Instruments

Acoustic bass and double bass belong to the same functional register but should be catalogued separately when instrument identity matters.

The keyboard is a broad modern category of electronic or digital instruments played from a piano-style keybed.

The kuarta is a small plucked four-string instrument that became deeply embedded in Curaçaoan and wider Dutch Antillean music.

The triangle is a metal idiophone formed from a bent rod and struck with a separate metal beater.

The gankogui demonstrates how a seemingly simple bell can carry structural responsibility for an entire performance.

The cowbell, often called campana or cencerro in Latin Caribbean contexts, is a clapperless metal bell struck with a stick.

The bongó is a pair of small, conjoined, single-headed hand drums associated with Afro-Cuban dance music.

The bombo, or bass drum, is a large low-pitched drum that gives an ensemble weight, pulse, and physical momentum.

The piano is a keyboard-operated chordophone in which felt-covered hammers strike tensioned strings inside a resonating wooden structure.

Congas may be played individually, but professional players commonly combine two or more drums of different sizes and pitches.

A scraper idiophone used in Curaçaoan and Caribbean music to create rhythmic texture and movement.

The kachu is a natural horn traditionally made from a cow horn and sounded by the player’s lips. Its strong, direct call can function musically and as a signal.

The agán, also written gan in some contexts and historically grouped with heru or “iron” instruments, is a metallic percussion instrument documented in Curaçaoan traditional music.

The chapi is a Curaçaoan metallic percussion instrument made from the blade of a hoe or a similar agricultural implement.

The barí, also called the tambú drum in Curaçaoan contexts, is a single-headed hand drum at the center of the Afro-Curaçaoan tambú tradition.