View source for Atabaque

{{Short description|Hand drum}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox instrument
| name                  = Atabaque
| image                 = Atabaque (confeccionado por Pancho Piñones).JPG
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| caption               =
| background            = percussion
| names                 =
| classification        = Membranophone
| hornbostel_sachs      = 211.221.1
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Barrel drum
| inventors             =
| developed             = Brazil
| timbre                = 
| volume                = 
| attack                = 
| decay                 = 
| range                 =
| pitch                 = 
| related               =
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}}
[[Image:Atabaque.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Drumming on an atabaque]]
The '''atabaque''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˌ|æ|t|ə|ˈ|b|æ|k|i}} {{respell|AT|ə|BAK|ee}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˌ|ɑː|t|ə|ˈ|b|ɑː|k|i}} {{respell|AH|tə|BAH|kee}}, {{IPA|pt-BR|ataˈbaki|lang}}) is a tall, wooden, Afro-Brazilian [[hand drum]], similar to [[conga]].{{sfn|Capoeira|2007|pp=8}} 

The shell is made traditionally of [[Jacaranda]] wood from [[Brazil]]. The [[drumhead|head]] is traditionally made from calfskin. A system of ropes are intertwined around the body, connecting a metal ring near the base to the head. Because of this tuning mechanism the drum is sometimes known as 'Atabaque de Corda'. Wooden wedges are jammed between this ring and the body and a hammer is used to tighten or loosen the ropes, raising or lowering the pitch of the drum.

In Africa, cord-and-peg tension atabaques had a distribution area roughly congruent with the iron double bell (Agogo). This included the Guinea Coast from the Niger River and west to Benin, Togo, and Ghana. Beyond West Africa, cord-and-peg tension drums appeared in Bahia, Suriname, St. Domingue, Cuba, and the southern states of America. These drums traveled with the [[Ewe people|Ewe]], [[Fon people|Fon]], [[Akan people|Akan]], and [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] people during the New World diaspora.<ref name="autogenerated2005">Taylor, G. Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace (2005)</ref>

The atabaque is used in [[Capoeira]], [[Maculelê (dance)|Maculelê]] and the Afro-Brazilian religions of [[Candomblé]] and [[Umbanda]]. It is considered sacred in [[Candomblé]] and [[Umbanda]]. The main instrument in Candomblé is the drum (Atabaque), skinned with cord-and-peg tension.<ref name="autogenerated2005"/>

There are three types of atabaque: ''rum'', the tallest with the lowest pitch; ''rum-pi'', of medium height and in the middle pitch range; and ''lê'', the smallest and highest-pitched.<ref>Almeida, B. Capoeira: A Brazilian Art Form: History, Philosophy, and Practice.(1993)</ref>

In [[Maculelê (dance)|Maculelê]] and the rituals of [[Candomblé]] and [[Umbanda]], as many as three Atabaques are used (usually one of each type), but in [[Capoeira]], traditionally only one is used.

==Nomenclature==

The atabaque has several distinct parts. Some of these are the couro de boi (oxhide), the corda (rope) and the aro (hoop), forming where together the corda de aro (rope hoop). The acunhas are the Wedges, and the suporte is the atabaque stand.

== Literature ==
*{{cite book|title=The Little Capoeira Book|last=Capoeira|first=Nestor|publisher=Blue Snake Books|year=2007|isbn=9781583941980}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{percussion}}
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[[Category:Hand drums]]
[[Category:Brazilian percussion]]
[[Category:Candomblé]]
[[Category:Capoeira music]]