The takuapu (IPA: /takwa'pu /) is a musical

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

used by the indigenous

Guaraní people The Guarani are a group of culturally-related Indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi people, Tupi by their use of the Guarani language. The traditional range of the Guarani people is in what is now Paragu ...

of South America, made from a hollow

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

tube. The player grasps the takuapu in the middle, holds it vertically, and drops it so that it strikes the ground, producing a deep sound. The name ''takuapu'' is a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

of the

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guarani language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * G ...

words ''takua'' (‘

’) and ''pu'' (‘sound’). A takuapu is up to two meters long and 20 to 30 centimeters in diameter. The varieties of bamboo used are ''takuára'' ( Guadua angustifolia) and ''takuarusu'' ( Guadua trinii). All of the inner partitions of the bamboo cane are removed except for the one closest to the ground, producing a hollow tube closed at the bottom. Holes are often drilled in the side of the tube to modify the sound it produces, and sometimes a handful of pebbles are put in the tube to add a rattling sound. When a takuapu is played outdoors or on a dirt floor, a board is often placed on the ground to make the sound louder. The takuapu was originally played only by women as part of ritual ceremonies of the Guaraní religion that include dances and songs. The singing in the rituals is accompanied by women playing takuaras and men playing mbarakas (

maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

). Similar instruments are found elsewhere in South America, usually without the restriction of being played only by women. In

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, it is customarily men who play the

tamboo bamboo Tamboo bamboo is a Trinidadian percussion instrument (idiophone) created in Trinidad BWI , and is a notable precursor to the creation of steelpan The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad ...

while marching. The band Alba Llaleq from the

Formosa Province Formosa Province () is a province in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Formosa's northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and the province borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively. The ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

(part of the traditional Guaraní region) include the takuara in their performances. The takuara is a type of

idiophone An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophone ...

and can be classified in category 1.11.231 (individual percussion tubes) in the

Hornbostel–Sachs Hornbostel–Sachs or Sachs–Hornbostel is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, first published in the in 1914. An English translation was published in the '' Galpin Society Journ ...

classification of musical instruments.

External links

* Alva Llaleq, playing with takuapus an old Guarani song; video 1'24": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yrEbCG0RqY * Species:Guadua * http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Guadua_angustifolia * :es:Guadua trinii * Short history of steel drums

* Ruben Perez Bugallo (in Castilian): The sacred takuaras mbyá women; Scripta Ethnológica, Buenos Aires, 2003; Rail Redalyc: https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/148/14802504.pdf * Raul Varela: OriginaryPeoples.Com (in Castilian): http://pueblosoriginarios.com/sur/chaco/kaiowa/maiz.html This item was made on the basis of the article :es:Takuapú, Takuapú in Spanish language at Wikipedia. {{Tube percussion idiophones Indigenous music of South America Tube percussion idiophones Paraguayan musical instruments

See also

External links