Berimbau


The berimbau is a traditional Angolan musical bow that is commonly used in Brazil. It is also known as sekitulege among the Baganda and Busoga. It consists of a single-stringed bow attached to a gourd resonator and is played with a stick and a coin or stone to create different tones and rhythms. The berimbau was used in many parts of Africa and Brazil during the 19th century to accompany chants and storytelling. It is part of the candomblé tradition, later incorporated into the Afro-Brazilian art capoeira. Until the mid-20th century, it was used almost exclusively within the black community, but after the popularization of capoeira, it gained wider popularity. Today, berimbau is used in various genres of popular music.

History

Berimbau is an adaptation of African gourde musical bows, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows. According to the musicologist Gerard Kubik, the berimbau and the "southwest Angolan variety called mbulumbumba are identical in construction and playing technique, as well as in tuning and in a number of basic patterns played." The assimilation of this Angolan instrument is evident also in other Bantu terms used for musical bow in Brazilian Portuguese, including urucungo, and madimba lungungu.
In 1859, French journalist Charles Ribeyrolles described free practices of African slaves on a plantation in Rio de Janeiro province, linking the berimbau to the batuque:
The berimbau first appeared as an instrument accompanying capoeira in the early 20th century in Bahia. The berimbau slowly came to replace the drum as the central instrument for the capoeira game, which it is now famous for and widely associated with.

As a weapon

recalls that the capoeiristas during the prohibition used to attach a double-edged sickle to the instrument, turning it into a deadly weapon when necessary: "In the moment of truth it would cease to be a musical instrument and would turn into a hand sickle." Mestre Noronha also claimed that the berimbau was a very useful weapon to the old capoeira masters of the 1920s who resisted police repression. The berimbau was used as a weapon either with one end sharpened or by attaching a blade to one end, making it the capoeira's longest-range weapon.
The practice of hiding weapons inside musical instruments dates back to at least the early 19th century. On November 16, 1832, the police inspector in Rio reported that capoeiras conceal spears and weapons in marimbas and sugarcane pieces.

Design

The berimbau consists of a wooden bow, about long, with a steel string tightly strung and secured from one end of the verga to the other. A gourd, dried, opened and hollowed-out, attached to the lower portion of the verga by a loop of tough string, acts as a resonator.
Starting in the 1950s, Brazilian berimbaus were painted in bright colors, following local Brazilian taste; today, most makers follow the tourist consumer's quest for authenticity, and use clear varnish and discreet decoration.
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 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 and a shaker. 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 pitch produced by the berimbau. The sound can also be altered by moving the cabaça back and forth from the abdomen, producing a wah-like sound.
Parts and accessories of the berimbau:
  • Verga: wooden bow that makes up the main body of the Berimbau
  • Arame: steel string
  • Cabaça: opened, dried and hollowed out gourd-like fruit secured to the lower portion of the berimbau, used to amplify and resonate the sound
Calling the cabaça a gourd is technically a mistake. As far as Brazilian berimbaus are concerned, the fruit used for the berimbau's resonator, while still known in Brazil as cabaça, it is not technically a gourd ; instead, it is the fruit of an unrelated species, the tree Crescentia cujete, known in Brazil as calabaça, cueira, cuia, or cabaceira.
  • Pedra or Dobrão: small stone or coin pressed against the arame to change the tone of the berimbau
  • Baqueta: small stick struck against the arame to produce the sound
  • Caxixi: small rattle that optionally accompanies the baqueta in the same hand
Capoeiristas split berimbaus in three categories:
  • Gunga : lowest tone
  • Médio : medium tone
  • Viola : highest tone
These categories relate to sound, not to size. The berimbau's quality does not depend on the length of the verga or the size of the gourd, rather on the diameter and hardness of the verga's wood and the quality of the cabaça.

