Maracas origin: Guide to Maracas: History and Use of Maracas in Music – 2022

Latin Music History: The Maracas Indigenous Origins

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“Echale semilla a la maraca pa’ que suene; cha-cu-cha, cu-chu-cu cha cu-cha” said the recently departed Cheo Feliciano in his Fania All Stars version of “El Raton“, regarding the use of maracas.

Cheo Feliciano highlighted a simple but important instrument that is idiosyncratic of Latin music.

Our Latin American culture is made up of the mix of three races, Indigenous, Spaniard, and African. From Spain we got the guitars, from Africa the drums, and from Native Indians, one of the instruments we got was the maraca.

I am so grateful of the “maraca”, as it’s one of the few instruments I can play when I’ve gathered with friends to have some music-making fun. If you’ve been involved with friends in “parrandas”, “posadas”, “batucadas”, “rumbones” or any other form of musical gathering, the maracas, along with the “palitos” (clave) and guiros, are one of the simplest instruments to play. Hey, even babies get a maraca as one of the first toys to play with.

Origins of the Maracas

Maracas made from the fruit of the higuera tree in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Most studies agree that the maraca came from the indigenous tribes in Latin America. What they don’t agree is on which tribe and in which country of Latin America they were first seen. I thought a simple instrument like maracas would be easy to trace its origins. I was mistaken!

Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Venezuela seem to be the top 3 countries that dispute the origins of the maracas.

In my research I found that the Arauca’s tribe from South America seems to be most closely linked to the creation of the maraca. Either them directly when stationed in what is now Brazil, or indirectly by fighting through South America. Eventually they caused the Taino tribe to move up the Lesser Antilles islands in the Caribbean. The Tainos made their way up to Puerto Rico. It turns out that another theory indicates this was the place where they created the maracas.

Before heading up through the Antilles islands towards Puerto Rico, the Tainos lived in Venezuela. There they could have invented the maracas as stated by another theory. But one thing is certain; either the Arauca’s or the Tainos invented the maracas.

The Maracas Instrument

Frank “Machito” Grillo used the maracas since early in his career, and became part of his “brand”.

The maraca is made from a tree fruit. In Puerto Rico, they are made from a native small tree called the “higuera”. This tree produces a fruit with a hard shell. The Tainos made a small hole in the shell to extract the pulp. Then, and after letting it dry, they would fill it with seeds or pebbles.

A wood stick is normally placed through the core of the maracas as a handle for them. It also serves to not interfere with the sound of its core. Nowadays, maracas are tied together with a string between the two wooden sticks. The main purpose of this is to keep them together and not lose one of the pair.

That’s why Cheo said “echale semilla a la maraca pa’ que suene”, in that Fania All Stars version of the song. The maracas are normally (but not always) played in pairs. The amount of seeds, pebbles, or whatever is used to make their sound, is normally not in equal amounts. One maraca will normally have more seeds than the other. This will have the effect of producing different pitches in their sound.

The modern day maraca is made of leather or plastic. Additionally, it’s filled with all kinds of materials to make their sound.

Use of the Maracas

The indigenous inhabitants of Latin America originally used the maraca in religious chants and ceremonies. They gave a vibrant sound that highlighted these ceremonies.

In the 19th and 20th century, the maraca was introduced to many rhythms that were developing in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Cuba they were adopted in the “son”, “guaracha”, and “danzon”. For these genres, they are used in pairs.

For Puerto Rican “bomba“, a single maraca is used, and one that is normally bigger in size than the ones used in pairs.

John Santos Demonstrates Use of Maracas in Latin Music (video)

In the video below, Latin music master percussionist John Santos demonstrates how the maracas are used for different rhythms in Latin music.

Maracas Impact in Latin Music

You can see and hear the use of the maracas in our folkloric music from various Latin American countries. The use of maracas spread widely through Latin America and beyond.

Salsa music lovers are very familiar with maracas. Salsa inherited the use of then from the Cuban “son”, “guaracha”, and “bolero”, which frequently used them.

Frank “Machito” Grillo was one of the most famous maraca players in Latin music. Since his music set a precedence to modern Salsa and Latin Jazz, the maracas are also prevalent in today’s Salsa music. However, today it is rare to see musicians that truly master this simple instrument. More maraca masters are found in folkloric music instead of those you see in Salsa or Afro-Cuban music.

