Berimbau

The berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt on its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the southern parts of Africa. Some have stated that the berimbau was known to the Mandinka of the Angola area as "Kabuni", and was used by medicine men and women in their healing rituals, and as an accompaniment of storytellers and singers. It is laos said that it was also used by the Bantu and Yorubas of Mozambique and Nigeria, and by the Zulu who call it "Ugubhu".

In 1834, a French writer name Jean-Baptiste Debret mentioned in one of his publications that berimbaus were used to attract customer's attention on street fairs. The berimbau was eventually incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, where it commands how the capoeiristas move in the roda. It is a national Brazilian icon, and is frequently used to evoke a Brazilian sound in a broad range of art and popular music produced by both Brazilians and non-Brazilians. The instrument is known for being the subject matter of a popular song by Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes, and as a part of Candomblé-de-caboclo tradition. In Cuba, where the berimbau is called "Borumbumba", "Sambi", "Pandiguaro", or "Gorokikano", it's used in Afro-Cuban ceremonies to talk to the souls of the dead.

The berimbau consists of a wooden bow (verga - traditionally made from biriba wood, which grows in Brazil), about 4 to 5 feet long (1.2 to 1.5 m), with a steel string (arame - often pulled from the inside of an automobile tire) tightly strung and secured from one end of the verga to the other. A gourd (cabaça), dried, opened and hollowed-out, attached to the lower portion of the Verga by a loop of tough string, typically a hard shoe lace, acts as a resonator. Since the 1950s, Brazilian berimbaus have been painted in bright colors, following local Bahian/Brazilian taste; today, most makers use clear varnish and discrete decoration.

The pitch of the berimbau is created by the tension of the metal string on the bow, and defined by the resulting tension from the tuning loop that is placed around the metal string and bow. This loop is generally placed on the lower fourth of the bow, and tuning is usually determined by harmonics that resound from the small portion of the bow between the tuning loop and the end of the bow. These additional harmonics help further amplify the acoustic range of the berimbau.

To play the berimbau, one holds it in one hand, wrapping the two middle fingers around the verga, and placing the little finger under the cabaça's string loop, and balancing the weight there. A small stone or coin (dobrão, moeda, pedra) is held between the index and thumb of the same hand that holds the berimbau. The cabaça is rested against the abdomen. In the other hand, one holds a stick (baqueta - usually wooden, very rarely made of metal) and an optional rattle (caxixi). One strikes the arame with the baqueta to produce the sound. The caxixi accompanies the baqueta. The dobrão is moved back and forth from the arame to change the tone of the berimbau. The sound can also be altered by moving the cabaça back and forth from the abdomen, producing a wah-like sound.

Capoeiristas split berimbaus in three categories:

• Berra-boi or gunga: lowest tone.
• Médio (others say viola): medium tone.
• Viola (violinha if the medium tone is viola): highest tone

The berimbau, as played for capoeira, basically has three sounds: the open string sound, the high sound, and the buzz sound.

• Even beginners will have no difficulty in playing the buzz sound, as one holds easily the gourd closed against one's belly, while touching the string with the dobrão. A muted "tch" sound emerges.

• To play the open string sound, one strikes the string less than an inch up from the gourd string, with the bow balanced on the little finger so that the gourd is opened. One can grossly tune the open sound, by releasing a little the string, and by sliding the gourd a little up or down from the place where the sound is best.

• To produce the high sound, one must hold the bow in the same way, gourd opened, and forcefully press the dobrão on the string. The sound differs from the low sound in tone and in timbre. Old recordings and musicians report that the difference in tone used to be about 1 tone (the interval from C to D). One can press the dobrão away enough from the gourd for this only if the bow is about 4 feet to 4 feet 2 inches (122 to 127 cm); that was the length of the bows in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, many berimbaus are overgrown to 5 feet (150 cm) and more, so the players rely mainly on the change in timbre, and tuning options are limited in berimbau ensembles.

Other sounds may appear in a berimbau performance, but only these define capoeira's rhythmic patterns (except Iuna).

Closing and opening the gourd while the string resounds produces a wah-wah effects, which depends on how large the gourd opening is. Whether this effect is desirable or not is a matter of controversy. Pressing the dobrão after striking the string is a widely used technique; so is closing neatly the gourd while the string resounds to shut off the sound. A specific toque requires the open string sound with closed gourd. Musicians use whatever sound they may get out of the string. It is often considered bad practice to strike other parts of the instrument. As with most aspects of playing the berimbau, the names of the techniques differ from teacher to teacher. Most teachers and students worry more about producing a nice sound than about naming the individual sounds.

The strength (velocity, accent) with which one lets the vaqueta hit the string is paramount to rhythm quality. The open sound is naturally stronger (meaning that, for a constant-strength strike, the other two sound weaker), but the musician may decide which strikes to stress. Also, the sound tone shifts a little with the strength of the strike.

Much of this article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Berimbau".