Caixa >> Rio Samba
Sambapedia
Caixa >> Rio Samba - correct pronunciation
Playing
Function in the group
The caixas are the carpet of a bateria, the glue that holds everything together. With often around 100 players, it is the most represented instrument in the bateria of an escola de samba and almost always plays the same rhythm.
Techniques
The technique of the caixa 'em baixo (on the strap in front of the body) is very similar to that of the marching drum, with the weak hand usually holding the stick in the 'traditional grip'. There are some traditional grooves for this style of playing. In the Vila Isabel samba school, for example, they play '1 por 1', known in Europe as the samba base. This involves playing all 16 notes from hand to hand and emphasising each beat. The Mocidade Independente samba school plays the rhythm known in Europe as the bossa clave (see notes). The Mangueira and Portela samba schools, for example, play a more technically complicated rhythm, as the beats are no longer played hand-in-hand (see notes).
The 'em cima' technique is the most common in Rio. The caixa is held in front of the chest with the weak arm. As this restricts the movement of the weak hand, it plays only unaccentuated notes with a very short stick by moving the finger joints. The strong hand plays with a normal stick or a slightly shorter straight stick from the side of the head. The basic rhythm 'em cima' is a derivation of '1 por 1' in which only the first beat changes fundamentally, but the accents are still found on the beats (see notes).
...where the rhythm only changes on the first beat.......
Patterns
General info
Configurator
The caixa is probably the most European samba instrument, having evolved from the Portuguese marching drum. Today, however, caixas in Rio are only found with guitar strings on the head instead of the traditional rugs on the resonating head.
The caixa is probably the most European of all samba instruments. The caixa evolved from the Portuguese marching drum. However, this traditional marching drum had goat skins and was strung with gut strings.
Tips and tricks
Maintenance
As with almost all instruments, the same applies to the Caixa: apply a little oil to the threads from time to time to keep the nuts running smoothly and prolong their life.
Tuning
Caixas are always tuned very high, and in Rio samba are strung with guitar strings over the head. This gives them their typical high and sharp sound. The standard size is 12' in diameter and just under 20cm high, but they are also available with a 14' diameter and as a so-called 'tarol' with 12' but only about 10cm high.
Sticks / beaters
The caixa is traditionally played with normal drumsticks. However, when playing grooves with a lot of rim shots, such as the 'em cima' (at the top of the crook of the arm), a straight stick without a head makes it easier to hit this note. Also, if you're playing 'em cima' with your weak hand, you're only playing unaccented notes, so you'll need a very short stick (often the remnants of a broken stick).
Strap
The caixa is usually played with a simple shoulder strap or without a strap at all. When played without a strap, the caixa is placed in the crook of the weaker arm and clamped in front of the body.
Heads
Caixas are covered with simple plastic heads.
Ivsom
Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
Caixa de Guerra 12''x17 cm - galvanised steel sheet with 6 strings!A delicacy for fans of steel sheet sound!Shells made of steel sheet have more compound and less body sound, meaning that it sounds less metall-like and has less overtones than e.g. aluminium instruments. The price is a few additional gramms to carry and for sure are prettier caixas than this one. But: the sound is spectacular: crispy, dry, yummy.Special edition by IVSOM!As usual with all IVSOM instruments, the tension rods are screwed down perfectly flush with the fittings in the tension hoop. It only sticks out very little over the tension bracket on the side of the nuts. All important details such as a smoothed out rims for ideal skin fitting, string accommodation, tension rings, threads etc. are neatly manufactured in the usual good quality IVSOM manner. Amongst others, IVSOM provides the Samba school Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro with his instruments. Being a mechanic and a caixa player, he disposes of ideal abilities for building good quality Samba instruments.