I find the maraca to be an essential instrument in Latin music, and I’m grateful it’s a simple instrument that I can get to play with a certain level of decency when we have “parrandas” or “batucadas” with friends. It sure is fun to make noise with them!

Maracas | Encyclopedia.com

Background

One of the most recognizable of the percussion instruments is the maracas, a pair of rattles made from gourds. Maracas are essential to Latin and South American orchestras and bands, and other musical forms that have adopted the rhythm of the maracas.

Maracas are used as musical instruments, and they are usually oval or egg-shaped. The family of musical instruments is divided into groups depending on how sound is produced. Solid or sealed objects that have full, distinctive sounds are classified as “idiophones.” Maracas are part of a further subgroup of instruments that are shaken rather than struck. Idiophones that are struck include cymbals, castanets, and the xylophone.

The most universal form of construction of maracas uses dried gourds with beads, beans, or small stones inside. A handle is attached to each gourd, and the handle not only can be used for shaking but also seals in the noisemakers. The manufacturing process has evolved from one using only natural materials including gourds or other plant pods, wood, and leather to using plastic and fiber. It also features more sophisticated machinery to fashion wood handles.

History

Percussion instruments, especially drums, existed as long ago as the Stone Age. Maracas may have originated among several ancient civilizations at almost the same time. African tribes are known to have played drums and a wide variety of rattles and similar instruments from the traditions that have been carried down through the ages. South Pacific Islanders also developed a wide range of rattles by using plants that produced gourd-like seed pods; rattles without handles were even made from coconuts that had been dried out. In South America, maracas linked music and magic because witch doctors used maracas as symbols of supernatural beings; the gourds represented the heads of the spirits, and the witch doctor shook the gourds to summon them.

Just as maracas are essential to today’s Latin and South American ensembles, the history of the maracas is best traced through the artwork of pre-Columbian Indians, especially the tribes in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Paraguay. The word maraca is believed to have been given to the instrument by the Araucanian people of central Chile. It is used for all gourd rattles although some also have more specific names. In the region of West Africa along the Atlantic Ocean called Guinea, native people tell the legend of a goddess making a maraca by sealing white pebbles in a calabash, a hard gourd that is also shaped into cooking utensils. Natives of the Congo in Africa and the Hopi Indians in America share the tradition of using turtle shells and baskets for rattles; when settlers brought European goods to America, native Americans collected empty shell cartridges, metal spice boxes, and cans to make rattles.

Players of maracas in the countries and regions in South America favor gourds of different varieties as well as unique playing customs. The “typical” maracas are played in Colombia, but musical ensembles in the Andes Mountains play smaller maracas called gapachos because they are filled with seeds from the gapacho plant. In Colombia’s Llanos region, instrumentalists play clavellinas, which are similar to gapachos. In Paraguay, the porrongo gourd is used to
make maracas, but only the men play them. Venezuelan ensembles use the maracas to set basic rhythms, but only the singers in the groups play them.

Some maracas relatives have beads on the outside. The gourd is larger than those typical of the maracas; the calabash is most common. The end is cut off but farther from the round body of the gourd, so the neck can be used as a handle. Strings of the same length are cut and tied to a center circle of string. Beads are strung along the lengths and tied again to a circle around the neck. Shaking this instrument rattles the loose strings and beads against the outside of the hollow gourd.

In modern times, many rhythm and percussion bands playing all styles of music use maracas. Composers have even written parts for them in classical pieces; for example, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, written in 1935, calls for maracas in the fiery portions of this ballet. Maracas are even pounded on the heads of drums for interesting effects in classical music. Leonard Bernstein wrote the Jeremiah Symphony in 1942 and scored music for maracas used as drumsticks.

Raw Materials

Materials for the three major parts of the maracas are needed for manufacture. The hollow oval top is called the bell. It can be made of almost any kind of gourd or seedpod that can be dried or hollowed out. Traditional construction also uses leather that is cut into two parts, shaped to make the bell, and stitched along the seams. Plastic or fiber can be molded into round or oval shapes for the bells. Plastic maracas with small, round bells made in bright colors are toys and teaching tools for children and are marketed under catchy names.

