Cuíca
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.
There are a number of styles of cuica found around the globe. It is believed that the cuica was used in Africa as a call for the male lion since the sound mimics the roar of the female lioness. The instrument was introduced to Brazil by African slaves, where it found its place in Samba music.[1]
The body of the cuíca is normally made of metal, gourd or synthetic material. It has a single head, normally 6 to 10 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.
Examples of the cuíca in popular music include:
- Cameo's I Just Want To Be, Your Love Takes Me Out
- Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
- Pat Metheny Group's It's Just Talk starting at 0:11 and continuing to 1:11, from the album Still Life
- Johnny Mandel's "Suicide Is Painless" (from the M*A*S*H film)
- Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"
- Bob Marley & The Wailers' "Could You Be Loved"
- The Millennium's "To Claudia On Thursday"
- Beck's "Tropicalia" on the album Mutations and "High Five (Rock The Catskills)" on the album Odelay, starting at 2:10 and finishing at 2:30
- Barenaked Ladies' "Enid"
- Beastie Boys' "Lighten Up" from Check Your Head during the breakdown (Played by Juanito Vazquez)
- Ani DiFranco's "Pick Yer Nose" from the album Puddle Dive
- Fishbone's "The Warmth of Your Breath" on the album Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe
- Jamiroquai's "Music of the Mind" from the album Emergency on Planet Earth
- Miles Davis's later work, where it is played by Airto Moreira, such as on the Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West, Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time albums and the track "Feio" on the Bitches Brew CD reissue
- Dido's "Thank You"
- Gruff Rhys's "Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru" from the album Candylion
- David Byrne's "Office Cowboy" from the album Rei Momo
- Stevie Wonder's "Bird Of Beauty" from the album Fulfillingness' First Finale, performed by Bobbye Hall[2]
- Don Omar's "Taboo"
- Marvin Gaye's "Come Live With Me Angel" from the album I Want You
- Bunny Wailer's "Reggae Burden" from the album Gumption
- Tenor Saw's "Shirley Jones" from the album Fever
- Mighty Diamonds "Kinarky" from the album Pass the Kouchie
- Baden Powell de Aquino's live rendition of "Tristeza" from the documentary Canto on Guitar
- McCoy Tyner's Atlantis album on several songs[which?]
- Smoke City's "Underwater Love" from the album Flying Away
- Kylie Minogue's "Sensitized" from the album X
- Nick Cave's "Moonland" from the album Dig Lazarus Dig
- Seu Jorge's "Convite Para Vida" performed for the soundtrack of the movie City of God.
- Jorge Ben uses the cuíca in many of his songs.
- Os Mutantes often used the cuíca in their music.
- Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade's Whamola, from the album Purple Onion
- Red Hot Chili Peppers Walkabout, from the album One Hot Minute
- Quincy Jones "Soul Bossa Nova"
- Funkadelic "(Not Just) Knee Deep"
- The Rolling Stones "Dance, Pt. 1", from the album Emotional Rescue
- Tapes 'n Tapes' "The Illiad" from the album The Loon
- Trio Mocoto
- Miho Hatori's "Barracuda" from her solo album Ecdysis.
- Zach Ashton's "Come Home" from the album The Distance Between Us.
- Linda Clifford's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" from the album Let Me Be Your Woman.
- Depeche Mode's "A Question of Time", from the album Black Celebration
[edit] References
- ^ "The Cuica". Mid-East Ethnic Instruments. http://www.mid-east.com/Inserts/CUICA.pdf. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
- ^ Perone, James E.. The sound of Stevie Wonder: his words and music. The Praeger Singer-songwriter collection. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 62. ISBN 027598723X. http://books.google.com/books?id=HISHiLVxVnIC&pg=PA62.
- reference 1
- reference 2
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "The Cuica". Mid-East Ethnic Instruments. http://www.mid-east.com/Inserts/CUICA.pdf. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
- ^ Perone, James E.. The sound of Stevie Wonder: his words and music. The Praeger Singer-songwriter collection. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 62. ISBN 027598723X. http://books.google.com/books?id=HISHiLVxVnIC&pg=PA62.