Ivsom
Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
Caixa de Guerra 12''x17 cm - aluminium - with 6 strings! Smart classical sized IVSOM caixa. Traditional Rio Samba instrument for playing either 'em cima' (up) or down. Yellow galvanised hardware - stylish caixa with rich, dry, authentic Rio sound!As usual with all IVSOM instruments, the tension rods are screwed down perfectly flush with the fittings in the tension hoop. It only sticks out very little over the tension bracket on the side of the nuts. All important details such as a smoothed out rims for ideal skin fitting, string accomodation, tension rings, threads etc. are neatly manufactured in the usual good quality IVSOM manner.Amongst others, IVSOM provides the sambaschool Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro with his instruments. Being a mechanic and a caixa player, he disposes of ideal abilities for building good quality Samba instruments.
Contemporânea
Average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
Malacacheta 12" - caixa with strings for Rio SambaHigh-quality caixa de guerra from Contemporanea Pro, featuring a robust, thick-walled aluminum shell that delivers a rich, powerful sound with noticeably more volume compared to thinner walled models. The strings are arranged in three double strands. A key advantage: thanks to the higher shell, the Malacacheta sits securely on your thigh, allowing for comfortable playing without shifting. The result? A bold sound with plenty of volume, further enhanced by the deep shell.
Ivsom
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Brand new from Rio´s special request Samba kitchen:The caixa de guerra 12'' x 17cm with strings and snare wires!Standard version with stringed batter head and snare wires on the resonance head. A really flexible instrument for Rio style baterias, especially if you only have a few caixas in your group. If you only have 1-3 caixa players, the sound is often quite thin. With a double string caixa and its snare wire feature a new sound spectrum appears, supporting the white sound effect. Experiment in different sound directions and find out which is the best 'molho' (juicyness of sound) for your group:Batter head - resonance: This combination contains more snare wire character, the caixa ís not tuned as high as standard caixas, yet more density of white sound sppears - juicy!Batter head - batter head: Try changing the resonance head for a normal nylon head. You can pitch up the caixa to the typical high Rio style level to have a dryer sound with more string than snare wires - fat sound!
Ivsom
Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
Double stringed 12'' x 17cm caixa by IVSOMRio style caixa players listen up:Twice as many strings for twice as much sound!This beauty has 6 strings on the batter side and 6 more strings on the inside of the resonance head.The strings on the inside of the resonance head have a muffling effect, producing a massive dry sound. The snare-sound is simply doubled!Double stringed - double sound!An aspect for fine ears: often the typical Rio-style caixas have an annoying overtone, which automatically appears when you start playing the instrument. The double stringed caixa intuitively sounds more muffled due to the strings strapped to both heads. With this, disturbing side effects have no chance. The caixa sounds super dry, just the tone we´re searching for for a Rio style bateria. By the way, this caixa even sounds great if it is not pitched too high!Obvious fact is - this is a Rio Style caixa with massive and super sound! Samba trend and design by IVSOM for XL-sound!
Ivsom
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Tarol 12'' - Rio Samba CaixaTypical Ivsom - cool design, perfect construction and great sound!The tarol is usually carried on a one-hook shoulder strap (half-high) and is played slightly lateral underneith the armpit, or emcima - like on the video. Often, different patterns are played on a tarol. This one has an exceptional sound, especially if you go for a high tuning. Due to its shorter shell is has less sustain than caixas with higher bodies. The yellow galvanised hardware is a typical Ivsom thing, a very stylish drum!
Ivsom
Average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars
Repicaixa - 2 in 1 hybrid repinique with strings - 12'' x 27 cm - IVSOM
The hybid repinique is a total eyecatcher, stylish and in typical IVSOM design with polished aluminium and yellow hardware.
On one side, the repinique sounds like a totally normal repinique with some background caixa white noise. Turn the hybrid repinique around and play on the side of the strings - it will sound like an amplified caixa! The high shell enlargens the volume of the resonance body, so you get more sound volume, too and add a good portion of caixa crispiness to it!
The solid aluminium shell as well as all technical details are in well-established IVSOM quality. The tension rods are screwed down flush with the fittings in the ring. Smoothed out rims for ideal skin fitting, tension hoops, threads etc. are neatly manufactured.Amongst others, IVSOM provides the sambaschool Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro with his instruments. Being a mechanic and a sambista himself, he has ideal knowledge and abilities for building high quality Samba instruments.
