Los cortes de los tambores – Aspectos musicales y funcionales de las paradas en las llamadas de tambores afro-montevideanos

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study an aspect of the Afro-Montevidean drum calls (“llamada de tambores”) that are performed in some neighborhoods of this city on certain dates, such as December 25th, January 1st and 6th, and other non-working holidays, one of the most important being October 12th. The specific theme is that of the stops made by the group of drummers (“cuerda de tambores”) along their route and their structural functions within the parade: the need to temper the drums, the rest of the musicians, the moment of social interrelation. The point to be studied is the moment of the cut itself. It is a question of defining the elements of self-regulation in the development of an improvised musical form with an extremely complex rhythmic structure, which allow a precise synchronization in the playing, until reaching an abrupt end of the cut–although prepared by a climax of maximum tension–of remarkable simultaneity. For example, elements already determined by tradition and of common knowledge to all participants (at which corners or specific points to stop), the verbal and gestural communications of the moment, the function that certain people–by virtue of their prestige and respect within the community–can play within the groups of drums, and the concrete pattern–fundamentally of the repique–to cut. We will also try to establish the handling of each of these elements by the cuerdas representing the styles of the different neighborhoods (Sur and Palermo).