Aruba’s music scene is dynamic and diverse, with islanders joyfully embracing everything from Caribbean-influenced genres like steel pan and reggae to Latin jazz and Latin Top 40 to good old rock-n-roll from the USA and Europe. But attend a national holiday celebration like Flag Day, Betico Croes Day, or a Dera Gai event and it is likely the “tingilingi” sounds of the caha di orgel playing a traditional Aruban waltz or tumba that you will hear.
Referred to as a music box, a barrel organ, a cylinder piano, street organ, or a crank-operated piano, here on Aruba, tingilingi box seems just as good a name as any. Although the sounds of this musical box can still send warm waves of nostalgia running through the veins of Aruba’s older generations, and it is still heard at weddings and the occasional birthday party, some fear the younger generation here, who has a current love affair with reggatone, rap, and hip hop, may be tuning out an important part of the island’s musical history.
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Click here to play a video of Alphonso Boekoudt playing one of his music boxes.
(Windows Media Video, 2min 20sec, 8MB)
But not if Aphonso “Buchi” Boekhoudt can help it. Living in the community of Paradera in a modest cunucu home with a tin roof, this self-taught musician and master craftsman of caha di orgels is sharing his knowledge with many of Aruba’s budding musicians. In fact, Buchi has been donating his time and skills to the preservation of this musical art form for the past 43 years.
“When I was younger, I went with my sister to one of her dance recitals. For some reason, I was entranced by the man playing the caha di orgel. At that time, he was probably the only one on the island playing this instrument, and I thought, what will happen when he dies? Who will carry on this tradition?” recalls Buchi.
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He was actually more interested in learning how to repair and even make these street organs from scratch then playing them. At that time, a well-known Aruban musician, Rufo Wever, was the only one on the island with knowledge on how to build a caha di orgel. “Rufo was a busy man, and was not interested in wasting his time on teaching me, a man who couldn’t even read musical notes, the complicated process,” explains Buchi. Since there was no one to show him the way, he taught himself. “It was a gift from God,” he says, “that I could figure out how to do this on my own, I truly believe it was a gift.”
In 1965 Buchi completed his first caha di orgel. “One night I took it over to Rufo Wever’s neighborhood and played it outside his house. He came out on the porch, listened, and just gave me a slight nod of approval and went back inside,” says Buchi with amusement still in his eyes while recalling the memory.
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| The complicated process involves arranging music for the caha di orgel in advance (by the way, Buchi says he only took a few formal music lessons—he plays the guitar—and has his own version of music notes that he uses when he composes). The process then requires wrapping a paper with the pre-determined notes around a wooden barrel, and placing metal pins into the wooden barrel based on the notes (Buchi writes the melody in advance, but the bass and accompaniment come “from his head” while he is placing the pins). The metal pins will move the appropriate strings, which will then pull wooden hammers down on the pre-determined notes to create a song when someone cranks the handle that turns the barrel. Most of Buchi’s organs have three barrels that play three songs each. Each of these songs can be played as a waltz, by cranking the handle at a slower pace, or as a tumba, by turning at a faster pace. |
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To date, Buchi has crafted 18 caha di orgels, and has another two under production. The entire process takes anywhere from six to eight months. The craftsman also repairs old boxes, and has worked on many sent to him for repair from around the Dutch Caribbean.
That Buchi is a rarity for his skills and knowledge in creating and repairing these intricate music boxes is worthy of praise, but it is his unselfish devotion to preserving an important part of Aruba’s culture that really sets him apart: the majority of the caha di orgels crafted by Buchi were done so at no charge, including one he made for the local Fundacion Desaroyo Educativo Communitario (Foundation for Communal Education Growth). He also teaches weekly lesson to Aruba’s youth at a nominal charge.
“I am a poor man but a happy man - it’s only natural that I should share my gift with future generations to carry on Aruba’s caha di orgel.”
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