Maracas Tuning
Luis Delgado
I just received my new Latin Percussion "Refillable Pro Maracas" and I'm
trying to get them tuned. I took them apart and counted the beads in each
maraca. They came with 152 and 124 beads in them. They were too loud for
me because I'm still used to my older pair. I refilled them with 100 & 126
and have been experimenting with them.
My amateurish observations are:
The maraca with less beads has a lower pitch than the other.
The maraca with more beads sounds better in my right hand (I'm right
handed)
My questions:
What should be my "starting point" for number of beads in each one?
(Does anyone know how many beads come in each maraca in the
"non-refillable" professional set?) I want to have a baseline to start
from. Yes, I will be experimenting with diferent combinations of # beads
and I'll let you know the results
What is the proper terminology for each maraca? right and left? high and
low?)
thanks
LuisD
--
=======================================================
Luis G. Delgado... from the Space Coast, USA... del...@tnn.net
My first steps in HTML design can be viewed at http://www.tnn.net/~delgado
Steve Roitstein
In article <01bbebaa$3257c080$6bc9...@luispc.tnn.net>, "Luis Delgado"
<del...@tnn.net> wrote:
> The maraca with less beads has a lower pitch than the other.
> The maraca with more beads sounds better in my right hand (I'm right
> handed)
There's usually is one maraca that sounds a little "heavier" than the
other. This is indeed the one that goes in your "strong" hand (your right
hand if you're right handed.) I'm sure you've noticed if you play them the
other way, it feels like you're wearing your shoes on the wrong foot.
You are a patient man to count beads in a maraca! I've never done it, but
each pair of maracas I have sounds totally different. I just go with the
sound; if one pair doesn't sound good on a song, I try another.
> What is the proper terminology for each maraca? right and left? high and
> low?)
I dunno. R & L would be pretty unfair to lefties!
Steve Roitstein
Riot Music, Miami
ri...@bridge.net
Ed Wolf
I don't think there has been much maraca research done :)
but here are a few thoughts.
No one will be able to tell you exactly how many beads
to put in each maraca. Even if they give you a number and
the beads are standardized for LP, then chances are you
both won't be looking for the same sound.
You can play with the number of beads, but more important
is kind of "beads" you are using. If I remember correctly,
those LP maracas are plastic covered and they contain plastic
"slugs." LP generally designs their maracas to cut through
when playing with other instruments, so they tend to sound
better when playing in an amplified situation than when playing
in a more acoustic situation. I hate their sound when practicing
by myself but am grateful when playing with the band. For a more
acoustic sound, you may want to try other things like popcorn
seeds or dried beans. I seem to like shaker sounds that use lots
of very small round objects that larger clunky ones. One of my
favorite shakers is a little plastic bottle of really small alumina
pellets that I got from a chemistry lab at school!
I don't think there is a hard and fast rule about which maraca
goes in which hand, but if the timbalero is any guide then the
higher pitch goes in the right hand to match up with the
cascara on the higher drum. (Constant eight notes, traditional
set up for right handed players assumed).
Good luck, let us know what you use!
Eduardo
Juan Eduardo Wolf Greve
e-mail: wo...@toto.cse.nd.edu
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ "Porque ando por los caminos es +
+ porque soy caminante, +
+ y soy pueta y cantore +
+ porque canto y puetizo.." +
+ -El Temucano +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
George Rivera
Luis Delgado wrote:
>
> I just received my new Latin Percussion "Refillable Pro Maracas" and I'm
> trying to get them tuned. I took them apart and counted the beads in each
> maraca. They came with 152 and 124 beads in them. They were too loud for
> me because I'm still used to my older pair. I refilled them with 100 & 126
> and have been experimenting with them.
>
> My amateurish observations are:
>
> The maraca with more beads sounds better in my right hand (I'm right
> handed)
>
> What should be my "starting point" for number of beads in each one?
> (Does anyone know how many beads come in each maraca in the
> "non-refillable" professional set?) I want to have a baseline to start
> from. Yes, I will be experimenting with diferent combinations of # beads
> and I'll let you know the results
>
> low?)
>
> LuisD
> --
> =======================================================
> Luis G. Delgado... from the Space Coast, USA... del...@tnn.net
> My first steps in HTML design can be viewed at http://www.tnn.net/~delgado
maraca pa'que suene chukuchakucha, chukuchakucha, eh!"
--
Musically,
George Rivera
go...@earthlink.net