Hey guys

I, like some, have no stores in my country or accessibility to raw materials to make instruments like berimbaus & atabaques and so i have to buy them off of online stores.

The bitch is i can't see wtf i'm buying and so its extremely easy to pay a dear penny for stuff that prove rather mediocre

So, i think anyone who buys stuff online should link the website, photograph his stuff, post it here and comment on what he bought (maybe with a rating out of 10)

(i'm sure Chapa will have a big load of reviewing to do :D haha)

I'll start.

Capoeira Boutique (French)

http://www.capoeira-boutique.com/produit/901/berimbau-valmir-biriba

(The berimbau i received: http://i36.tinypic.com/2epk1nl.jpg)

I bought a medio (delivered to my coach's house and brought it back with him to Egypt)

Note that it was my first berimbau so i think i abused it a little while trying to get a hang of stringing it coz it only lived for a month with me

Rating: 8/10

The wood was excellent and tough (there was a scar/weak point at the bottom half on the outside of the curve; would've been a 9 without it http://i38.tinypic.com/dcal2o.jpg)

The craftsmanship was excellent as well; the caxixi was resonant, sturdy & varnished

Next berimbau

Capoeira.com Store

http://www.capoeira.com/store/index.php?cPath=28&

(The Berimbau i received: http://i33.tinypic.com/s2big0.jpg)

Rating: 7/10

Was from this online store.

The listing said it was a medio but when it arrived, i found it to be a gunga (cabaca a lot larger than my other medio berimbau: http://i38.tinypic.com/4l6nbb.jpg)

The quality of the verga was not bad, the caxixi seemed significantly lower in quality than my older one and its sound much less rich (not enough/appropriate seeds maybe)

Modifications i had to make: Put a thicker piece of leather and glue a small crack on the top of the verga

Cool stuff: Copper dobrao with a berimbau engraving on it xD !!! (I liked that a lot)

After the modifications and getting to know it more; if found it to be a good gunga :) It's my first one but i can say that the marriage is awesome and the sound is really deep & rich

I'll receive my new pandeiro from Ethnic Musical Instruments in a couple of weeks and i'll review it then; can't wait for it to arrive :D !!!

10" Pandeiro(Mid-East)

Link (Amazon)

My first professional pandeiro (to even hold !) so review might now be so useful

Anyway, it's a handmade 10" rosewood pandeiro, 1.5 times heavier than the usual Capoeira ones (ref: the one my coach got from Brasil) so it might take a little getting used to. It took a little time to get the hang of the tuning but once that's taken care of; it sounds great and you might want to consider tuning it with small lug nut keys instead of the tuning tool for more accuracy & effeciency

One difference between my coach's pandeiro (had IZZO written on the cover or something) that the jingles sounded louder on mine given that the space between the frame & the jingles is wider. Some might prefer a more muted sound but i like this one more ;D gives a more rich sound

All in all: 9/10

(that 1 left is for the slightly heavier weight ;) but still awesome !)

YAY ! xD my first pro. pandeiro

if only you knew. this compiles making  and buying instrument sources

Rabo de arraia

http://www.rabodearraia.com/capoeira/berimbau-capoeira-roda.html

berimbau medio, +1 verga

The berimbau came to me wrapped loosely in brown paper, and tightly in bubble wrap. The cabaca came totally shattered, and should have been shipped in a box. The vergas werein tact. Came with a caxixi, very thick ticum baqueta, and a large coin of questionable alloy, but good. The caxixi was ugly, but worked well. The shattered cabaca was good for making more caxixis. * 1 star, a waste of 160R$ (shipping and such)

Virtual Capoeira

http://www.virtualcapoeira.com/berimbaus.htm

berimbau medio, rami, ticum, arame

Berimbau medio came, and was great. At first I put the cabaca too far up, but it found a home at 6” above the step in the bottom. Came in two separate packs, to protect the cabaca. The rami is good. The ticum wasn’t my style, I prefer more flexible woods. The arame was just fine, came with nice cord, but I greatly prefer cutting my own.***** great product.

Tienda Bahia

http://www.bahia-capoeira.com/shop.php/instruments/berimbau/c_32.html

Berimbau Medio, street abada

Top notch berimbau from contre mestre Aranha. Amazing energy, so good. My first berimbau. Street abada are so comfortable, but gave them to my brother, he liked them a lot. **** four stars only because its so expensive to get here, if that’s not an issue, *****

