Learnt something
I was at Lime Cay yesterday and saw this guy, a white guy with some nasty-looking (i.e. thick and clumpy) short locks demonstrating some very acrobatic moves, flips and somersaults. He was demonstrating these for some small kids. My curiosity was piqued when I saw him with a long thin bag, about 5 feet long. He removed some items and proceeded to assemble what appeared to be a bow. My companions and I were a bit confused about the use of such a bow at the beach. On further observation, it turned out to be a musical instrument of some sort. :-S Later, the use of the instrument was put together with the athletic acrobatics, and we surmised that he was in fact doing Capoeira (a Brazilian martial arts style). Of course, you know I had to go research the instrument, so here goes:
The berimbau consist of a wooden stick which is strung with a steel string to form the bow shape, a gourd with an opening on one side which acts as a resonator, a coin or stone, a thin bamboo stick, and a basket shaker called caxixi. The technique of playing the berimbau is unique and quite hard to master, as you not only have to hold the bow and balance it with the left hand, but are also required to hold a coin or stone with the thumb and first finger. The right hand holds the stick which strikes the string. It also holds a small basket shaker called caxixi, which plays along with the stick and also plays independent strokes. The basic sounds played with the stick are: high tone (with the coin or stone pressed against the string), buzz tone (with the coin or stone pressed lightly on the string) and low tone (open string note). The left hand with the coin produces a very soft passing tone.
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