In candomblé, music has the primary role of invoking the orixás, serving as an intermediary between men and the gods.
In Bahia de Todos Os Deuses, with their pompous outfits, turbans, batas (long, loose blouses), twirling skirts (white or with a colourful print) with lots of lacy and starched petticoats, bracelets and necklaces in the colour of their orixá, the negras de ganho created a physical type that became traditional.
The trio of drums, Run, the largest, Rumpi, the middle, and Lé, the smallest, are treated by the adepts as true gods. They receive offerings and reverence.
Ritmo do Candomblé
They are not ordinary drums or, as they say, ‘pagan’ drums; they have been baptised in the presence of a godfather and godmother, they have been sprinkled with holy water brought from the church, they have been given a name, and the Syrian lit in front of them has been consumed to the end.
Above all, they ate ‘and eat’ every year palm oil, honey, holy water and the blood of a chicken (they are never offered ‘four-legged animals’) whose head was torn off by the Babalorixá on top of the body of the tilted instrument.
These instruments are indispensable for the cult, because only through music do incorporations take place. The instruments communicate directly with the orixás, clamouring for their return to earth.
In addition to the atabaques, the aguidavi (still green wooden sticks) are used, with which the atabaques are played, and the agogô (metal bell, sometimes single, sometimes double), which is played with a metal rod, the latter responsible for marking the rhythm.
The way the atabaques are played varies according to the candomblé nations. For example, while the Angolan nation grounds use their hands, the Ketu nation terreiros use the aguidavis.
Each Orixá has its own rhythms, which reflect its nature.
Among the best-known chimes in candomblé, the following stand out: Ajagun, Ogun’s own warrior ringtone; alujá, Xangô’s typical rhythm; agueré, the hunters’ ringtone, much used by Oxossi; igbin, a slow rhythm consecrated to Oxalá; Opanijé, Omolú’s characteristic rhythm.
The ijexá rhythm is essentially used by Oxún, but also by Ogun, Oxossi, Logunedé and Oxalá.
The music produced by candomblé has a great diversity of rhythms which, given their complexity, deserve a separate study.
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