Contextual Associations

The reco-reco is a Brazilian scraper idiophone long used as a rhythm instrument to accompany Afro-Brazilian rural dances, the capoeira game-dance, and Carnival samba. As Brazil's commercial/popular music industry developed throughout the 20^th century, the reco-reco came to be used as an auxiliary percussion instrument in a range of other genres and by a number of artists.

Description

The reco-reco pictured here can be considered an industrialized version of an instrument that in the past was made from natural materials such as bamboo or cane. It is made entirely from metal--the resonator half-tube from sheet metal, and the serrated surface from spring coils. The beater is a metal rod.

Player - Instrument Interface and Sound Production

The resonator is held in the palm of one hand with the coils facing upwards. The metal rod, held in the other hand, is rhythmically brushed up and down the length of the spring coils. This produces a raspy, scrapping sound that is amplified by the resonator beneath the springs.

Origins/History/Evolution

In its natural form made from cane or bamboo, the reco-reco could have evolved from similar indigenous Native American and African instruments. Early published references to the instrument from the first half of the 19^th century (Fryer, p. 166-167) associate them with people of African decent, but the instrument is almost certainly older than that. The instrument's ‘industrialized’ form pictured here is most likely of recent origin.
 

Bibliographic Citations

Fryer, Peter. 2000. Rhythms of Resistance: African Musical Heritage in Brazil. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press.

McGowan, Chris, and Ricardo Pessanha. 2009. The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova, and the Popular Music of Brazil. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.