The pellets that make the sound when the maracas are shaken are traditionally the dried seeds from inside the gourd. Other seeds, beans, beads, metal pellets, and even shells and buttons can be used inside maracas. Changing the type of material and the number of beans inside will change the sound.

The handle is made of wood or plastic. Wood is the traditional material and was carved or whittled to fit the opening in the gourd and to make an attractive shape and one that was comfortable to hold and shake. Today, wood is still used, but it is shaped with a lathe to make a uniform, attractive handle. Makers of maracas prefer Caribbean wood, mostly for its beauty; but soft to ultra hard wood is chosen depending on the size, shape, and appearance of the maracas.

Lesser materials include heavy thread that is used to stitch the halves of leather maracas together, and thick string that is wound around the top of the handle and the base of the gourd, then glued to hold them together. Cloth bindings (much like hem tape) can also be wrapped around the join of the handle and gourd.

Design

The design of maracas has assumed a traditional shape even though there are many variations within the family of rattles. Maracas have an oval top or bell in a hollow, outer shell and contains bean-sized objects that rattle against the shell when the instrument is shaken. To shake the maracas, a handle is attached.

Within this basic description, the materials used to make the bell, beans, and handle can vary in type of material, shape, and size. Traditional maracas are gourds or stitched leather with wood handles. However, modern technology has produced hard fibers and plastics for the bell as well as plastic noisemakers. Machinery like lathes can be used to shape handles that precisely fit the bell. Machines stitch the parts of the bell when they are made of leather. Modern glues are also a technical improvement that assures the long-lasting fit of bell, handles, and binding. Manufacturers use climate-controlled rooms to dry the gourds carefully. If they are dried too quickly, the outer skins will shrink and shrivel.

The designs on the outsides of the bells are also varied and made of different materials. Most gourds are painted on the outsides with bright colors from their native homes or with colors suited to the instrumental group or musical style. Red, yellow, and green are a vibrant, popular color combination, but images in dark brown on the yellow show instruments, native peoples, or beaches and trees or other scenes. Hawaiian dancers play gourds that have feathers suspended
from the binding around the handle, and the feathers sway with the dancers.

The Manufacturing

Process

1. Manufacturers of percussion instruments typically make many varieties of instruments ranging from kettledrums (called tympani) to xylophones and maracas. They purchase natural materials from a suppliers but tool their own machines to their standards for cutting and shaping these materials. To produce maracas made of gourds, they buy gourds from a local supplier, often a farmer. The manufacturers cut off the narrow end of each gourd with a thin-bladed band saw. Knives or spoons with long handles and narrow bowls are used to scrap the membranes and seeds out of the gourd. The membranes are disposed, but the seeds are washed and saved.
2. After the insides of the gourds are cleaned, the gourds and their seeds are dried in a climate-controlled room. For some styles and if the necks of the gourds are long enough, the necks are also dried and kept with the gourds they came from. Gourds are usually dried for months (and sometimes as much as a year) in these controlled conditions so that the interior will dry completely and the exterior will not wrinkle.
3. If the necks of the gourds are not used, wooden handles are cut to appropriate lengths and general shapes. By using a lathe, the handle can be shaped with rounded ridges to make it easy to grip. In some cases, more of the neck end of the gourd is cut off to speed removal of membranes and seeds, as well as drying. In this case, the end of the handle that will be attached to the gourd is cut into a funnel-like shape that will fit the gourd. Some handles are much simpler and resemble rod-like pieces of wood called dowels. The various types and shapes of handles are stored in boxes for assembly when the gourds are ready.
4. When the gourds and seeds are dried, the outsides of the gourds may be sanded to smooth any irregularities. Each gourd is then partially filled with seeds. Other noisemakers like beans or small stones may be used for different sound effects, and the quantity of seeds or other materials also influences the sound. Manufacturers usually have their own special formula for filling the gourds or maracas made of other materials. Percussionists also request certain sounds, so some maracas are custom made.
5. The handles are then attached to the gourds. Those with flared tops are matched to the gourds with larger openings, and the handle tops are shaped to suit the gourds. The fitted handles are then glued to the gourds. After they have dried, the gourd-handle join may be sanded so that the join can barely be seen. Long necks saved with their gourds are also glued in place with high-strength, long-lasting glue.

