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does anybody know anything about the construction and making of Cuicas?

a Quica can be made out of anything from durable cardboard to metal ,that is shaped canstyle, 6inch to 10 inch deep with a thin goat head and a bead with a hole in it that is twisted in the center of the skin and then a slim piece of wood is inserted in the bead with glue the long slim piece of wood is put on the inside for a Quica, on the out side for a Furrucu (Lions roar)....JC JOHNNY CONGA....

PS I forgot that you have to tie a small piece of string around the bead head with the skin,that will hold the stick and bead intact....JC JOHNNY CONGA...

do you put the bead through the skin ?
so the stick is loose all the time or is it tied to the tin ?

You have to leave a bit of skin in the center to wrap around the bead and then tie it to the skin ,the playing of the stick in side and the pressure of your middle finger (in and out) creates the vibratory sound....press in left middle finger right hand slide forward on stick using an oil cloth Between your thumb and forefinger/partial cloth partial skin.....Hope that helps...at your service...JC JOHNNY CONGA...

instruction from pros allways helps.
OK. what i dont get is the bead part, its inside the drum, but how do i tie it to the skin. are you sayin that
i tie it to the inside of the skin (the center) form the
outside (like wrapping the string around the skin which has the bead in it), and then stretch the skin onto the drum? and then insert the stick? but if this is true, doesnt the bead fall whan the skin is tightend, or is it not supposed to that tight

(Edited by timo at 10:54 am on Dec. 21, 2001)

U tie a string around the top OUTSIDE of the head that will hold the bead in place, and the thin stick is glued into the hole of the bead before this is done.U may have to drill the hole in the bead to fit the size of the stick. Gettin there yet? JC JOHNNY CONGA.... PS THE DIMENSION OF THE HEAD CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM 6INCHES ROUND UP TO 10 INCHES. U CAN TACK THE HEAD IF UR USING A WOODEN BODY AND KEYS IF METAL. JC JOHNNY CONGA....

yeah i got it, i made one yesterday, cheap, and not too good , but it works, i made it just to experiment since i had extra skin left over, its made from an old chimney (metal), and i just put the skin on with metal wire, wont last too long but hey its only a test to see if the method works.
thanks for the help .

Timo u can also got to different sites like Rhythmweb to look at instruments to get a better idea of what they look like. Also LatinPercussion .com...go to the catologs of instruments. Happy Holidays!...JC JOHNNY CONGA....

Timo On the CongaPlace main page half way down clik on Quica and you will see a foto of them there and also the listing of other instruments....JC JOHNNY CONGA...

A question about cuica technique -

All the craziest cuica soloing I have seen comes from the application of various different fingers (on a large type of cuica).

I play with my thumb - because I taught myself - and feel that because of this I can't get the really quick runs and variations. I saw an Airto viedo and he said that he was not near being an expert on the cuica - and he played using his thumb, as well.

Thumb or fingers?


Simon B

I feel inspired... Have just seen a new Brazilian film called 'City of God', which has a tremendous soundtrack with haunting cuica all over.

I have a Remo Cuica - small, not very good. I want to get one of those big metal 'professional' ones. Can anyone reccommend me a make?

Simon B