Maracas

Maracas from EMUS, NINO, Groove Masters Percussion, MEINL and Latin Percussion, in hardwood, rawhide, vinyl and egg forms.

A maraca is a shaker with a handle, and the handle is what makes it a rhythm instrument rather than a texture instrument. Because the head is weighted and the beads travel the length of it, the sound arrives as a definite hit when the wrist stops, so a player can place it on a beat.

EMUS Mexican hardwood maracas come in seven, eight, ten and eleven inch pairs. Size decides volume and pitch, with the smaller pairs sitting higher and lighter and the larger ones carrying over a full group. Wooden eight inch and vinyl ten inch models are stocked alongside them.

NINO rawhide maracas have a softer, rounder sound than wood. Handle egg maracas from GMP and NINO are the lightest option and the easiest for small hands, stocked singly, in colours and in a set of forty-eight.

Also here: Latin Percussion Chikitas, which are small and bright, and MEINL Maraclaves, which combine a maraca head with a clave body so one instrument gives both sounds.