Ivsom
Average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars
Furacaixa 12'' x 17cm - the caixa with resonance holes
A perforated shell? A caixa with holes? After the caixa vazada (the bodyless caixa), Ivsom has developed another spectacular instrument that not only impresses with a witty look but also with a top-quality sound. Due to the perforations, the furacaixa has an open sound similar to the caixa vazada. On the one side, the holes function as amplifier, so the caixa sounds really loud, and on the other hand like a monitor, you hear yourself playing in a bateria a lot better. The rims on the caixa have a strong shell sound just like normal caixas. Another real treat for caixas players, especially for those who like to play em cima (above). The furacaixa sound has the typical Ivsom-style dry and crispy sound and extremely little sustain. Like all Ivsom instruments, the lugs are screwed flush into the brackets of the rim. All important details such as the rim on which the head sits on, the string bed, rims, threads etc. are well manufactured and easy to handle (no squeaking!). The hardware is galvanized (yellow).
IVSOM, among other supplier, builds instruments for the Samba school of Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro. As a mechanic and caixa player himself, the producer has the ideal skills to build high quality Samba drums.
Contemporânea
Average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
Multi Pad for Samba drums - silent practice pad with metal rimshot simulator. Practise repinique and caixa at home, use as caixa emcima, surdo, rebolo, repique de mão or even for timbal and pandeiro.
Practising repinique at home with proper rimshots without driving the neighbours crazy - yes, awesome! Contemporânea has developed a silent practice pad especially for sambistas that has basically unbeatable versatility. A coated wooden frame that creates ideal rebound conditions and at the same time covers a wide range of Samba instruments. A piece of metal rim simulates rimshots. Marked sound zones remind you of hitting the correct zone on your drum. Cut-outs in the frame fit the pad perfectly in your lap over your legs and provide additional stability. You can also just pop the pad on top of the actual instrument. Or hold it in the crook of your arm like a caixa emcima or in your hand like a pandeiro. An accessory for playing at home, but also for warming up before gigs or for when you're on holiday to stay in shape.
All features at a glance:
Practice pad for caixa, caixa emcima, repinique, surdo and for instruments played entirely without sticks and mallets, such as timbal, repique de mão, pandeiro or rebolo.
Chrome-plated metal rim section for repinique and caixa rimshots
Sound zone markings to make sure you hit the right spot when practising: bass, medium and high
2 cut-outs for your legs on the bottom of the frame make it more comfortable and stable to place the pad on your lap when rehearsing. You can use the pad on your lap or on a chair, or directly on the instrument.
The cut-outs also function as handle if you want to use the pad as a practice pandeiro.
Lightweight at only approx. 900g
Compact dimensions: 12'' diameter; 6.5 cm frame width
Finish in matt black
Ivsom
Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
Tarol Vazado 12'' x 17 cm - the tarol with no body! A real eyecatcher!In Rio, the latest version of this instrument is the newest blowoff and ist literally shaking up the sambaschools: The Son Duplo tarol with no body! A flat iron support frame creates the illusion of a closed corpus. The caixa has the same size as the instruments made from aluminium. The sensational sound however differs significantly. Tremendously direct and loud, without the restriction of the surrounding shell.A flash for all tarol playersThe sound can escape directly, it literally reaches you directly meaning that even if you play in a strong bateria you will be able to easily hear yourself!The tarol vazado sounds extra-dry and has due to its short body extremely little sustain!As usual with all IVSOM instruments, the tension rods are screwed down flush with the fittings in the ring. All important details such as a smoothed out rims for ideal skin fitting, string accomodation, tension hoops, threads etc. are neatly manufactured in the usual good quality IVSOM manner. Amongst others, IVSOM provides the sambaschool Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro with his instruments. Being a mechanic and a caixa player, he disposes of ideal abilities for building good quality Samba instruments.
