Chouval bwa has been popularized by artists such as Claude Germany, Tumpak, Dede Saint-Prix, and Pakatak.
It is characterized, in its rhythm, by the "tibwa" (two wooden sticks) played on a length of bamboo mounted on a stand to the tambour bèlè.
[3] The tibwa rhythm plays a basic pattern and the drum comes to mark the highlights and introduce percussion improvisations.
Chouval bwa features a drummer on the tanbour drum and the ti bwa, a percussion instrument made out of a piece of bamboo laid horizontally and beaten with sticks; the most traditional ensembles also use accordions, chacha (a rattle) and the bel-air, a bass version of the tanbour,[5] bamboo flute and comb and paper-type kazoo.
All songs are sung by a chantwèl in créole and concern relations between the sexes, local gossip, and current politics.