With flicks of the wrist, Rio Carnival's drum maestros keep everyone locked in on the beat

Independent

04-03-2025

At a classical orchestra, a conductor's raised hands often means the start of a performance. Tracing shapes in the air could point to how each beat must come. And one's free fingers can often signal a shift in dynamics.
Subtle hand signs likewise coordinate the hundreds of pounding drummers in each of the glitzy Carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro.
The roughly 70,000 spectators filling the bleachers each of the three nights of parades will be eager to see flamboyant costumes, towering floats and jaw-dropping dancers passing by. But for many samba fanatics, drums are the beating heart of the party. And the maestro's hand swings, flicks, twists and pointing transform potential cacophony into transcendent synchrony.
Percussionists play instruments known the world over — snare and bass drums — but also traditional local instruments like the tamborim hand drum, the cuica friction drum, the double-sided repique, metal shakers known as chocalhos and the agogo, a two-headed cowbell originating in West Africa.
The Mocidade Independente samba school, one of Rio's most popular, has 240 drummers in its section.
Based in the working-class Vila Vintem community, on the city's west side, Mocidade is known for its trained drummers and legendary drum masters, like José Pereira da Silva, nicknamed 'Mestre André.' Six decades ago, he created the 'little stop,' a percussion break during the parade while revelers continue singing. The technique is used to highlight key parts of a samba school's lyrics.
'I can say that the drum section really is an orchestra, it's greater than an orchestra, because all the people there are musicians, people who studied. Not in a samba drum section; they're drummers,' said Carlos Eduardo Oliveira, Mocidade's drum master for 14 years, known as 'Mestre Dudu.'
Mestre Dudu signals to drum directors spread throughout the section, who relay commands to the drummers while making sure they are toggling seamlessly between the many grooves that make up a Carnival parade theme song.
'We understand each other. That's our language. I have 16 directors in the middle of the section, in the core. I raise my hand, give a signal that will be repeated through them all. And the rhythmist understands,' Mestre Dudu said.
While some less traditional schools accept tourists into their drums sections, Mocidade only allows locals. They will be the first school to parade in the Sambadrome on Tuesday night, the final evening of Carnival.
Romualdo Gomes, a professional musician, drums for Mocidade out of love, like all his companions. But he never loses sight of the nearest director guiding the beat.
'You just pay attention to the director," Gomes said. 'You have to pay attention — there's a way to show every groove.'
The drum section plays throughout a school's entire parade, lasting between 70 and 80 minutes, striving to lose neither tempo nor flair. Carnival judges score parades on a 10-point scale for various categories, including drumming; it is assessed based on creativity, consistency and how well it suits each samba school's theme and lyrics.
Classical music critic Irineu Franco Perpétuo said that artists like Mestre Dudu are indeed maestros, no less talented than those guiding orchestras. He noted that the drums section is the tiebreaking category whenever two samba schools have tallied the same total number of points.
'They are the conductors of this great popular opera that is our Carnival," Perpétuo said. "They have the great challenge of being rhythmically constant during the parade. They can't rush it, they can't be too late. And they need to keep everyone playing at the same time.'
'A perfect 10 for the drum section carries as much weight as a Vienna Philharmonic in classical music,' he added.