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
White Malacacheta 12'' x 20 cm - aluminium, 4 strings
A typical Rio-style caixa in classic 12'' format. The shell is welded at the seam. A welded drum body has a higher vibration behavior in its sound, because the metal can resonate easier. Gope builds its drums in lightweight construction methods which made their range very popular, especially through their ultra-light surdos. They save weight by using thinner metal sheet and a strong construction of slim-line hardware. The Caixa has white rims and a white shell, the body is made of light aluminium sheet. Due to its light weight, the Caixa is also suitable for young sambistas. Rich sound and light-weight!A special feature of the strings is that they have small wire loops at both ends through which you can insert a split pin and simply hook the strings onto the strainer. No more annoying tying of the strings, simply pull them through the eyelets of the strainer and hook them into the pin at the bottom, done!
Tip:If you prefer your caixa to sound dry and crisp, you can use a GP3 head as a batter head, which compensates the thin metal sheet, will filter out unwanted overtones and give you more sound power.
Ivsom
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Stringed repinique vazada with no shell - 2 in 1 Hybrid Repinique with Caixa strings - 12'' x 27 cm - IVSOMDirect and loud sound - the repicaixa is an absolute eye-catcher, stylish and in signature IVSOM look with vazada shell and yellow hardware.If you play on the side without strings, it sounds like a normal repinique with a casual caixa sound, but the steel frame shell makes it much louder and more direct. Flip the hybrid repinique over to make it sound like an amplified caixa. The longer shell increases the volume of the resonance body, so you have a larger sound volume and a lot more punch in the sound! Well-made components and materials, and the usual technical details of IVSOM instruments: the rods are screwed flush into the brackets of the rim. The inner head rim, the tension rims, smooth-running threads, etc. are easy to handle.IVSOM is, among others, a supplier to the Samba school Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro. As a mechanic and active sambista, he has the ideal skills and knowledge to build great Samba instruments.
R&G
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa de Guerra 12" x 20cm - galvanized sheet steel. Authentic, robust, functional.Rustic street samba instrument with authentic, powerful Rio-style sound. Standard dimensions for playing down or up (emcima), 6 single strings for dry sound.from R&G / Rio de Janeiro
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa Malacacheta 12'' x 20 cm – aluminum shell with strings in purple – GOPEA classic Rio-style Caixa - pure Samba vibes straight from São Paulo. This Caixa stands out with its traditional sound and quality craftsmanship. The shell is made of powder-coated aluminum with a deep metallic sheen, a hallmark of the Lila & Lila Line. The welded seam allows the shell to resonate freely, delivering a full, rich sound.Authentic Rio sound: crisp, dry, and punchy - perfect for powerful batucada grooves.Stylish design: both the rims and shell are powder-coated, providing a durable and sleek finish.Light and comfortable: designed for easy handling, this caixa is perfect for emcima playing, especially for emcima beginners seeking a lightweight and easy-to-play instrument.Collection: Lila & Lila
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa malacacheta 12‘’ x 20 cm - aluminium, strings - GopeA typical Rio-style caixa in a classic format. The shell is powder-coated and welded at the seam. A welded body has more shell content in the sound, as the shell can resonate better.The Caixa has coloured tension rings, the body is made of lightweight aluminium and sounds beautifully dry - Rio style! Thanks to its low weight, the Caixa is also suitable for young sambistas.Colour: orangeCollection: Store
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa malacacheta 12‘’ x 20 cm - aluminium, strings - GopeA typical Rio-style caixa in a classic format. The shell is powder-coated and welded at the seam. A welded body has more shell content in the sound, as the shell can resonate better.The Caixa has coloured tension rings, the body is made of lightweight aluminium and sounds beautifully dry - Rio style! Thanks to its low weight, the Caixa is also suitable for young sambistas.Colour: greenCollection: Store
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa malacacheta 12‘’ x 20 cm - aluminium, strings - GopeA typical Rio-style caixa in a classic format. The shell is powder-coated and welded at the seam. A welded body has more shell content in the sound, as the shell can resonate better.The Caixa has coloured tension rings, the body is made of lightweight aluminium and sounds beautifully dry - Rio style! Thanks to its low weight, the Caixa is also suitable for young sambistas.Special colour: pinkCollection: Store
New
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa for Samba Reggae, 14'' x 10 cm – Aluminium, GopeSamba Reggae like in Salvador! This caixa is a bit different from the standard ones – it has a slimmer shell, which is usually a few centimeters taller in other models. The result? Less sustain, giving you a crisp, lighter sound that fits perfectly into Samba Reggae rhythms, and the reduced weight makes it a great choice for long parades or performances.The shell is made of aluminum with a welded seam and snare wires that are permanently engaged. Unlike a standard drum kit snare, which often has a mechanism to disengage the wires for quieter moments, Samba caixas are designed with the snare wires fixed in place for a continuous resonance that defines the style. Thanks to the welded construction, the metal vibrates more freely, giving the sound a full, rich resonance.The hardware is slim but sturdy, inspired by Gope’s popular lightweight surdos, which helps keep the instrument light without sacrificing durability.If you’re after a caixa that’s easy to carry, sounds crisp, and works perfectly for Samba Reggae, this one from Gope is definitely worth a look!
