IZZO (Brazil)

IZZO percussion, made in Brazil, for samba ensembles, bateria drumlines and world music programs.

A bateria is built from specific instruments doing specific jobs, and IZZO covers the section. The tamborim is the small high drum that sits on top of the texture, played with a multi-prong plastic stick rather than a single beater, and stocked in ABS and aluminum in four colours each. Double and triple prong sticks are separate, and the choice between them changes the pattern noticeably.

The repique calls the group in and cues the breaks, carried on a belt and played with one hand and one stick. Aluminum models come in two sizes, with a ten inch wood version alongside.

The caixa malacacheta is the shallow snare carried high on the chest, laying down the constant sixteenth-note bed everything else locks to. Surdos are the large bass drums that carry the pulse, in twenty and twenty-two inch with ten tuners.

The tantan and rebolo are the hand drums of pagode and samba de roda, played seated with the fingers rather than sticks.

Pandeiros, nylon shoulder belts and surdo belts complete the section.