I have been enjoying the sounds here, on our first island of this trip. During the day, numerous birds delight us with melody, while at night, we are serenaded by the frogs and crickets. Behind that is the constant, rhythmic sound of the crashing waves, which have become increasingly stronger (louder) through our stay. If I wake up at night, I hear the waves and am calmed, going right back to sleep.
Tonight, however, we heard a local Steel Band. WOW! It was supposed to be a Saturday night barbecue on the beach, but because of the weather, it was inside. Outside would have been better, but perhaps I would not have had a chance to talk to one of the musicians.
The musician who answered my questions was part of the alto group (as he explained to me). They all learn by ear – no written music. He said that the melodic (soprano?) lines come from the shorter steel drums, the alto lines from the medium sizes drums, and the rhythm from the oil barrel size drums.
The band calls themselves Gemonites https://www.panonthenet.com/history/bands/antigua/gemonites-bio.htm because the first few members were all of the Zodiac sign Gemini. So much fun to see the hands of the musicians move synchronized as they played heir chords. Before we learned how the band works, Brian thought he had heard a keyboard! But, no, it was all steel drums. Caribbean! Fantastic!
Bunch of Geeks go Traveling 