Music & Capoeira

http://www.capoeiraitalia.it/Musica/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira_toques

Thank you very much dr.jellyfish,

the link you indicated was very rich and interesting in content!

Now the strictly musical parts are missing: sheet music and rhythmic patterns

i am continuing the search!

thanks again

ScalaQuaranta

I know nothing about the subject, but if you are more explicit (to make it idiot-proof)

ScalaQuaranta wrote:

Now the strictly musical parts are missing: sheet music and rhythmic patterns

I'll see if I can find something through my connections

mmm...I don't understand the phrase "monkey-proof"...anyway, I await your news!

besides, I was thinking: it is a dance/martial art so spectacular that...who knows if they have ever

thought about making a movie about it. and if by chance someone has already thought of it, could someone

tell me the title?

thanks again

ScalaQuaranta

@ScalaQuaranta

My advice is to refer to YouTube, find some performances and pilfer the characteristics of this combat music and then write some. They are not difficult and then you can post them here, the composers will surely give you some tips.

I remember once during a university carnival party, some guys started dancing Hip Hop and subsequently others did Capoeira. I don't think I have ever seen so many acrobatics in one evening. Truly impressive...

Here is an example from YT

Open content (youtube)

thanks to you too, simone...

in reality I also did some research on YouTube. but because of the historical information I found

and because of what all this 'ambaradàm' is aimed at, I believe I need not so much support

from composers as, rather, from actual capoeira leaders (better if they are also musicians....even better

if they are composers! ;-P).

my goal is: to write a musical-documentary on the evolution of dance and on the various functions

that dance fulfills (e.g., social aggregation, therapeutic, alternative to violence, physical exercise, etc.).

the show consists of 3-4 acts of about 15 minutes each and I would like to assign an entire act to capoeira.

naturally this show has a primarily didactic and educational function, so, regarding

the search for specific songs and sheet music, I would like them to be as faithful as possible to the history and customs of capoeira

also because, (it seemed to me to understand) the history is very simple and the music (including the songs as well as

the structure of the songs) has precise functions.

to be clear, I am quoting a passage found online (perhaps taken exactly from the link suggested to me by dr.jellyfish):

"In capoeira rodas, the music is divided into 3 parts:

1) Ladainha (litany): initial song, performed by a soloist. it serves for the capoeiristas to reach concentration, which

they are required to listen to until the end, crouching at the feet of the berimbau (the most sacred instrument of the 'bateria' -

set of percussion for capoeira - played by the 'mestre') it can only be performed by a 'mestre' (capoeira master).

the text always tells a story.

2) Chula: medium-length song: has a call-and-response form (soloist-chorus)

3) Corrido: short song of 1-2 verses, always in call-and-response form (soloist-chorus)

the text does not tell a story but is composed of verses assembled randomly

(clichés with a non-narrative character, generic, which nonetheless create coherence in any

textual context they are inserted into). the corrido warns the capoeiristas that it is time to enter

the roda and begin the jogo.

but things are even more complex, because the character of the musical repertoire is extremely varied

as well as being extremely varied are the various modes of behavior and actions during the jogo. that is:

music and jogo are constrained by what the berimbau 'says' (i.e., the instrument of the 'mestre'): by proposing

a certain rhythm, the mestre imposes, e.g.

- that there be no physical contact..... or

- that only slow movements be performed....... or

- warns capoeiristas and the audience of the arrival of unwelcome people

say that the sheet music is the minor problem (at most I could write the melodic lines myself).

i would however like to know WHICH texts are sung WHEN.

ScalaQuaranta"

ScalaQuaranta wrote:

...I don't understand the phrase "monkey-proof"...

Easily "followable"

If a monkey can do it ...then I can do it too...(you will say...maybe not)

I also didn't know about the existence of this art... but what is it that I don't know? :D :D

from "Brazilian Percussion" by Gilson de Assis:

This is only a part of the possible rhythms, it would be worth asking some capoeira schools; the atabaque can be replaced by a conga, which is more easily available.

Keep in mind that some instruments like the pandeiro and the berimbau (which is played together with the caxixi, which the musician holds in the same hand as the striker) require quite a complex technique.

The basic ensemble often consists of berimbau and pandeiro; to these, one can add the atabaque and the agogô (which is often limited to alternately playing eighth notes on the upbeat on the 2 bells); I would exclude the reco-reco.

here the agogic makes a different impression

Open content (youtube)

Open content (youtube)

o Mestre!

Open content (youtube)

dr. jellyfish....i don't know how to thank you!

your references have been and will be very, very useful to me!

thank you so much!

ScalaQuaranta

Great guys!