Ivsom
Average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars
Repicaixa - 2 in 1 hybrid repinique with strings - 12'' x 27 cm - IVSOM
The hybid repinique is a total eyecatcher, stylish and in typical IVSOM design with polished aluminium and yellow hardware.
On one side, the repinique sounds like a totally normal repinique with some background caixa white noise. Turn the hybrid repinique around and play on the side of the strings - it will sound like an amplified caixa! The high shell enlargens the volume of the resonance body, so you get more sound volume, too and add a good portion of caixa crispiness to it!
The solid aluminium shell as well as all technical details are in well-established IVSOM quality. The tension rods are screwed down flush with the fittings in the ring. Smoothed out rims for ideal skin fitting, tension hoops, threads etc. are neatly manufactured.Amongst others, IVSOM provides the sambaschool Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro with his instruments. Being a mechanic and a sambista himself, he has ideal knowledge and abilities for building high quality Samba instruments.
Ivsom
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Stringed repinique vazada with no shell - 2 in 1 Hybrid Repinique with Caixa strings - 12'' x 27 cm - IVSOMDirect and loud sound - the repicaixa is an absolute eye-catcher, stylish and in signature IVSOM look with vazada shell and yellow hardware.If you play on the side without strings, it sounds like a normal repinique with a casual caixa sound, but the steel frame shell makes it much louder and more direct. Flip the hybrid repinique over to make it sound like an amplified caixa. The longer shell increases the volume of the resonance body, so you have a larger sound volume and a lot more punch in the sound! Well-made components and materials, and the usual technical details of IVSOM instruments: the rods are screwed flush into the brackets of the rim. The inner head rim, the tension rims, smooth-running threads, etc. are easy to handle.IVSOM is, among others, a supplier to the Samba school Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro. As a mechanic and active sambista, he has the ideal skills and knowledge to build great Samba instruments.
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa Malacacheta 12'' x 20 cm – aluminum shell with strings in purple – GOPEA classic Rio-style Caixa - pure Samba vibes straight from São Paulo. This Caixa stands out with its traditional sound and quality craftsmanship. The shell is made of powder-coated aluminum with a deep metallic sheen, a hallmark of the Lila & Lila Line. The welded seam allows the shell to resonate freely, delivering a full, rich sound.Authentic Rio sound: crisp, dry, and punchy - perfect for powerful batucada grooves.Stylish design: both the rims and shell are powder-coated, providing a durable and sleek finish.Light and comfortable: designed for easy handling, this caixa is perfect for emcima playing, especially for emcima beginners seeking a lightweight and easy-to-play instrument.Collection: Lila & Lila
Ivsom
Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
Tarol Vazado 12'' x 17 cm - the tarol with no body! A real eyecatcher!In Rio, the latest version of this instrument is the newest blowoff and ist literally shaking up the sambaschools: The Son Duplo tarol with no body! A flat iron support frame creates the illusion of a closed corpus. The caixa has the same size as the instruments made from aluminium. The sensational sound however differs significantly. Tremendously direct and loud, without the restriction of the surrounding shell.A flash for all tarol playersThe sound can escape directly, it literally reaches you directly meaning that even if you play in a strong bateria you will be able to easily hear yourself!The tarol vazado sounds extra-dry and has due to its short body extremely little sustain!As usual with all IVSOM instruments, the tension rods are screwed down flush with the fittings in the ring. All important details such as a smoothed out rims for ideal skin fitting, string accomodation, tension hoops, threads etc. are neatly manufactured in the usual good quality IVSOM manner. Amongst others, IVSOM provides the sambaschool Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel in Rio de Janeiro with his instruments. Being a mechanic and a caixa player, he disposes of ideal abilities for building good quality Samba instruments.