   When handles are not matched to the bells of the maracas, a transition join between the handle and each gourd may be needed. Some styles of maracas use a round piece of wood that is glued to both sections and wrapped with binding for an attractive finish. For other styles, twine soaked in glue is wound around the top of the handle and lower end of the bell. A second layer of twine binding is added to smooth the appearance.

6. When assembly of the maracas is complete and glue has dried, the maracas are painted. In some cases, they are left in their natural finish. Bright enamels are used to paint the maracas by hand; usually, several layers are applied to create an even finish and blend the edges of the colors. When the paint has dried, the instruments are coated with shellac that is also dried.
7. As a final step, the maracas are individually packaged as a pair in a box. Wrapping of the individual rattles prevents them from knocking against each other. The pairs in boxes are then packed in bulk for shipment to distributors or instrument shops.

Quality Control

Although maracas are relatively simple, they are still musical instruments that require care in manufacture. Skilled crafters complete all the steps in making maracas, and handcrafting is essential to many steps. Manufacturers oversee the process, but the workers themselves are the true quality control experts because pride in their work demands skill and attention. Workers also test the sound quality of the instrument. If the filling material is stuck together, the maraca must be discarded.

Byproducts/Waste

Manufacture of maracas does not generate any byproducts although many styles may be made in the same facility. Waste is also very limited. Membranes and seeds from the gourds can be disposed as green waste that can be composted. Wood shavings and saw dust and trimmings from other components are minor in volume.

The Future

Maracas have a long past and a promising future because of their rhythmic sound. They are often first instruments for children and so have happy associations. Musicologists, who preserve the history of musical styles that may not have been written down, are recording and documenting ethnic music using maracas in many parts of the world so this musical heritage will not be lost. In modern music, these percussion instruments have found comfortable homes in many musical styles. The recent and increasing popularity of Latin music has brought maracas great attention, and ethnic music demands the essential sound of the maracas. Recordings spread this fascination, building a larger and larger audience for the maracas.

Where to Learn More

Books

Baines, Anthony, ed. Musical Instruments Through the Ages. New York: Walker and Company, 1976.

Buchner, Alexander. Folk Music Instruments. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972.

Hunter, Ilene, and Marilyn Judson. Simple Folk Instruments to Make and to Play. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1977.

Sadie, Stanley, ed. The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: Macmillan Press, 1984.

Other

Jansky, Charlotte. “Allegro Music.” AllegroMusic-Fremount.com Web Page. December 2001. <http://www.allegromusicfremont.com>.

Mambiza Drums & Percussion Web Page. December 2001. <http://www.mambiza.com>.

GillianS.Holmes

Maracas: history, video, interesting facts

Musical instrument: Maracas (maracas)

If you want to visit paradise on earth, then be sure to visit one of the Caribbean countries. The warm sea, the silky sand of the beach, the nature of amazing beauty, the sea of ​​entertainment and among them passionate Latin American dances: salsa, cha-cha-cha, mambo, merengue, bachata, sambo, which cannot leave anyone indifferent. Exciting virtuosic movements of partners and, of course, rhythmic incendiary music, emotionally influencing from the first chord. Ensembles that perform Latino music can be very diverse, but they always include instruments that are rightfully considered a symbol of Latin American music. This is a percussion instrument – maracas.

Read the history of maracas and many interesting facts about this musical instrument on our page.

Sound

The rustling sound of maracas is used as a background decoration in various musical compositions. It is formed by shaking the body of the tool, inside of which there is a granular filler. When the granules hit the walls of the hollow body, a specific sound of maracas is obtained.

Instruments are usually used in pairs, with one maracas sounding slightly different from the other. The performer holds them in different hands, but sometimes he performs them on two instruments and with one hand.

Many people think that maracas are easy to play. However, this is not quite true. The performer, firstly, must have a good sense of rhythm, and secondly, be able to master certain techniques, such as staccato, swing, doubles, rolls and rudiments. There are even certain playing styles, including Mexican, Caribbean and others.

