled using obscene language in annoyance. “I say I going in the band. I went and cut a bamboo and I join the band at 18 years”. In March, he will be 68 and would reach a milestone of 50 years with the band.

“When I joined the band, it balance off with the other beaters. It come like you getting a tonal balance then,” he said with satisfaction with his input.

Whitticker said in the past there were tamboo bamboo bands in Whiteland and Caratal. He joined the Parforce band in his 30s and never stopped; he is now 78.  Why start playing tamboo bamboo? Whittiker’s response was simple: “I love it, I love how it does sound.”

Among  the past players of the band are: John Francis (dec), Atherly George (dec), Hollis Ampson (dec), Patricia Goddard (dec). Joseph said Francis was a “different type of player”.

“You could be new or old, but you can’t be playing out of time. He will take your bamboo and mash it up. He was a serious man,” Joseph said with a chuckle.

Carnival is a popular time for members to be active. Joseph said the band began playing “professionally” when it began receiving invitations from the National Carnival Commission to perform at regional Carnival launches in the 1980s and 1990s. They have been invited by schools to do workshops.

Joseph said young people in the village gravitated to tamboo bamboo because it is the only entertainment in the area. “So the youth want to be part of it and when they hear we going places and so on.”

The Gasparillo Tamboo Bamboo Specialists were among the entertainers at the opening of the John Cupid Carnival Village on February 7.

Tamboo bamboo accompanies stick fighting competitions and traditional mas. Apart from Carnival events, Joseph said, “We sing Chutney music and play Gospel, like if we go to a wake, a wake song, ‘A little more oil in my lamp’, and ‘One by one, two by two…”

They sing different lavways depending on the occasion. “It is just a verse and chorus and you can improvise,” Joseph said. He and Patrick Assevero are the lead singers.

Creating sound

The melodious tunes coming from the bamboo are generated when it is struck on a hard surface. “Off of the drop, you getting a sound, your drop comes like your timing…..” Joseph said.

More melodies are created when the bamboo is struck with a stick, called ‘a beater’. The ideal bamboo is the long joint type, 3 to 3.5 inches in diameter; the best beaters are made from the sturdy wood of the yellow poui tree.

The Catholic News was shown the process of selecting the right bamboo from a patch. It cannot be too young. Hollowing out between joints of the bamboo gives different tonal effects.

“You might get a low base or you might get a high base,” Joseph said as he demonstrated. The bamboo is checked to see there are no holes made by insects because this disrupts the sound quality.

“Long ago, they used to cut the bamboo any how and beat…it didn’t have no rhythmic sound really,” Joseph said. He named Atherly George as coming up with the idea to cut the bamboo four inches from the bottom joint to get a good sound. The bamboo is cleaned and treated with kerosene “or any wood cure for weevil not to attack it”.

It can be varnished after. The bamboo has different names: bass, foule and cutter, for the different pitches. The “foule” [fuller], Joseph said had the sound like a mid-range pan while the cutter is of higher pitch like a tenor.

Long ago, the tradition was to cut the bamboo three days before or three days after the full moon, this period was called, “dark night”. A tamboo bamboo can last for years. Whitticker has three from which he can choose when they go out to play; one is a bass that is ten years. For longevity, the instrument cannot be exposed to too much sun as it can crack.

After cutting pieces of bamboo, Whitticker, Henry and Joseph played the raw instruments for a catchy rhythm. This reporter even tried her hand. While I could not keep up, it was fun trying.