Repique de Anel Rhythms for Drumset

I first got this idea in a lesson I had with Kiko Freitas.  Kiko took Dotô’s rhythms of the repique de anel, and orchestrated them for drumset.  

You can revisit this post for more on Dotô and the repique de anel, but as a brief reminder, here’s what a common version of his signature groove looks like.

 

The left hand plays the “dois do bumbo” rhythm on the bottom head, while the right hand taps out a telecoteco-ish pattern on the shell of the drum.  The right and left hand together also make interjections reminiscent of 3rd surdo phrases.

I don’t want to share Kiko’s arrangements without his permission, and working on it gave me some new ideas.  So, I’ve come up with my own interpretation.

Kiko’s version required more in the way of chops.  At points there are four or five 16th notes in a row with one hand.  That’s no big deal at moderate tempos, but I thought the groove also had the potential to work well at brighter tempos.  And, I wanted to get a third pattern in there with a rim click, rather than using the snare.

So, here’s what I came up with….

 

The bass drum covers the left hand part, and the right hand on the hi-hat plays an almost identical rhythm to that of the right hand on the shell of the repique de anel.

The left hand then serves two roles on the rim click.  The accents outline a very common samba/bossa nova pattern.  But each note of that pattern is followed by a second note, intended to be played much quieter, ideally matching whatever volume you choose to play the hi-hat.  If done well, the rim click and hi-hat should blend together, creating a steady stream of 16th notes.

The result is constant 16th notes with two separate comping patterns while not having to play more than three simultaneous 16th notes.  The creates a more relaxed feel and should allow you to play it longer without fatigue.

Transcription - Dotô, "Incompatibilidade de Gênios"

Continuing on with the repique de anel that I mentioned in the last post, here is a transcription of one of the most famous recordings of the instrument.  It's played by the creator himself, Dotô, with João Bosco on his classic, "Incompatibilidade de Gênios".  Here you'll see most of the standard material that we talked about last time put into context.

Repique de Anel

While in Brazil I picked up a repique de anel, an instrument that for whatever reason doesn't seem to get played as much as it used to, which is a real shame, because it's a lot of fun and a great sound, particularly in samba.  I had been wanting one for awhile anyway, and then ended up spending some time talking about it in my lesson with Kiko Freitas.

It was invented by a man named "Dotô" or "Doutor to Repique".  As best as I can tell he took a regular samba repique, tuned it down, and played it with his hands, the idea being that he could create a full samba sound with this instrument alone.  The only picture I've been able to find of him is a grainy shot from a video of him playing with Clara Nunes.

With one hand on the underside of the drum he uses a dead stroke to play the heartbeat rhythm that is most commonly played on the bass drum in samba drumset playing.  He also uses open sounds for fills and variations in conjunction with the other hand (more on that in a moment).  With his other hand he taps the side of the shell much like one would on a tantan or repique de mão.  However, Dotô gets a more metallic sound by putting "rings" on his fingers.  "Anel" is Portuguese for "ring", so the instrument name literally translates to "repique of the rings", but from what I've seen it appears to be more like thimbles on his finger tips.  Nowadays players often tape coins to the side of the drum so that one doesn't have to remember their rings.  Here he plays a telecoteco-ish pattern with some extra notes added, presumably to fill out the bar.  With the same hand as the rings Dotô uses his thumb to play variations and fills on the top head.

What you end up with is a groove that looks like this:

And with the fills played on the top and bottom head

I've got some transcriptions coming soon and there are some wonderful ways we can apply this to the drumset, but in the meantime, here are the only videos I've been able to find of Dotô to give you an idea of the sound.