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Interesting facts

• Marakas belong to the instruments of the idiophone group, in which the sound source is the body of the instrument.
• Initially, maracas were used by Indian shamans in ritual ceremonies. The Indians believed that maracas had magical powers and helped to get the protection of the spirits of nature, which they worshiped.
• Maracas in different regions of Latin America, in addition to the main one, have other variants of the name. In Venezuela – dadoo; in Mexico – soniaha; in Chile – wada; in Guatemala, chinchin; In Colombia, Alfandoca, Karangano and Herasa; in Haiti, asson and cha-cha; Panama – Nasisi; in Brazil – bapo and karkasha.
• In Russia, instruments called maracas have a distorted name. The exact name is maraka, and the plural is maraki. In Spanish, the word maracas is the plural of maraca.
• The first appearance of maracas in Russia dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. They were brought from Paris by the outstanding Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, who in 1935 used the instruments in his work Romeo and Juliet.
• Leonard Bernstein – the famous American composer, in order to achieve a certain effect in his symphony “Jeremiah” in a very original way used maracas instead of drumsticks.
• Currently, one of the best firms producing maracas is the American company Latin Percussion, established in New York in 1964 year.
• Maracas for tourists in Latin America are a very popular souvenir.

Construction

Maracas, very similar in appearance to a baby rattle, have not changed much throughout their long history. They also consist of three parts: body, filler and handle.

• The body, usually brightly colored, mostly has a traditional oval or round shape and is made from igüero (gorlanka tree), coconut nuts, wicker, leather, wood, as well as modern materials: plastic, acrylic, fiberglass and even metal.
• Peas, beans, shot, beads, small stones and other materials are used as a filler.
• The handle, made of wood or plastic, is usually unscrewed so that the performer has the opportunity to add or remove some filler, thereby changing the sound of the instrument.

Application

At present, the popularity of maracas is very high. They are very popular tools. It is impossible to find an ensemble performing Latin American music wherever maracas are used. Salsa, samba, cha-cha-cha, mambo, sleep music, merengue, choropo, bossa nova and many other musical styles that are hard to imagine without the sound of maracas. But these instruments decorate not only Latino music with their sound. They are widely used in groups performing popular music, pop and jazz groups, in percussion ensembles, and they have also been used in works of symphonic music. Such famous composers as Sergei Prokofiev, Leonard Bernstein, Malcolm Arnold and Edgar Vares introduced the sound of maracas into their compositions very effectively.

It should also be noted that instruments play an important role in primary musical education.

History

The history of maracas dates back centuries. Various percussion instruments have been used by man since the Stone Age, perhaps among them were rattles, the prototypes of modern maracas. Where this tool appeared now no one can say for sure, but there are two versions. The first option – the instrument first appeared among the Indians of the Taino and Arawak tribes, who were the indigenous inhabitants of the Antilles and inhabited Cuba, Puerto Rico, Bohamas and Jamaica. According to the second version, maracas were brought to Cuba from Africa during colonial times. However, the first option is the most plausible, since there is historical evidence that in Latin America the instrument was already known in the fifteenth century and led a parallel existence with an African relative.

There is an assumption that maracas are not the result of the invention of human hands, but the creation of a sorceress-nature. The fruits of the gourd (calabash) tree, which the Cubans call iguero, dried up so much that the seeds of the plant separated from the pulp and, when shaken, began to make a peculiar specific noise. The Indians liked this sound, and they began to make similar spherical rattles using small round fruits. Two holes were made in the body, the pulp was taken out, dried and small pebbles or large seeds of various plants were poured into it. The hole was closed on one side, and a handle was attached on the other. In addition to the fruits of the calabash tree, coconuts, woven wicker and leather were also used to make maracas.

Maracas are very popular these days. Over their centuries-old history, they, being at first ritual attributes, today have entered the category of fashionable instruments that have become widespread in various modern musical directions, as well as in the youth environment. This suggests that the instrument, simple in design, but having such an interesting sound, will delight listeners for a long time, cheer them up and give a lot of positive.

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Maracas

what is it, history of origin, design, sound, application

Maracas is one of the oldest musical instruments. Thanks to its simple extraction of sound, it has not lost its significance in modern music.

Contents of the article

• 1 What is a maracas
• 2 History of creation
• 3 Instrument structure
• 4 What do maracas sound like
• 5 Playing technique
• 6 Field of use

What is maracas

Maracas is a percussive-noise musical instrument. It belongs to the group of idiophones – instruments in which sound is extracted by vibration without the use of strings, membranes. In appearance, maracas resemble a kind of musical rattles. The design of the instrument has not changed and today it looks almost the same.

