Cuica Brazilian Friction Drum

What's hot and what's not in the world of ethnic drumming? Lately there is a lot of interest in the Cuica Drum. It's mostly a Brazilian drum, used primarily in samba music, but it has been used in a few songs you may have heard of:
- Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard"
- Barenaked Ladies' "Enid"
- Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved"

The cuica is also found in other regioins such as Africa, and all over the world. It is also known as a puita, boi, or onca. The body of the cuica is usually metal with a goat skin head.

The cuica is not like many other drums in terms of the way it is played. A thin stick is attached to the center of the drum head, and goes into the interior of the drum. The drum is usually held on your lap so you can have one hand inside the drum and the other hand on the head of the drum. The drummer rubs the stick up and down with a wet cloth using the hand inside the drum. Use the thumb or fingers of the other hand to apply pressure to the cuica drum head. The friction from the rubbing motion produces a squeaky sound, and the pitch is varied by changing the thumb pressure.

Listen to the Cuica drum or buy a cuica drum online. The small cuica with 5 inch head is currently out of stock, with our next shipment expected toward the end of March 2007. The large cuica with 8 inch head is in stock now.

The Police Play the Grammys

Did you catch the Police reunion on the Grammy Awards show? It's good to see Sting back with the band. I thought he'd play one of his new medieval pieces on the lute, but that probably wouldn't be in the spirit of the reunion. If you're not familiar with the lute, you can see it here. He has some recently recorded medieval pieces, but has also played some of his solo stuff like "Fields of Gold", which sounds great with the lute.

Buy a Gong - Bang a Gong

Since the beginning of 2007, the gong has increased in popularity. Gongs are being purchased mostly by businesses (car dealerships, hockey teams), but also by schools and individuals.

Businesses use their gong to celebrate success (such as a new car sale). Who gets to bang the gong, the new car owner or the successful car salesperson?

Perhaps we can thank the likes of Target for starting to carry gongs, putting them in the public eye.

Any gong is fun to strike. You don't need to hit them very hard to get some great sound. Gongs come in various sizes and types. There are Chinese wind gongs, Chao gongs, Bao gongs.

So if you've never tried it, bang a gong for a good feeling.