Bateria instruments: what each one does

What a bateria is

In Portuguese, bateria means a drum kit. In Brazil the word is also used for the percussion band, or rhythm section, of a samba school. Samba schools are neighbourhood clubs that rehearse all year for the Carnival parade, and the bateria is the drum section that drives each school's parade. The instruments are organised in layers: low drums for the pulse, mid-range drums for lead patterns, and small high instruments for texture. Most of them are hit, scraped, shaken or rubbed. Understanding the layers makes a samba performance much easier to follow by ear.

The surdo carries the pulse

The surdo is the bass drum, a large drum worn from a strap or belt and played with a mallet. A typical Rio Carnival bateria has three distinct surdo parts, each tuned differently. The deepest, called the primeira or marcação, marks the pulse the whole bateria follows. A slightly higher drum answers it, and the smallest and highest surdo cuts across the other two with fills and syncopation. Together, these three parts form the rhythm that propels the samba. The third surdo player has the most room to improvise, while the others keep to fixed patterns, so the swing of a bateria depends heavily on that smallest drum.

Repinique and caixa lead and sharpen

The repinique is a two-headed, high-tuned drum designed to cut through the rest of the bateria. It acts as both a lead and a solo instrument, and a group of repinique players sets the tempo for the others. In Rio style it is played with one wooden stick and one hand. It was established in samba percussion in the 1950s. The caixa is the Brazilian snare drum. The repinique is a different instrument: it is smaller in diameter than the caixa, but several inches taller, and it has no snare. Its high tuning is what lets it stand out from the rest of the section.

Tamborim, agogô and pandeiro at the top

The tamborim is a small round frame drum, about six inches across, without snares or jingles, tuned very tight for a high, sharp tone. In samba it is often played with a beater made of bound nylon threads, and a technique called virado, flipping the drum mid-pattern, gives samba its characteristic lilt. The agogô is a pair of metal bells with different pitches, originally from West African music. The pandeiro is a hand frame drum with metal jingles, struck with the thumb, fingertips, heel and palm. It is common in samba, choro, capoeira and bossa nova.

The cuíca, the one that sounds like laughter

The cuíca is a friction drum. A thin stick is fixed inside the drum, and the player rubs it with a damp cloth while pressing a finger on the skin from outside to change the pitch. The result is a high, squeaky voice, nicknamed the laughing gourd. Wikipedia describes the cuíca as a fixture of Rio's Carnival groups, which feature entire sections of players. If you hear something in a samba piece that sounds like a squeal or a giggle riding above the drums, that is probably the cuíca.

Strings: cavaquinho and violão

Samba is not only drums. Traditional instrumentation, according to Wikipedia's article on samba, pairs the percussion with a classical guitar, called violão in Portuguese, and the cavaquinho, a small four-string instrument of Portuguese origin. The cavaquinho's bright, strummed chords sit on top of the rhythm. The article describes their style as inspired by choro, a more melodic Brazilian genre. In a samba-school parade the percussion dominates, so these two instruments are easier to hear in smaller settings, where a handful of players share the music with a singer.

A simple way to listen

You can train your ear in a few seconds, in any samba recording or live performance. First find the deepest pulse, which is the surdo. Then listen for the sharp, high-pitched lead drum, the repinique, calling out changes. Next pick out the small, quick taps of the tamborim and the ringing of the agogô sitting above everything else. Last, wait for the cuíca's squeak. Once you can separate those four layers, even a crowded Carnival bateria stops sounding like one wall of noise and starts sounding like an arrangement, with each part doing a separate job.

Where to hear a full bateria

The best place to hear a full samba-school bateria is the Sambadrome. At Carnival, each school's drum section parades along the avenue with its dancers and floats, and in the months before, schools hold technical rehearsals there. LIESA, the league of samba schools, publishes rehearsal calendars on its site. For tickets, dates and entry rules, always check LIESA directly, because these change from year to year. A staged show is a different scale: it uses a band suited to a theatre rather than a full school's drum section marching along an avenue.

What the evening at Ginga Tropical is like

Ginga Tropical's official site describes live music with musicians on stage and a tour of Brazil's regional rhythms. It does not publish a list of instruments, so treat the instruments above as a listening guide, not a promise. The booking includes a short samba lesson before the show, and the whole evening runs about an hour and a half. Hosts speak Portuguese and English. Drinks are sold separately, and the booking lists flash photography, selfie sticks and professional cameras as not allowed. The booking calendar and your confirmation show the start time.

Read next: Rio samba show: how to choose and book

Getting there

The show is at Centro Cultural Veneza, Avenida Pasteur 184, in Botafogo, in Rio's South Zone. The booking describes the venue as close to public transport, and Botafogo has its own metro station. A taxi or rideshare from Copacabana, Ipanema or the centre is the other straightforward option. Plan your trip back before the show starts, so you are not looking for a ride at the end. Carry a passport or ID card, since the booking asks for one. The access rules also bar shirtless, swimwear and bare feet.

Who this isn't for

If you want to hear a full samba-school drum section, a staged show won't give you that, and the Sambadrome at Carnival or a rehearsal is the better target. If you want a drumming lesson, the lesson in this booking is a short samba dance class before the show, not an instrument workshop. And if you came mainly to learn the instruments in detail, use this guide as a starting point and ask the organiser what is on stage.