The ''cimboa'' (), also known as the ''cimbó'' , is a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

from

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. It is a bowed

chordophone String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the s ...

that was traditionally used to be played with the

batuque Batuque may refer to: * Batuque (game), a game once played in Brazil * Batuque (music and dance), a music and dance genre from Cape Verde * Batuque (religion), an Afro-American religion in Southern Brazil * Batuque FC, a Cape Verdean football (socc ...

dances. The ''cimboa'' is composed of the instrument proper and its bow. The instrument belongs to the lute family, and so it possesses a

neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...

attached to a

sound box A sound box or sounding box (sometimes written soundbox) is an open chamber in the body of a musical instrument which modifies the sound of the instrument, and helps transfer that sound to the surrounding air. Objects respond more strongly to vibr ...

. The sound box is made of a calebash, or when it is hard to find, with a

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or ...

shell, with a soundboard of stretched

kid Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to: Common meanings * Colloquial term for a child or other young person ** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age * Engage in joking * Young goats * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, lea ...

skin, fixed with

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

pieces. Attached to the sound box there is a neck made of flexible wood (

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

). At the end of the neck is a

tuning peg A variety of methods are used to tune different stringed instruments. Most change the pitch produced when the string is played by adjusting the tension of the strings. A tuning peg in a pegbox is perhaps the most common system. A peg has ...

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus '' Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Un ...

to tune the sole

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

of the instrument which is stretched between the

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

set in the neck, and the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

placed on the soundboard. The bow is made of a curved wood (called '' barnelo'' in Cape Verde) piece and strung with horse mane. Sound is produced by rubbing the bow on the instrument's string, which is also made of horse mane. The pitch of the

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * Notes (album), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...

s is changed by pressing the string against several points on the neck. The neck's flexibility allows bending effects of the notes by bending the neck. The exact origin of this instrument unknown, but it may be from continental

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Researchers have notedGonçalves, C. F. (2006) a resemblance between the ''cimboa'' and several African instruments, such as the

kiki Kiki or Ki Ki may refer to: Places * Ki Ki, South Australia, Australia, a village * Ki Ki, Iran, a village * Kiai, Iran, a village also known as Kiki * Kiki, Łask County, Poland, a village * Kiki, Poddębice County, Poland, a village * Kiki ...

of the Teda and the

Daza Daza may refer to * Toubou people in northern Africa * Daza language * Dazawa language also known as Daza, spoken in Nigeria *Daza (surname) Daza is a surname of the following people *Camilo Daza (1898–1975), Colombian aviator **Camilo Daza Inte ...

of the

Tibesti The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and i ...

and Borku, the nini of the

Zaghawa Zaghawa may refer to: * Zaghawa people * Zaghawa language {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

, the

fini Fini can refer to: *Gianfranco Fini, Italian politician *Michele Fini, Italian footballer *Leonor Fini, Argentine artist *795 Fini, a minor planet *Tapu Fini, a Gen VII Water/Fairy-type ''Pokémon'' species introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon ...

of the Kanembu, and still the

of the

Maba Maba or MABA may refer to: * ''Maba'', a plant genus now included in ''Diospyros'' * Maba, Shaoguan (马坝镇), town in Qujiang District, Shaoguan, Guangdong, China * Maba, Xuyi County (马坝镇), town in Xuyi County, Jiangsu, China * Maba, Ind ...

of the

Ouaddaï region Ouaddaï ( ar, وداي) is a region of Chad, located in the south-east of the country, with its capital at Abéché. Prior to 2002 it was known as Ouaddaï Prefecture; in 2008 the southern portions of Ouaddaï (the Sila Department and Djour ...

. The usage of this instrument is considered extinct. In spite of having revivals of its construction, nowadays it is used more as a decorative piece, rather than a musical instrument.

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* ''Folclore Caboverdeano'' ( Cardoso, Pedro; Edições Marianas: Porto, 1933) * ''Léxico do Dialecto Crioulo'' odern: ''Léxico do Dialeto Crioulo''(Fernandes, Armando Napoleão; Gráfica do Mindelo: Mindelo, 1969) * ''Relatório Diagnóstico'' (Direcção Geral de Animação Cultural: Praia, 1988) Survey about musicians and musical instruments existing in Cape Verde * ''Os Instrumentos Musicais em Cabo Verde'' 'Musical Instruments of Cape Verde''(Brito, Margarida; Centro Cultural Português: Praia – Mindelo, 1998) * ''

Kab Verd Band ''Kap Verd Band'' or ''Kab Verd Band'' (Portuguese: ''Banda de Cabo Verde'', English: ''Cape Verdean Bands'') is a music history book published in 2006 by Cape Verdean journalist and investigator Carlos Filipe Gonçalves. It was published by the ...

'' ( Gonçalves, Carlos Filipe; Instituto do Arquivo Histórico Nacional: Praia, 2006) * ''A música de Cabo Verde pela imprensa ao longo do século XX'' (Nogueira, Gláucia; own author's edition: Praia, 2007)

External links

Toca Cimboa, Rapica Tambor
Article (in Portuguese) about the ''Cimboa'' in Kriolidadi

Page with a sound clip of the ''cimboa''
''Cimboa'' workshop revives endangered musical instrument
Article published on the on-line newspape
A semana
Cape Verdean musical instruments Drumhead lutes Bowed instruments Spike lutes