Apito

Apito, in German also samba whistle, is a three-note whistle that is used in the Brazilian samba music as a signaling instrument to mark the rhythm.

Function and Applications

The Apito works in principle like an ordinary whistle, but has two holes that can be opened or closed individually or in combination to produce different sounds.

In the original Brazilian samba samba whistle is usually played by the director / conductor of the group and serves almost exclusively as a signal generator to announce Breaks and mark. In Europe, it is also used as a rhythm instrument; that often does not make the ladder, but sometimes a "normal" player of the Samba group.

Even on a "normal" monotonous whistle can be personalized with a little practice, samba rhythms play. Therefore, some samba groups or musicians also use normal whistles as an alternative to Apito, which are then commonly also referred to as Samba pipes.

The Samba Whistle is also popular as a supplement to maracas. Here, however, there is a danger that they " set up " to sounds and drowned out the rattle. For this combination, therefore, a relatively loud maracas model is needed, which is with the pipe at approximately the same volume level.

It is easy to learn for children and is therefore also suitable as a toy instrument.