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa malacacheta 12‘’ x 20 cm - aluminium, strings - GopeA typical Rio-style caixa in a classic format. The shell is powder-coated and welded at the seam. A welded body has more shell content in the sound, as the shell can resonate better.The Caixa has coloured tension rings, the body is made of lightweight aluminium and sounds beautifully dry - Rio style! Thanks to its low weight, the Caixa is also suitable for young sambistas.Colour: orangeCollection: Store
Contemporânea
Average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
Malacacheta 12" - caixa with strings for Rio SambaHigh-quality caixa de guerra from Contemporanea Pro, featuring a robust, thick-walled aluminum shell that delivers a rich, powerful sound with noticeably more volume compared to thinner walled models. The strings are arranged in three double strands. A key advantage: thanks to the higher shell, the Malacacheta sits securely on your thigh, allowing for comfortable playing without shifting. The result? A bold sound with plenty of volume, further enhanced by the deep shell.
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
White Malacacheta 12'' x 20 cm - aluminium, 4 strings
A typical Rio-style caixa in classic 12'' format. The shell is welded at the seam. A welded drum body has a higher vibration behavior in its sound, because the metal can resonate easier. Gope builds its drums in lightweight construction methods which made their range very popular, especially through their ultra-light surdos. They save weight by using thinner metal sheet and a strong construction of slim-line hardware. The Caixa has white rims and a white shell, the body is made of light aluminium sheet. Due to its light weight, the Caixa is also suitable for young sambistas. Rich sound and light-weight!A special feature of the strings is that they have small wire loops at both ends through which you can insert a split pin and simply hook the strings onto the strainer. No more annoying tying of the strings, simply pull them through the eyelets of the strainer and hook them into the pin at the bottom, done!
Tip:If you prefer your caixa to sound dry and crisp, you can use a GP3 head as a batter head, which compensates the thin metal sheet, will filter out unwanted overtones and give you more sound power.
Ivsom
Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
Double stringed 12'' x 17cm caixa by IVSOMRio style caixa players listen up:Twice as many strings for twice as much sound!This beauty has 6 strings on the batter side and 6 more strings on the inside of the resonance head.The strings on the inside of the resonance head have a muffling effect, producing a massive dry sound. The snare-sound is simply doubled!Double stringed - double sound!An aspect for fine ears: often the typical Rio-style caixas have an annoying overtone, which automatically appears when you start playing the instrument. The double stringed caixa intuitively sounds more muffled due to the strings strapped to both heads. With this, disturbing side effects have no chance. The caixa sounds super dry, just the tone we´re searching for for a Rio style bateria. By the way, this caixa even sounds great if it is not pitched too high!Obvious fact is - this is a Rio Style caixa with massive and super sound! Samba trend and design by IVSOM for XL-sound!
Gope
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa malacacheta 12‘’ x 20 cm - aluminium, strings - GopeA typical Rio-style caixa in a classic format. The shell is powder-coated and welded at the seam. A welded body has more shell content in the sound, as the shell can resonate better.The Caixa has coloured tension rings, the body is made of lightweight aluminium and sounds beautifully dry - Rio style! Thanks to its low weight, the Caixa is also suitable for young sambistas.Colour: greenCollection: Store
R&G
Average rating of 0 out of 5 stars
Caixa de Guerra 12" x 20cm - galvanized sheet steel. Authentic, robust, functional.Rustic street samba instrument with authentic, powerful Rio-style sound. Standard dimensions for playing down or up (emcima), 6 single strings for dry sound.from R&G / Rio de Janeiro