So biriba

http://www.sobiriba.com/direct.htm

4 Vergas

They only sell biriba, no arames, cabacas, or anything else. So awesome

The first one was damaged in transit, so its not his fault, he gave me a free one (+ sh) for my troubles, and started labeling his packeges with FRAGILE all over them, so there not stepped on. The replacement was a amazing viola (he asked what, I told him), and it is my favorite of the berimbaus I have, best sound and clarity, pitch, loudness. The other 2 were gunga and medio. I specified in the comments portion of the order page that I wanted 1 good and straight gunga, as well as a straight medio, and man, that’s exactly what I got. Love the gunga, but haven’t found a perfect match for the medio yet. The beriba from here are longer than from virtual capoeira, at 63inches. They come unfinished, so that you can paint them, burn them, oil them or varnish them. ***** great products AND customer service (you can email his paypal account to get directly with him, its displayed on the papal order page)

Capoeira Boutique

http://www.capoeira-boutique.com/modele/39/edition-classique--cd

3 Magazines

I bought Praticando Capoeira 2, 4, and 5, but received 1, 4 and 5. I wanted #2 the most, and it’s the one I don’t get! I emailed about this proplem, and never get an answer. Total BS. Cant really give a rating, didn’t buy instruments, but damn it, I want my magazine.

Ethnic instruments

http://www.ethnicmusicalinstruments.com/Nickeled-Brass-Jingles-10-Count_p_2292.html

2 sets of 10 jingles

Bought these for a pandeiro I was making. They are very heavy, and must be hammered flat to make the center jingle. Way to thick, im makin them out of thin brass sheet around the corner next time. My own mistake, no rating.

Djembe direct

http://www.djembedirect.com/store/djembe_goat_skin

1 cow skin, 1 bees wax

Absolutely great skin and wax. Good stuff, and only 2 days shipping from me. *****

Cedar mountain drums

http://dev.cedarmountaindrums.com/RawMat1.htm

1 calf skin, 1 10” willow hoop

The hoop was great for a pandeiro, but the calf skin has no hair on it, and was stripped too thin, not thick enough even for a small atabaque, clear, and thinner than goat skin, much thinner (but meant for different use). ***

Goatskins.com

http://www.goatskins.com/

1 Goat skin hair on

Amazingly great value. Hair on is deffinately the way to go, you can take off what you need to using clippers then a razor. *** good source, but only 1 thickness of skin, enough for small atabaque and pandeiro.

Na Kani O Hula

http://www.nakaniohula.com/Detail.bok?no=39

Canna seeds for Caxixi

May be great seeds for percussion caxixi’s, but larger seeds would be better for the berimbau caxixis. ***

Capoeira Arts.com

http://www.capoeiraarts.com/instruments/index.htm

Arames

Just fine, but cutting your own gets easier and preferable as you refine your technique. ***

Baskets of joy .com

http://www.basketsofjoy.com/round-reed.aspx

Reed for caxixis (round, size 3 for stiffer caxixis, 2 for flex)

Good reed. I like the color of the smoked reed, mixed with the plain sold in 1 pound rolls, a lot. **** based in Maine though.

Hide and fur.com

14” goat round

http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/1375.html

Good list of rawhides but the rounds are all bleached and stripped of skin. For drums, only use rawhides, leather doesn’t work, but that’s what a lot of people call rawhides for some reason. **** great skin, but too bad it was bleached and treated with chemicals, good for pandeiro.

Places I have yet to go, but fully intend to soon and review

Drum Skulls.com

http://www.drumskulldrums.com/en2/21/Shop_Drumskull.php?ProdCatID=26

they have many different thicknesses of goat skins, from different areas, and yiu can ask for a certain color if you have preference. They have cow skin rounds, as well as calf skin rounds all with hair on, getting that, along with full hides. They have steel rings that you can ask for thicker or thinner stock (3/8ths or 1/8ths inch, as opposed to the standard ¼ inch), and bigger or smaller diameters if you don’t see what you want listed (getting 3/16^th at 10inch inside diameter for a tunable pandeiro). They have coconut oil available as well to protect your drums with.

Fur and hide.com

http://www.furandhide.com/showcat.asp?id=2

They have 10” Maple hoops available, gotta get some of that. Full hides and rounds available, but limited variety.

if anyone knows where to get some coite fruit, please tell me.

also, there is this place that has all sorts of exotic woods, and i think they can do international orders. the exotics are expensive though, and its where i buy all of my wood. tell them what you want, and they can pick it out for you from there warehouse (luckily its right around the corner from me, i can do it myself)

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/1_exotic_wood.html

Just want to add to this old thread:

The Tienda Bahia (Bahia-capoeira.com) store has closed. Not only did they close, they shut their website down and disappeared without completing our order or offering a refund, and ran off with $397.00 of our members money. Numerous emails to the site, the blog, and to the owner himself ( Alvaro Letelier Hidalgo) went unanswered.

If you happen to see this guy associated with some other site...buyer beware~~

 bastards, how much would it cost for you guys to get a gang together and go an explain your irritation from closer range.....