Berimbau
The Berimbau [ beɾĩbau̯ ] is a musical bow from the Northeast of Brazil. The string carrier consists of a curved wooden stick ( the Arco do Berimbau or ' Verga ' from biriba - wood), at both ends of a wire ( arame ) is attached as a string ( often made from old car tires removed ) and a cut, hollowed-out gourd ( Cabaça ) that is attached as a resonant body at the lower third of the arc over the string and sheet.
The berimbau is the main instrument of the Brazilian martial dance capoeira. The pitch of berimbaus is limited by the diameter and strength of the timber stock and the resulting different strong tension of the wire and the length of the arc. There are three pitches that determine what role plays a berimbau: The Gunga has the thinnest rod and the largest body of sound and produces the lowest notes; it specifies the basic rhythm and thus the game, the capoeiristas. The Medio has a medium rod and sound body, sounds produced in the middle layer and makes a counter- rhythm to Gunga. The highly strained Viola produces the highest notes and play free variations.
The game is played the instrument with a wooden stick, the Baqueta that is beaten to the wire. With a stone or a coin ( the Dobrão ) that presses the player to the wire, the pitch is changed. There are only three tones: low, rasping - if the coin or the stone is only slightly retained on the vibrating wire - and high. The hand that rocks the Baqueta, it still holds mostly a braided, closed cup, which contains plant seeds. This is called Caxixi; it serves to reinforce the rhythm.
Instrument characteristics are due to the widespread African music sheets.
As a master of the berimbau applies Naná Vasconcelos. Baden Powell de Aquino, a Brazilian guitarist, composed a song about the berimbau, Vinícius de Moraes supplied the text. The song is now played by Brazilian bands such as Olodum, Timbalada, Soulfly and Sepultura.
The Brazilian percussionist Dom Um Romão was a master of Berimbauspiels and introduced the instrument in the 1970s in New York in the Jazz a. He played at this time along with Astrud Gilberto and John Coltrane. Dom Um Romão played the berimbau, among others, for Cannonball Adderley, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Weather Report.