Project: a maracatu

▶ Open in Aratu to hear the examples, change them and do the exercises

Now you have everything to build a whole piece. We will build, part by part, a groove inspired by the maracatu de baque virado of Recife, in Brazil, in a simplified version: with the alfaias, the snare, the gonguê and the agbê, and then with form, dynamics and mixing.

1. The pulse

Maracatu moves slowly and heavily. Start with the tempo and the alfaia, the big, low rope drum, marking beats 1 and 3:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
alfaia = O - O -

The upper case is the accented stroke, open and strong.

2. The alfaias' figure

The alfaias play a figure that repeats. This one takes one bar, with eighths and sixteenths:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
alfaia = O -o o_oo o

Read it beat by beat: on 1, the strong stroke; on 2, an eighth rest and an eighth; on 3, an eighth and two sixteenths; on 4, a quarter note.

3. The snare

The caixa de guerra, a marching snare, plays sixteenths all the time, with an accent at the start of each beat. It is an ordinary drum line, the snare:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
alfaia = O -o o_oo o
snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss

4. The gonguê

The gonguê is the iron bell that keeps time for everyone. It alternates the open sound and the muted one:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
alfaia = O -o o_oo o
snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss
gongue = o -o -m o

5. Exercise: the agbê

The agbê is a gourd covered in a net of beads, shaken like a shaker. Add it to the groove, in eighth notes, with an accent at the start of each beat.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
alfaia = O -o o_oo o
snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss
gongue = o -o -m o

See an answer

tempo: 92
alfaia = O -o o_oo o
snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss
gongue = o -o -m o
agbe   = Ss Ss Ss Ss

6. The form: call and groove

In maracatu, the master calls and the group answers. Make a call with the gonguê alone, and then the groove, the baque, with everyone:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
section call { gongue = o -o -m o }
section groove {
  alfaia = O -o o_oo o
  snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss
  gongue = o -o -m o
  agbe   = Ss Ss Ss Ss
}
form: call x2 groove x4

7. Dynamics and mixing

To finish, a room for the group to play in and a crescendo that keeps building:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
section call { gongue = o -o -m o }
section groove {
  alfaia = O -o o_oo o
  snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss
  gongue = o -o -m o
  agbe   = Ss Ss Ss Ss
}
form: call x2 groove x4
at bar 3: all: cresc to ff over 4 bars
reverb.mix = 0.35
master.reverb.decay = 2.5 s
alfaia.volume = 1

The alfaias only exist inside the groove, but they are mixed from out here, like any part: alfaia.volume = 1 brings them up front wherever they play.

8. Final exercise

Build your own version: the call only once, the groove eight times, the whole group in the room, with reverb.mix at 0.35, and the alfaias up front, with volume at 1.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 92
section call { gongue = o -o -m o }
section groove {
  alfaia = O -o o_oo o
  snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss
  gongue = o -o -m o
}
form: call x2 groove x4

See an answer

tempo: 92
section call { gongue = o -o -m o }
section groove {
  alfaia = O -o o_oo o
  snare  = Ssss Ssss Ssss Ssss
  gongue = o -o -m o
}
form: call groove x8
reverb.mix = 0.35
alfaia.volume = 1

What next?

Open the piece in Play (the example's button) and keep changing it: change the alfaias' figure, add a fill with pattern and every, choose a sound in the Sounds panel.
Look things up in the Manual whenever you need a symbol.
Play with other people: one changes the alfaia, another the gonguê, live.

Real maracatu is learnt from the masters and the nações of Recife. This groove is only a starting point for listening and writing.