The pandeiro is one of the lightest (weight-wise) percussion instruments, but one of the heaviest in presence and importance to many Brazilian music. A direct translation of pandeiro to English would result in "tambourine", that circular percussion instrument with some small metallic jingles on the rim, widely used in all sorts of songs. Such translation, however, does not fully represent what "pandeiro" really means.More than a few anatomic differences to a tambourine (as well described here), the Brazilian pandeiro is the soul and central leverage point of many more traditional to contemporary Brazilian musical styles related to the their African roots. Such is the case of not only the more well-known styles such as samba or bossa nova, but also chorinho, and even folkloric rhythms from many parts of the Brazilian territory North to South, and East to West, even reaching far beyond the country's borders.
In Brazil, the pandeiro is a connecting point balancing the cadence of many different musical styles, rising from different ethnic origins. Have a look and a listen to these quick examples of how important a pandeiro is, when one is attempting to play Brazilian music with soul:
- Hamilton de Hollanda, Andre Vasconcellos e Marcos Suzano
- Lenine e Suzano
- Roda de choro (with Deon Rian's son Bruno on focus, and the pandeiro the second loudest instrument)
- Dueling pandeiros
- Pandeiro Solo
- Marisa Monte e Epoca de Ouro
- Epoca de ouro
However, as portable and simple as the pandeiro is, finding a pandeirista in Perth has been the hardest part of our work so far. Incredibly, Perth has a strong Brazilian community, brought here due to the surplus of qualified job offers in the mining and oil & gas industries, sectors in which Brazil has had a strong impact in both local production, technology and human resources. But we have not yet been able to find a pandeirista here!
In the duo, I have been able to incorporate a little of the pandeirista feel in my rhythmic guitar grooves. So that we now have a big Brazilian heart, a lot of soul, but we know that all this would grow to deeper dimensions in the hands of a good percussionist, with good knowledge of our good old pandeiro of course.
The pandeiro is one of the lightest instruments, but it has been a heavy duty to find a pandeirista around. If you know of a talented pandeirista who may be hiding behind a desk in Perth, please let us know, urgently!
