Samba is a very prominent and distinctive sound originating in a Brazilian interpretation of traditional African rhythms. A samba bloco is comprised mainly of drummers, all playing specific rhythms that fuse together to form different songs, and accompanied by dancers in exquisite and elaborate costumes.

Samba is commonly known as the traditional sound of Brazilian carnival because it was through carnival that it emerged. With various styles of music dominating the samba enthusiasts in various areas (ie Bahia - Samba Reggae, Rio - Samba Batucada/Enredos).

In the UK there are approximately 180 samba related groups most of which play samba and a growing number play and dance samba. But the UK samba association (of which Fred Turuka is a Steering Member) guestimate there are more likely to be around 300 out there in the UK and Ireland.

Barking, soon to reach its 10th Birthday, is one of the better known and oldest. When we began in september 1996 we were taught a few of the original samba rhythms, such as Afoxe, Samba Reggae, Batucada, Lele, but soon our influences and skills expanded and we merged our growing confidence with other local influences, and play many songs that combine styles and heritage, such as Bhangra, Ragga, Funk, Drum and Bass, and even some rock. Many of our songs we share with other groups such as Carnival Collective and Rhythms of Resistance, but a few are our own miscreations, Lego Funk and Bish Bash Bosh being the most recent examples.

The drums: well, the ones we play anyway
	the smallest, the agogo, is like two small cow bells played in a pattern.
The chocalho (pronounced shi-cal-lio) is lots of small metal disks attatched to a stick and sounds like, well like a rampaging herd of sleigh-belled reindeer.
	The Tam, or Tamborim, is not the one traditionally pictured. In samba it has no bells, and is hit violently with a plastic stick. It is, arguably the loudest drum because its high-pitched “crack” audibly pierces everything.
The repinique's (pronounced Hep-a-nee-key) or “heps” look more like drums and produce a sound similar but more mellow and tonal to the Tams. It is usually these two drums that produce the “tune”.
	The Caixa's (ca-sha) or snare's, are one of the most difficult to master, but provide an essential feeling of movement within the band.
The biggest are the surdo's (sir-doo). These huge base drums come in three tones and create the underlying beat and Rhythm of the music.

Carnival and the origins of Samba

Carnival is a hedonistic party in which all that counts is joy and pleasure, an idea common throughout history and almost all cultures. Carnival is a time to celebrate the cyclicity of the year, to de-stress from the time of work and to poke fun at all and any authority.

In Brazil it emerged from an annual festival, similar to a giant city-wide water-fight, which because this often led to riots, was tamed down into organised masked balls, similar to those happening in the West Indies at the time. As a way to allow the poorer Brazilians an outlet for celebration when they could not afford to attend the official masked balls, they began to form small groups of drummers and play on the street, leading soon to parades. Like so many other traditions, it spread and mutated on the street and became something more raw, uncontrolled and lascivious. It is common in Brazil to see the streets crowded with people, all dancing to the Samba rhythm, wearing traditional carnivalesque costumes: pirates, clowns, shieks, Indians, and many, many cross-dressers.

"During carnival the devil is on the loose. Nobody belongs to anybody.”
Brazilian Office Clerk

All and any social, cultural, economic boundary is traversed during carnival, to show how underneath it all we are all humans and all equal. By men becoming women, paupers becoming kings, professionals becoming fools etc we are showing that we are more than the limits society places on us. During Carnival these huge groups of drummers, dancers, costumed people (each school has its own costume theme, different each year and usually criticising some political event), parade boisterously through the streets of the cities, enveloping all they pass. This testifies to the fact that in Brazil Carnival serves the important purpose of maintaining cultural traditions, encoded in music, drumming, dance and costumes, and people define themselves according to what samba school they belong to.