ABSTRACT
Popular music in Jamaica for many years has been dominated by the instruments of North American popular music – electric guitar and bass, the drums of the trap set, piano or electric organ, and more recently synthesizers and electronic drum machines. There were banjos – indigenous to some Caribbean islands just as to the US – made, as often as not, by local craftsmen. Rupert Lewis's primary instruments have been drums, rumba boxes, and bamboo flutes. The bulk of his business in recent years has been drums – primarily tumbas, a type similar in design to what most people think of as conga drums. Mr. Lewis takes pride in the perfection of the wood joints in his drums, as well as the levelness of the rim. For small drums Mr. Lewis uses goat skin heads. For larger drums, whenever possible, he uses muleskin.
