ABSTRACT
Many styles of music in Trinidad and Tobago are frequently described as sweet: sweet steel pan, sweet calypso, sweet parang, and in this case, sweet tassa. While it is easy to understand how the melodious character of the steel pan, calypso, and parang music might affectionately be described as sweet, such a delicate term seems incongruous with the often ear-splitting sound of tassa drumming. This chapter focuses on the basic materials of music-making, the instruments themselves. It discusses the role of tassa competitions in reinforcing refinements in instrument construction and highlights the ways competitive performances engage with Indian Trinidadian orientations to national belonging. Rooted in north Indian folk aesthetics, the tassa drumming ensemble is a unique Caribbean musical tradition. Trinidadian tassa is a variant of north Indian dhol-tasha drumming, which is played in parts of South Asia even today where it provides music for processional and celebratory events in Hindu, Muslim, and secular contexts.