Sound

The berimbau, as played for capoeira, basically has three sounds: the open string sound, the high sound, and the buzz sound.
  • In playing the buzz sound, 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 loosening the arame, 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. One can press the dobrão away enough from the gourd for this only if the bow is about to 4 feet 2 inches ; that was the length of the bows in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, many berimbaus are overgrown to, and tuning options are limited in berimbau ensembles.
Other sounds may appear in a berimbau performance, but only these define capoeira's rhythmic patterns.
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 not 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 most students, worry more about producing a nice sound than about naming the individual sounds.
Of course, the strength with which one lets the baqueta hit the string is paramount to rhythm quality. The open sound is naturally stronger, but the musician may decide which strikes to stress. Also, the sound tone shifts a little with the strength of the strike, and some sophisticated toques make use of this.

In capoeira music

In capoeira, the berimbau commands the roda, the circle where capoeiristas engage in the game, and by extension, the game itself. The music required from the berimbau is essentially rhythmic. Most of the patterns, or toques, derive from a single basic structure. Capoeira musicians produce many variations upon the basic pattern. They give names to known variations, and when such a named variation occurs repeatedly while playing, they call what they are playing by the name of that variation. The most common names are "Angola" and "São Bento Grande". There is much talking about the meaning of these terms.
In capoeira Angola, three Berimbaus play together. Each berimbau holds a position in relation to the "roda":
  • The gunga plays "Angola" and is most commonly played by a mestre or the highest grade capoeirista around. Depending on the style of the group and the personality of the individual, the gunga may improvise a lot or stick strictly to the main rhythm. The person playing the gunga at the beginning of a roda is often the leader of the roda and the other instruments follow as well. The gunga player may also lead the singing, which is made easier by the simple rhythm and little variation that he plays. The gunga is used to call players to the pé-do-berimbau.
  • The médio plays "Sao Bento Pequeno". For instance, while the gunga may play a simple, eight-unit pattern like, the viola can play a sixteen-unit variation, like. The dialog between gunga and viola gives the toque its character. In the context of capoeira Angola, the médio inverts the gunga's melody : by playing São Bento Pequeno: with moderate improvisation.
  • The viola plays "Sao Bento Grande". Mostly variations and improvisations. It may be described as the "lead guitar" of the "bateria".
Tuning in capoeira is also loosely defined. The berimbau is a microtonal instrument and while one can be tuned to play a major or minor 2nd, the actual tone is approximately a neutral second lying between a whole and half tone.
The berimbaus may be tuned to the same pitch, differing only in timbre. More commonly, low note of the médio is tuned in unison to the high note of the Gunga, and likewise for the viola to the médio. Others like to tune the instruments in 4ths or a triad. Any tuning is acceptable provided it sounds good to the master's ear.
There are countless different rhythms or toques played on the berimbau.

Toques

Common toques names are:
  • Angola: rests on the last beat of the basic leaving
  • São Bento Pequeno de Angola Invertido: similar to Angola but with the high and low tones reversed. São Bento Pequeno is typically played on Médio in conjunction with Angola on the Gunga.
  • São Bento Grande: adds an extra hit to São Bento Pequeno,
  • São Bento Grande da Regional : an innovation of Mestre Bimba, is often played in the two-bar pattern
  • Toque de Iúna: introduced to capoeira by Mestre Bimba. .
  • Cavalaria: in the past, used to warn Capoeiristas of the approach of police. is one example; variations exist.
In notating the toques, it is a convention to begin with the two buzzed tones; however, it is worthwhile to note that they are pickups to the downbeat, and would more properly be transcribed: xx
São Bento Grande, as played in a regional setting, places the main stress or downbeat at the final L so that it sounds:
Other toques include Idalina:, Amazonas:, Banguela:, all deriving from the basic capoeira pattern. The toque called "Santa Maria" is a four-bar transcription of the corridos "Santa Maria" and "Apanha Laranja no Chão Tico Tico".
Capoeiristas also play samba, before or after capoeira, with the proper toques, deriving from the samba de roda rhythmic pattern: