Ripsaw is a musical genre which originated in the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

, specifically in the Middle and North Caicos. A very closely related variant,

rake-and-scrape Rake-and-scrape is the traditional music of The Bahamas, alongside Junkanoo. It combines African musical elements with European musical elements to create a sound comparable to other Caribbean music while remaining distinct. History Claims of T ...

, is played in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

. Its most distinctive characteristic is the use of the common handsaw as the primary instrument, along with various kinds of drums, box guitar,

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...

and accordion. The saw is played by scraping an object, usually an old knife blade, along the saw's teeth, while bending the saw to produce a different timbre. The sound is similar to a paper being ripped, and is believed to be the origin of the term ''ripsaw''. ''Rake-and-scrape'' derives from the method used by a player to create sound from the saw. Though little is known for certain about ripsaw's genesis, two major theories include that the instrument was played to imitate the sound of the güiro, a Dominican and Haiti percussion instrument, and that Loyalist colonists in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

brought their African slaves to the islands and these slaves invented the ripsaw to imitate the sound of the

shekere The shekere (from Yoruba Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀) is a West African percussion instrument consisting of a dried gourd with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. The Shekere originated in a tribe in Nigeria called the Yoruba. The in ...

instrument. In the Bahamas, Cat Island is the only place to celebrate rake-and-scrape on a large scale. During June's Labour Day celebration, the island holds a Cat Island Rake and Scrape festival.

References

External links

Music in the Turks and Caicos Islands at Turks and Caicos Tourist Board

by David Bowen, Cultural Officer, Turks & Caicos Tourist Board. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripsaw Music Bahamian music Anglophone Caribbean music Music of British Overseas Territories Turks and Caicos Islands culture