Virtual berimbau for sound and rhythm practice
Explore three wire sounds on this virtual berimbau: open, pressed and buzz. A fourth pad plays the caxixi, the shaker used alongside the instrument. Tap the screen, click with a mouse or press A, S, D and F on a computer keyboard. Audio is synthesized on your device without recordings or microphone access.
How to use it
- Play Open, Pressed, Buzz and Caxixi to compare the sounds. Their computer shortcuts are A S D F.
- Choose a study pattern and select Listen to pattern. Each of the eight cells lasts half a beat, making a four-beat cycle. A dash represents a rest.
- Change the BPM to hear a slower or faster version. Repeat loops the example. Stop and Esc cancel both ringing sounds and scheduled notes.
- Select Follow the sequence and play each highlighted pad. A wrong sound does not advance the sequence. The score checks sound order rather than rhythmic accuracy; practise the rests along with the audio example.
- Open Adjust the sound to change the open-wire reference, the interval to the pressed sound and the gourd opening. Play again to compare. Turn off automatic caxixi to play the shaker separately.
Help and explanations
Listen to three original study patterns, choose a tempo and follow the highlighted sequence. The exercises let you explore alternating sounds and rests. Learning traditional toques, songs and their roles in a capoeira roda belongs with the teachers and traditions of that practice.
Open, pressed and buzzing wire
On a physical berimbau, a stick strikes the wire while a coin or stone changes its vibration. Free wire gives the lower sound; firm contact produces the higher one; light contact creates a buzzing sound. The Iphan capoeira dossier, pages 99 and 105–107, describes these contrasts and the instrument’s components.
This tool approximates them with decaying vibrations for open and pressed notes, noise and damping for buzz, and small noise bursts for the caxixi. Gourd opening changes the level, harmonics and decay of the next strike.
An adjustable reference pitch
The example starts with a 146.8 Hz open sound, approximately D3, and a two-semitone interval to the pressed sound. These are virtual starting values, rather than a standard berimbau tuning. Construction, wire tension, contact position and musical choices affect a real instrument’s sounds.
The reference control covers 80–300 Hz and the interval covers 0.5–4 semitones. Use them to compare virtual settings rather than prescribe tuning for a group. Your last settings remain in this browser.
Study patterns in context
Alternate open and pressed, Two strikes and a rest, and Response with buzz were created for this tool. They are not transcriptions of Angola, São Bento or another traditional toque. Those names, variations and meanings are learned from capoeira masters and their traditions.
The Bahia education department’s Capoeira das Escolas material introduces the berimbau and caxixi within the wider group of capoeira instruments. This digital experience supports listening and experimentation alongside that learning.
Tips
- Start at low volume and compare one change at a time.
- Listen to a whole cycle before trying its sounds and rests.
- Turn off automatic caxixi to hear the three wire sounds more clearly.
Frequently asked questions
Does the virtual berimbau need microphone access?
No. The browser generates audio when you play. It does not capture or upload sound from your surroundings.
Is this a recording of a real berimbau?
It is a synthesized model for comparing pitches, noisy sounds and patterns. Grip, gourd movement and wire response need a physical instrument.
Do these patterns teach traditional capoeira toques?
They are original alternation and rest exercises. They do not carry traditional toque names or represent a capoeira school.
Does the score judge rhythm?
Follow the sequence checks the order of your sounds. To work on duration and rests, listen to the example at your chosen tempo and practise alongside it.