The Boot Knife of Love and Mercy ([info]amp23) wrote in [info]global_capoeira,
2005-11-02 14:37:00
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DaRua Berimbau Basics

My buddy with a camera and video skills ([info]cjottawa) got together with me yesterday and we filmed the basic elements of playing a berimbau, with exercises that have helped me develop (I've been playing seriously for 4 years now, busking over the last year). we recorded without the caxixi first to make it clear what a bow by itself will sound like, another round of videos with more tocques and caxixi will be following after we tackle capturing some of our movements.

For those interested in learning/practicing the berimbau:
(wmv files to keep the size managable)

3 Basic Berimbau Tones: (first things ya gotta know)

Open - Low - "DOM" (dom)
Closed - High - "DIM" (deem)
Half-closed - Buzz - "SH" (sh)

5 Basic Berimbau Exercises: (things to practice)

Combo Buzz/Low - "SHSH DOM"
Combo Buzz/High - "SHSH DIM"
Combo High/Low - "SHSH DOM SHSH DIM"
Alternating Triplets
Stone Work

5 Basic Tocques (Rhythms) (the first five I learned)

Sao Bento Grande de Angola
Sao Bento Pequeno
Cavalaria
Santa Maria
Iuna


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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.


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  • 26 comments

[info]phrawzty

November 2 2005, 20:16:24 UTC 6 years ago

Awesome, mate!

Axé!

[info]amp23

November 3 2005, 03:15:51 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks mang!

[info]icariancypher

November 2 2005, 22:28:18 UTC 6 years ago

That's awesome! Thank you for sharing this!

[info]cjottawa

November 2 2005, 22:34:47 UTC 6 years ago

;) Remember us when we start making full DVD's... :D

[info]icariancypher

November 2 2005, 22:41:11 UTC 6 years ago

Just keep us posted! And keep up the good work!

[info]amp23

November 3 2005, 03:16:28 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks for the feedback.
I hope you find them useful!

[info]xkazokux

November 2 2005, 23:04:11 UTC 6 years ago

This is probably the most helpful thing involving the Berimbau I've encountered so far, outside of hands-on learning.
By far the most awesome post of the month!
Do you mind if I download them to my hard-drive for further analysis/studying? I figured I'd better ask first, just in case.
Thanks!
xtonyx

[info]amp23

November 2 2005, 23:27:20 UTC 6 years ago

Go ahead. Download and share. Just don't try to profit from it other than becoming a better bow player :)

[info]capkitty04

November 3 2005, 16:38:24 UTC 6 years ago

awesome. i'm definately going to be using those 5 basic berimbau exercises. thanx for sharing this with us :)

[info]amp23

November 3 2005, 19:04:50 UTC 6 years ago

thanks for using them!
share with your bow playin friends :)

[info]shadowcat170

November 3 2005, 17:10:18 UTC 6 years ago

LOL, I remember hours of practicing the combo high/low "TCH DOM TCH DIM" - that was key for me.

Very nice work; this will be a great resource for those learning how to play.

[info]amp23

November 3 2005, 19:02:11 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks man, really.

I'm nervous being the one putting my technique up for scrutiny and not having an official teacher beyond my cds/friends/practice, but the feedback I've been getting lately suggested maybe I should be sharing what I've learned. Givin back to the culture and all that.

[info]elektrafying

November 3 2005, 18:38:35 UTC 6 years ago

WOW! I watched a few and they look great! Good job, guys!

[info]amp23

November 3 2005, 19:05:15 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks, baby!
*smooch*

[info]capoeira_addict

November 4 2005, 14:20:09 UTC 6 years ago

Okay, I finally got around to checking these out and they're GREAT. excellent camera positioning so you can actually see what the hell you're doing!

Muito obrigado, this will be a help.

[info]amp23

November 4 2005, 14:26:57 UTC 6 years ago

all the camera/lighting is to [info]cjottawa's credit and his experience making training videos.

all i did was sit there and play,
oh and describe what i wanted to capture.

i'm just glad they're useful :)
thanks for the feedback!

[info]capoeira_addict

November 4 2005, 15:22:47 UTC 6 years ago

there are no academies where i'm from and my mestre lives on the other end of the country, so I don't get a lot of actual INSTRUCTION. I like that you also recorded it in slow motion. Seriously, I'm impressed. Now maybe I'll spend more time with a berimbau in my hand and less time sitting on my head!

[info]cjottawa

November 4 2005, 16:52:51 UTC 6 years ago

XD

LMAO.

Buddy, we need to switch spots... I'll get on my head (for a change!) and you can 'bau. LOL!

[info]capoeira_addict

November 4 2005, 16:59:38 UTC 6 years ago

Re: XD

You know you're a mestre when....

you can actually play the berimbau while standing on your head.

That day, I retire.

[info]amp23

6 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]ronarons

November 4 2005, 19:31:04 UTC 6 years ago

wow!! amazing amazing!! =) thank you very much!

[info]_tr1x_

November 12 2005, 15:36:23 UTC 6 years ago

Great!

Obrigado!
That's awesome, really.


[info]sovietico

November 18 2005, 15:25:53 UTC 6 years ago

Your idea is very good and very well done! Your berimbau sounds great!
However, I'd like to point out that the names of the toques you play are wrong!!! The exception is Santa Maria...
Moreover, IMHO your Iuna is wrongly played...
References for my statements are (besides my own capoeira experience with some Mestres) Great Masters' cds as Bimba, Caiçara, Moraes, Gato Preto etc...
Bye
Sovietico

[info]amp23

November 18 2005, 15:37:58 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you for your feedback. :)

There is apparently little consensus on the names of the tocques, judging by the notations that are available and how they're labeled at a variety of sources online. I've seen the same rhythms called up to four different things and notated several ways, which makes determining a name to go with quite difficult. Iuna as I play it was picked up from the Angolieros I occasionally played with back in Texas, who I believe were affiliated with GCAP (that or FICA, I forget). I also used to study the samples from capoeira.com.mx when it was up.

Do you have any resources you could point me to for Bimba's or Pastinha's tocque names? Do you have a recording of Iuna correctly played?

[info]sovietico

November 18 2005, 15:49:07 UTC 6 years ago

Definitely agree with you on the differences in names of the toques.
However, what you call Sao Bento Grande de Angola, is nearly universally known as Toque de Angola. I'd swear on it.
I've studied the issue a bit, and even if it's true that there are different opinions on names, there's a certain convergence on some names for the most famous toques (angola, SBGrande de Angola, SBGrande de Regional, Iuna...)
I knew that http://www.capoeirista.com/ and http://www.agogo.nl/MultiMedia/sound/sound.htm provided some good and quite trustworthy samples

Enjoy!

[info]jogistar

November 27 2006, 01:15:59 UTC 5 years ago

what about pandeiro?

This is definitely the best berimbay resource that I have found (today I spent hours in internet). Thanks a lot.

Do you happend to know any similar resources for pandeiro, or would you with your friend be willing to make some?

Thanks again, this is really good.
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