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.
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