{"id":265463,"date":"2020-01-07T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T10:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=265463"},"modified":"2020-01-07T12:31:36","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T15:31:36","slug":"brazilian-luthier-from-rio-manufactures-arab-instruments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/brazilian-luthier-from-rio-manufactures-arab-instruments\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian luthier from Rio manufactures Arab instruments"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 For 25 years Alessandro Stein Gon\u00e7alves (pictured above)<\/em> has devoted himself to play pieces he builds himself. The craft of luthier started when he became fascinated by the sound of the Afro-Latin-American caj\u00f3n and decided to make his own percussion instrument. Gon\u00e7alves had studied flamenco music before, a passion he inherited from his grandmother. Bringing together these two passions, he stumbled on the Arab instruments that he now builds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI discovered the Middle Eastern instruments through the flamenco art. My grandmother is from Almeria [Spain], one of Andaluc\u00eda\u2019s eight Moorish provinces. My interest for the Arab culture came naturally, since it\u2019s ancestral [in that region],\u201d said Alejo, the luthier\u2019s nickname.<\/p>\n

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Piece production at AG Percusi\u00f3n studio in Rio de Janeiro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With an expertise in carpentry, he started building and rebuilding caj\u00f3n\u2019s models. Self-taught, he created other pieces, including Arab ones, such as tabla, an Arab pair of drums, that are sold at his brand\u2019s website, AG Percusi\u00f3n<\/a>. Derbake is one of the most well-known Arab instruments, and in 2019, at least one model was sold per month, only at the website. The Brazilian luthier describes it as contemporary instrument made popular in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

But rebuilding pieces from regions with climates so different than Rio de Janeiro\u2019s has required years of testing. \u201cThe derbake made here has to sound exactly like the one made in the Middle East. The biggest challenge is producing this classic instrument in a tropical country, in a city as humid as Rio,\u201d he told ANBA.<\/p>\n

Recreating sounds<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2007, the craftsman started making derbakes of aluminum and acetate skin, but the high cost made him discontinue production. Now, Alejo keeps researching derbakes with other materials such as the body and tuning system made with wood and synthetic skin and produces ceramic bodies. Another instrument that has gained space in his studio is darbuka, a Persian-born drum played in countries such as Egypt and Turkey made of goatskin and a body of clay baked right there.<\/p>\n

The instruments, he explains, are related. And their sizes, materials and names may vary from country to country. \u201cThis handmade nature requires differentiation, so I describe exactly the names of the models. Freedom isn\u2019t misrepresenting, but participating and developing,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n