Instruments

Just as each Maroon community has its own distinctive musical genres, each is distinguished by it own kinds of instrumentation. Despite this variation, it is clear that the musical genres and instruments of the different Maroon communities are historically related to each other.

The typical ensemble used by Moore Town Maroons consists of two long cylindrical drums headed with cords and tuned with wedges, which are held between the legs and played with the hands. This type of drum is called Kromanti drum, or, in Kromanti language, aprinting (from Asante Twi, o-prenteng ‘a certain drum,’ or a cognate in a related Akan language).
Certain styles of drumming in Moore Town, such as Mandinga and Ibo, are played with a combination of stick and hand; these call for a special stick, known as abaso tik (abaso stick). All the drumming styles depend on interlocking rhythms played by the two drums. The supporting drum, called the “rolling drum,” plays repeating rhythmic patterns, while the lead drum, the “cutting drum,” improvises complex rhythms on top of these. Backing the drums is a bamboo or wood percussion instrument struck with two sticks, known as the kwat; and a bell-like metallic percussion instrument, usually made from the blade of a machete, known as the iron, or, in Kromanti language, as adawo (from Asante Twi, o-dáwúru ‘a kind of bell to be struck with a stick,’ or a cognate from a neighboring language). Both the Kromanti drums and the iron can be played in “speech mode” to communicate messages. Moore Town appears to be the only Jamaican Maroon community that has preserved a still-functioning drum language up to the present.

The drum ensembles of Scot’s Hall and Charles Town have similar instrumentation to that of Moore Town, except that their lead drum consists of an entirely different instrument, called the gumbe. The gumbe is a rectangular frame drum that resembles a stool or a small table with an open top, over which a goat skin has been stretched; this drum is tuned by means of a mechanism consisting of an inner frame and wedges.

The Accompong Maroons also have their own version of the gumbe drum, although in their tradition it is accompanied by two or three double-headed marching drums similar in design to those played in Jamaican Revivalist (Afro-Protestant) churches and in fife and drum bands. These are slung over the shoulder and played with two sticks.

Another important instrument in all Jamaican Maroon communities is the abeng, a wind instrument made from the horn of a cow, which can be used to send signals (from Asante Twi [or other Akan language], abéng ‘flute or wind instruments, including those made from the horn of an animal’). This instrument, which can produce two pitches, was critical to the military strategy of the Maroon ancestors during the 18th century, allowing them to communicate complex messages across long distances and to avoid surprise attacks by their British enemies. The Moore Town Maroons have preserved a functioning abeng language up to the present. This sacred “war horn” remains one of the most important symbols of Maroon identity in all four communities.