The botija (botijuela; bunga) is a

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

of the

aerophone An aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes (which are respectively chordophones and membranophones), and without the vibration of the instrume ...

type. It is a potbellied

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...

jug or jar with two openings and was used in the early

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current ...

sextetos in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

as a bass instrument.

Origin

Botijas Botijas is a barrio in the municipality of Orocovis, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 3,720. Sectors Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions) in turn are further subdivided into smaller loca ...

are ceramic jars that were used from early in the 16th century until the middle of the 19th century to ship a wide variety of products from Spain to its colonies, including wine, olive oil, olives, vinegar, and other products. They were then used to hide money underground and were buried to prevent humidity from reaching the floors. In the late 19th century, in Cuba, botijas were dug up and used as musical instruments.

Use in Cuban son

The

genre of music and dance originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century. The music's defining characteristic is a pulsing or anticipated bass that falls between the downbeats, leading to the creation of many bass instruments including the botija. Other instruments included a

marímbula The marímbula () is a plucked box musical instrument of the Caribbean. In Cuba it is common in the changüí genre, as well as old styles of son. In Mexico, where it is known as marimbol is played in son jarocho; in the Dominican Republic, ...

, serrucho, contrabajo and bajo. Other bass instruments were used according to the size of the musical arrangement or required

timbre In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...

. The marímbula, for example, was used mainly for smaller ensembles because it was not easily heard, whereas the bajo, an electrical bass, could be easily projected and heard over many other instruments. Botijas contained two openings, one at the top and one of the side, and were blown into to create bass notes. To create specific pitches, they were filled to specific levels with water. Another technique includes inserting a reed into the opening which the player blows into. Use of the botija throughout parts of Cuba ended after the early 20th century; it was replaced by the

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

.Carpentier, Alejo 2001

946 Year 946 ( CMXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – King Otto I invades the West Frankish Kingdom with an expeditionary force, but his armies are not strong enough ...

''Music in Cuba''. Minneapolis MN.

In popular culture

In Brazil, the expression ''"pego(a) com a boca na botija"'' (caught with his/her mouth on the milk jug) has a similar meaning to "caught with his hand in the cookie jar".

References

Caribbean musical instruments Cuban musical instruments Plosive aerophones Changüí {{Aerophone-instrument-stub

Origin

Use in Cuban son

In popular culture

See also

References