Caxixi

The caxixi is a member of the shaken and scraped idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 112.13). Learn how it makes its sound and explore related instruments.

How the caxixi makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the caxixi belongs to the shaken and scraped idiophones: the body is shaken, scraped or split – rattles, maracas and guiros.

More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.

Players shape its sound through technique and materials; the resonating body filters the raw vibration, boosting some harmonics and damping others.

From Wikipedia

A caxixi is a percussion instrument consisting of a closed basket with a flat bottom filled with seeds or other small particles. The round bottom is traditionally cut from a dried gourd. The caxixi is an indirectly struck idiophone. Like the maraca, it is sounded by shaking. Variations in sound are produced by varying the angle at which the caxixi is shaken, determining whether the contents strike the reed basket (softer sound) or the hard bottom (louder, sharper sound).

It is found across Africa and South America, but mainly in Brazil and Cuba, used in staging the ritual. In Brazil, the smaller-sized caxixi began to be played alongside the berimbau. The larger sized caxixi were first used on recordings by Airto Moreira, but it was Naná Vasconcelos who furthered the use of caxixi for rhythmic accompaniment and colors. In West Africa, it is used by singers and often alongside drummers. Natives believed the caxixi to summon good enchanted spirits and to ward off evil ones.