Band and Society

In the very early days of slavery and oppression in Trinidad, the blacks and other minorities used music as a way to protest the inequality and structural violence. Because the society enforced slavery it perpetuated the cycle of poverty for minorities who were unable to attain a higher social status. Music was a way of showing the upper class that they were capable of more than manual labor because it requires organization and commitment.

As one source claims, the origins of the current form of Carnival go all the way back to 1881 and the Cannes Brule riot. Former slaves would celebrate their freedom by marching in the streets in bands and singing traditional Kalinda songs every year on the anniversary of Emancipation Day. Cannes Brule--referring to the cane fires of the days of slavery—became a pageant with mock kings and queens of each band along with other royalty, and different bands competing for supremacy. The “champion” of each band would lead them singing songs about the band and all they had done. When they would come across a band who thought they were superior, the leader of each would do “battle”. It was a bit like boxing except that you had drummers beating out different rhythms to direct the fighters, and singers as referees. Although it was a violent way to solve the problem, the battles had a logic and set of rules. It is different from how we are taught to solve those types of problems but not necessarily worse. Once one leader had bled from the head a little, the battle was over, and no one was hit while they were down.

In 1881 there was a riot because the blacks had wanted to perform this Cannes Brule in the days leading up to Mardi Gras, the upper-class fete started in Europe. Captain Baker of the police decided to try to stop the blacks from marching and a riot ensued. Cannes Brule was forced underground for a while, but the tradition was incorporated into what would become Carnival in later years. As we now can tell, by keeping the music going even when being persecuted for it, the former slaves were taking an active role in forming what would be the new Trinidad culture.

Through the incorporation of the “negro” celebration into the exclusively upper class Mardi Gras, there was an effective leveling of race and class barriers. The whites began joining the bands to play drums and or other instruments beside the black population who had established the bands. This lasted from the late 1800s until the industrialization of Trinidad in the mid 1900s, when the division between rich and poor became extreme again and the old hatred sprang to the surface. Whenever there is inequality, a large difference between the rich and the poor in a country, problems ensue because those at the bottom feel jealous and angry at those at the top. And if a society does not do things to change the situation, there will be violence of some sort.

During the time of the World Wars, the people had to get creative with the material used to make their drums because everything was either illegal to posses or expensive, until oil drums became plentiful when an oil company came to the island. This is the reason steel pan was incorporated into Carnival and many types of traditional music. The music produced by panmen was very different and it appealed to people in all classes. This did not stop the aggression and hatred among lower classes however. Even today you can see that aggression in the street fights that occasionally break out. Today, though, even the upper classes participate in the steel pan movement. They have bands of their own and have joined already established bands. Although there is still fighting and conflict, the steel pan drum saved the music of Carnival and reduced some of the day to day tensions.

Citation:

Elder, J. D. "Color, Music, and Conflict: A Study of Aggression in Trinidad with Reference to the Role of Traditional Music." Ethnomusicology. Vol. 8, No. 2. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1964: 128-36.