Cuíca - Samba Instrument ( Full Documentary - 1978 )

Cuíca (Portuguese pronunciation: [kuˈikɐ]), or "kweeca", is a Brazilian friction drum often used in samba music. The tone it produces has a high-pitched squeaky timbre. It has been called a 'laughing gourd' due to this sound.

The body of the cuíca is normally made of metal, gourd or synthetic material. It has a single head, normally six to ten inches in diameter (15--25 cm), made of animal skin. A thin bamboo stick is attached to the center of, and perpendicular to, the drum head, extending into the drum's interior. The instrument is held under one arm at chest height with the help of a shoulder strap. To play the cuíca, the musician rubs the stick up and down with a wet cloth held in one hand, using the fingers of the other hand to press down on the skin of the drum near the place where the stick is attached. The rubbing motion produces the sound and the pitch is increased or decreased by changing the pressure on the head.

The cuíca plays an important rhythmic role in samba music of all kinds. It is particularly notable as a fixture of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival groups, which feature entire sections of cuíca players. It is so commonly used in radio-oriented samba music that in the absence of a cuíca player, Brazilian singers or other musicians imitate the sound of the cuíca with their voices. An example of this imitation can be heard on the intro part of Dizzy Gillespie's version of Chega de Saudade (from the "On The French Riviera" album) composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim.


Les cuica, puita, omelê, onça, zambomba , Rommelpot ou roncador sont de très anciens instruments de musique membranophone à friction plus connus aujourd'hui au brésil utilisés dans la samba et hérités de la culture bantoue.

En France, au siècle dernier, ils existaient encore dans de nombreuses régions sous de nombreuses formes et matériaux, par exemple lors du charivari au cours des mariages où l'on fixait dans le fond d'un tonneau du crin de cheval empoissé que l'on frottait à pleine main.

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Music

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