Instruments

Overview

• Berimbau
• Pandeiro
• Reco-reco
• Atabaque
• Agogô
• Singing

Berimbau

The Berimbau is the predominant instrument in Capoeira and dictates the rhythm and nature of the game taking place in the Roda. The berimbau is made of a hard wooden bow, approximately 1.5 meters long, known as a verga and is strung with a steel wire called an arame which is usually taken from an old tyre.

To produce the resonating sounds of the berimbau, a gourd is attached. This gourd is usually made from a dried calabash and is known as a cabaça. A caxixì (a shaker/rattle) is used along with a wooden stick about 35 cm long known as a baqueta.

The baqueta strikes the string of the berimbau to produce its sound. Used in conjunction with these a media (coin) or a dobrão (stone) is pressed against the arame to produce different notes.

There are three types of berimbau:

The Bera-boi or Gunga

which has the deepest sound, plays the role of the bass; it keeps the rhythm and plays the basic theme. The gunga is also the largest of the three berimbau.

The Medió

(also called centro, berimbau de centro or berimbau médio) compliments the gunga by maintaining the rhythm and is the middle size, mid range berimbau.

The viola

or violinha is the berimbau that has the sharpest sound; it is responsible for the syncopation or the improvisation. The berimbau viola has been described as being the most difficult to play.

The rhythms produced by the berimbau, known as toques control the movement within the roda. Depending on the rhythm, the participants of the jogo de capoeira (game of capoeira) can play slow and treacherous, fast and aggressive or open and harmonious. There are many different toques de berimbau and some are common to all schools, while others are played only by certain groups.

In the roda, the one who "talks" loudest is the berimbau! The other instruments accompany or conduct the ritme, and may never cover the sound of the berimbau.

Pandeiro

The pandeiro is a wooden rim about a foot across with seven or eight small metal cymbals set in it. Stretched across the rim with pins is a skin which is played like a drum with one hand. The skin is traditionally made from snake or goat skin however modern materials have once again replaced the older and harder to find materials. The modern-day tambourine is a more than adequate substitute.

The pandeiro's role in the music is to accentuate the deep heavy beat of the atabaque with its higher and sharper tone. The cymbals create a rich texture in its beat and though played with only one hand an experienced player can create extremely fast improvisations combined with the beat of the drum. It is one of the essential instruments in a roda.

Reco-reco

The reco-reco is another recent addition to the roda. It is traditionally made from a thick hollowed reed like a section of sugar cane or bamboo, about 30 cm long. It may also be carved from a piece of wood. Its surface is corrugated and scraped with a wooden or metal stick to create a sharp but grainy sound. It is often substituted in street rodas with anything that has a corrugated surface, like sections of fencing, or plastic water bottles.

The reco-reco is not very often seen in rodas but it is no stranger to them. Small reco-reco have a tendency to be lost in the sound of all the other instruments but a large well made reco-reco will carry and assert a character all of its own. It is not limited to scraping, it can also be tapped and a player is therefore capable of as much improvisation with this instrument as he may be with any other instrument in the roda.

Atabaque

The atabaque maintains the rhythm of the jogo (capoeira game). The gunga dictates how fast and what type of game to play, but the atabaque holds that rhythm even while the gunga does an occasional variation.

There is only one atabaque in a capoeira roda, and it usually stands directly to the left of the gunga. The person who plays the atabaque must not only know how to play the basic capoeira rhythm, but know how to follow the different rhythms played by the berimbaus, how to hold that rhythm while the berimbau's add variations, and sing while doing all of this.

Although the atabaque can be a loud instrument, it should not be played louder than the berimbaus. It must accompany the berimbau, not overpower them.

Agogô

The agogô is a pair of differently pitched cow bells set on a single handle played with a stick held in the other hand. Traditionally this instrument was made from a variety of disgarded metal objects like cans or machinery parts, crafted as best as possible into an instrument. It is an instrument that only arrived in the roda in more recent times as its popularity in other types of Brazilian music grew.

The agogô is not always seen in the roda, but when present it fits in seamlessly. It has a very clear ring which carries over and above all the other instruments and for that reason should really only be played by a player who won't lose the beat. Typically a good agogô player will dance in and out of the beat improvising endlessly and never doing the same thing more than twice.

Singing

Singing is a very important element in the capoeira roda. The texts tell the daily life and the history of capoeira, they talk of everything; the joy of being a capoeirista, love, anger, hatred, justice, injustice, respect, freedom, slavery, capoeira talks about capoeira.

The music (singing) in the roda has its order: ladainha or quadra - canta de entrada or chula - corrido. There are 3 phases in the singing:

1. Free theme (to open the roda)
2. Songs with various themes
3. Despedida (informs of the end of the roda)