The Eagle's Battery
THE HEART OF SCHOOL
It is the drums that set the pace for everyone on the avenue.
Looking at the parade we see a large orchestra in motion:
The deaf is the most serious instrument of the drums with its three types: the first, the second and the third. Then there are the instruments that are considered intermediate: the box, the raise, or raise. Finally the treble: the tambourine, the cuica, the agogô and the rattle.
The position of each drummer on the avenue is carefully studied by Mestre Juca (battery master), who positions the instruments in the way he thinks best.
In addition to the organization, the school's battery also differs in terms of parades and, of course, the arrangements.
The result is that there is no one who can stand on the side of the Águia de Ouro's battery.
The drum instruments
Mestre Armando Guerra (Mestre Juca) explains the instruments of our drums and the role of each one in the samba rhythm.
Click on the instruments and learn a little more about the function of each one.
With 27 years in front of the drums, Mestre Juca explains to us the meaning of some of the most used terms by drummers and battery masters of the samba schools of the carnival of São Paulo.
PROGRESS
It is the number of beats per minute (BPM) taking into account the measurement of the pulse beat of the human heart. Term widely used to measure musical tempo. The batteries usually play between 140 to 152 bpm.
BLACKOUT
It is the famous 'paradão', when the drums stop playing during an entire chorus so that the school members sing at acapela. In the blackout, the drums returns after a long time.
BPM
BPM or Beats per Minute, is a rhythmic speed that takes into account the speed of the heartbeat per minute. BPMs are calculated with the aid of the metronome.
EQUALIZATION
It is the balance of sound. The idea of equalization is to make it possible to hear the sound of all instruments in harmony.
METRONOME
A kind of clock, the metronome is a device used to measure beats per minute.
The metronome stays with the music director to ensure the same tempo during the 65 minutes of the parade.
BATTERY MAP
It is the way the instruments are positioned inside the battery. In the old days, all the rhythmists got together and played in a kind of procession.
With the introduction of the map, it began to define where each instrument will be.
NAIPES
Term widely used in orchestras but which was introduced to carnival.
In the drums, the suits are the group formed by a certain instrument. There are suits of tambourines, suits of boxes, suits of deaf people, etc.
PARADINHA
Be it a paradinha, braque, bossa or convention ... It's the moment when all the rhythm players stop playing. But, suddenly, the repinique calls the samba and the drums come back in the same tempo.
TURN
And the finalization of a certain part of the samba more often after the choruses, with resumption in time, and can also be used to finalize the drums.