# Atabaque

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Atabaque
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Atabaque.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atabaque
> Source revision: 1231166158
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Hand drum

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Atabaque" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Atabaque Percussion instrument Classification Membranophone Hornbostel–Sachs classification 211.221.1 (Barrel drum) Developed Brazil

Drumming on an atabaque

The **atabaque** ([UK](/source/British_English): [/ˌætəˈbæki/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*AT-ə-BAK-ee*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key), [US](/source/American_English): [/ˌɑːtəˈbɑːki/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*AH-tə-BAH-kee*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key), Brazilian Portuguese: [\[ataˈbaki\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Portuguese)) is a tall, wooden, Afro-Brazilian [hand drum](/source/Hand_drum), similar to [conga](/source/Conga).[1]

The shell is made traditionally of [Jacaranda](/source/Jacaranda) wood from [Brazil](/source/Brazil). The [head](/source/Drumhead) 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](/source/Ewe_people), [Fon](/source/Fon_people), [Akan](/source/Akan_people), and [Yoruba](/source/Yoruba_people) people during the New World diaspora.[2]

The atabaque is used in [Capoeira](/source/Capoeira), [Maculelê](/source/Maculel%C3%AA_(dance)) and the Afro-Brazilian religions of [Candomblé](/source/Candombl%C3%A9) and [Umbanda](/source/Umbanda). It is considered sacred in [Candomblé](/source/Candombl%C3%A9) and [Umbanda](/source/Umbanda). The main instrument in Candomblé is the drum (Atabaque), skinned with cord-and-peg tension.[2]

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.[3]

In [Maculelê](/source/Maculel%C3%AA_(dance)) and the rituals of [Candomblé](/source/Candombl%C3%A9) and [Umbanda](/source/Umbanda), as many as three Atabaques are used (usually one of each type), but in [Capoeira](/source/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

- Capoeira, Nestor (2007). *The Little Capoeira Book*. Blue Snake Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781583941980](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781583941980).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECapoeira20078_1-0)** [Capoeira 2007](#CITEREFCapoeira2007), pp. 8.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-autogenerated2005_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-autogenerated2005_2-1) Taylor, G. Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace (2005)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Almeida, B. Capoeira: A Brazilian Art Form: History, Philosophy, and Practice.(1993)

v t e Percussion instruments List of percussion instruments List of percussion instruments by type Pitched percussion Keyboard percussion Aluphone Carillon Crotales Glockenspiel Marimba Tubaphone Tubular bells Vibraphone Xylophone Handbell Handpan Rototom Steelpan Tabla Timpani Unpitched percussion Bass drum Bodhrán Bongos Cabasa Cajón Castanets Clapstick Claves Conga Cowbell Cymbals Djembe Jawbone Maracas Mark tree Snare drum Taiko Tambourine Tam-tam Temple blocks Timbales Triangle Vibraslap Wood block Electronic percussion Drum machine Electronic drum Octapad Percussion groupings Drum kit Marching percussion Front ensemble Indoor percussion ensemble Percussion section Percussion ensemble Drum circle Other Classification of percussion instruments Drum stick Percussion mallet List of cymbal manufacturers List of drum manufacturers List of keyboard percussion manufacturers List of timpani manufacturers

Authority control databases MusicBrainz instrument

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Atabaque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atabaque) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atabaque?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.