The name comes from the word “maraca” used by the Tupi-Guarani tribe of South America. The name has been transformed into Spanish, where the plural form sounds like maracas. The instrument may have other regional names.

The history of creation

It is impossible to establish the exact time of the appearance of maracas. Experts put forward 2 theories of the origin of the instrument. According to one, maracas appeared among the Arawak tribes who settled in Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. According to another version, the instrument was first created in Africa, and only then, during the period of colonial conquests, it got to the countries of Latin America. A parallel occurrence on both continents is also possible, because there is evidence of the existence of Mexican maracas in the 15th century and of related instruments among the tribes of the Pacific Islands.

According to the legend of the tribes of Cuba, nature itself suggested the idea of ​​creating maracas. When the fruits of the gourd tree dried out strongly in the sun, the seeds inside separated from the dried pulp and beat against the walls. The Indians liked the peculiar noise, and they began to make such tools using any suitable fruits.

From Latin America, maracas spread throughout the world.

In 1809, the Italian composer Gaspare Spontini used maracas in the opera Fernand Cortes, or the conquest of Mexico.

They appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, when S. Prokofiev brought it. He introduced the sound of the maracas to the Romeo and Juliet symphony in 1935.

An ancient maracas-like instrument.

Tool construction

Tool construction includes body and handle. The body is most often spherical, but can also be oval. The material is wood, leather on flexible rods, pumpkin, coconut, clay, as well as technological materials: plastic, steel, acrylic, glass fiber.

Its outer surface is always brightly colored and may have drawings. Inside the body is filled with rustling or ringing objects – various grains, dried peas, beads, etc.

A wooden or metal handle is attached to the outside of the ball and serves to hold the instrument. For ease of filling, it can be unscrewed.

Regional instrument types may vary slightly. The body of the Cuban maracas is pear-shaped and up to 15 cm in size. And in southern Venezuela, the instrument is the smallest – 7-12 cm. In the Andean mountain regions in Colombia, the maraca is transformed into a cylindrical shape, pierced on both sides with sticks so that the filler does not spill out.

How maracas sound

The sound of maracas resembles a combination of rustling, rustling and rustling. It occurs when the tool is shaken, when the filler hits the walls of the case.

The sound can be clear and loud or rolling, rustling. The maracas creates a rhythm with a higher frequency than the drum, so it is well suited to dance accompaniment.

The specific sound depends on the parameters of the body and filler. The thicker the cabinet walls, the lower the sound. Also, the sound changes depending on the playing technique.

Playing technique

While playing the maracas, the performer needs a well-developed sense of rhythm. With the help of the instrument, you can create a rhythm, get rhythmic accompaniment and different tonality.

Maracas are held by the handle and make a downward movement, as if hitting, and then sharply lifted up. With such a movement, the contents of the ball are poured and, hitting the walls, make characteristic sounds. They differ depending on the material of the ball and filler.

Several techniques are used in the execution process:

• Basic movement. Maracas is shaken twice to the right, up, down and left.
• Staccato – intermittent shaking with muffled sound;
• Double – alternating double shaking with one hand and then double movement with the other;
• Swing – shaking maracas with hand and body movements;
• Other techniques, such as alternate single shaking.

When the movements are correctly performed, there is a kickback in the wrist.

Maracas can be held touching the body or only by the handle. In the second case, the body is directed upward at an angle of 30-45 degrees. The instrument is shaken by the movement of the wrist.

The most commonly used pair of maracas. Each of the instruments is tuned in its own way, and thus a diverse sound is created. This requires 2 maracas with different pitches. The one that has a lower and stronger sound is taken in the right (for left-handers – left) hand. This is necessary to highlight and enhance the low tone.

To get a rustling, flowing sound, the maracas must be sharply lowered by about half the diameter of the body.

Continuous sound is achieved by circular movements.

Sometimes a maracas is held in one hand and struck with the other hand or patted with the body on parts of the body. This technique gives a soft accompaniment.

Area of ​​use

Maracas is widely used in traditional South American and Latin American music. Initially, it was used in ritual ceremonies because supernatural powers were attributed to it.