Instruments

Whistle

This is a whistle with three holes which vary the pitch so that you can play tunes. It is used for calling and leading. We have plastic apitos, mainly because the wooden ones are not loud enough to compete with the rest of the band.

Tambourim

A small hand-held drum with a high, piercing sound, played with a three, four, or five-pronged plastic beater.

Agogo

Made of iron and steel, they are used in samba and its offshoots. The sound is made by striking a stick against the instrument's two bells, producing a high and low tone.

Caixa (Snare)

Made of wood or metal, the caixa has a cylindrical shape and a head on both sides. The traditional caixa was tuned with a system of strings, and the current ones with a metal rod tightened with butterfly nuts, and has a snare on the bottom side, that is, the response head.

Ganza

A long shaker with little shells, beads, or seeds inside. Also known as "xique-xique" because of the sound it makes.

Chocalho

This is a very large powerful shaker made of wood or metal with a number of steel jingles. It has an important function in helping the caixas to sustain the rhythm.

Repinique

Created by samba schools to make a high, piercing sound. It is also used as a calling (lead) and solo instrument in the samba school bateria (percussion band). In samba it is played with a stick in the right hand, with the left hand beating counterpoint directly on the drum head, or vice-versa. It is played together with the tamborins in a galloping rhythm.

Surdo

Surdos are the heartbeat of percussion samba. With their deep bass sound, surdos are used to mark time and provide a steady beat that acts as a foundation for the accompanying rhythms. There are three kinds of surdos: top, middle and bottom. The surdo is the heart of the samba school baterias, but is also used in frevo, samba reggae and axe music.