The reco-reco (also called the raspador, caracaxá or querequexé) is a scraper of African origin used as a
percussion instrument in
Brazilian music,
[ROCCA, Edgar Nunes "Bituca", ''Escola Brasileira de Música: Uma visão Brasileira no ensino da música e seus instrumentos de percussão 1''. Rio de Janeiro: Europa, EBM, 1986] but also in many Latin American countries, where it is known as
güiro
The güiro () is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound.
The güiro ...
,
güira
The güira () is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic used as a percussion instrument in merengue, bachata, and to a lesser extent, other genres such as cumbia. It is made of a metal sheet (commonly steel) and played with a stiff ...
,
guayo and
guacharaca.
Traditionally, the reco-reco was made from a sawtooth notched cylindrical body made of
bamboo or
wood, and played with a wooden stick. The instrument is used in many styles of Brazilian music, such as
samba
Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
and related genres.
For some time, reco-recos have been made of a metallic cylinder with
springs
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...
attached and played with a metal stick, which results in a much louder sound. In some models, the sound box has a hole on the bottom part, which can be covered with the hand to achieve different timbral possibilities. Nowadays, reco-recos have also been made out of
fiberglass, but the wooden version remains the most popular.
Notes
References
Dicionário Cravo Albin da Música Popular Brasileira
Scraped idiophones
Brazilian musical instruments
{{Brazil-music-stub