by sambababe » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:07 am
Probably the most important rule for your cuica is this -
DONT let people who can't play try it out.
Sequence goes like this:
'oooo that looks interesting, can I have a try'
'sure, but be careful'
'oh dear this stick thing seems to have gotten loose, sorry'
And now you have reached the beginning of a whole new pilgrimage - how to put the stick back into the cuica skin - which is likely fill your conversation with fellow cuiceiros for years to come.
In the long run you will never be able to replicate the range and depth of tone you hear from a top professional cuica player if you are using a gope, bauer or remo cuica - their tin can construction makes them muddy in tone, lacking both depth and range. I have seen a 30 year old gope instrument that is very good but with the modern ones you get what you pay for, which is not much. The Artcelsior cuica is what you need, and if you continue for long down the cuica route you will probably end up buying one.
A top player can make a Gope or Bauer instrument sound good, but they can make an Artcelsior one sound MUCH better. Mestre Marcal made his own cuica which I believe his son is still using. Ze da Cuica also uses very old ones, and tells me that none of the modern ones are up to scratch, but his instrument is constructred out of solid aluminium like an artcelsior - not a thin aluminium can like the modern Bauer, Gope and Remo.