Pau eletrico
Encyclopedia
The Bahian guitar is a Brazilian solid-body string musical instrument. It has either 4 or 5 strings, normally tuned GDAE and CGDAE, respectively, and has the scale of a cavaco. Six strings versions are also found.
or Leo Fender
, and given that solid-body electric mandolins did not appear in the United States until the 1950s, the Bahian-guitar can be regarded almost as the eldest known electric mandolin, or a descend from its own distinct line of prehistoric solid body guitars. To the degree in which the Bahian-guitar counts as a mandolin (despite the differences in measure and lack of double strings - just like in the case of the Mandocaster), the “Electric Log” constitutes the eldest known solid body electric mandolin. Until its invention, North American developers had not applied the principle of solid or almost-solid bodies to mandolins to the same extend as they had to guitars. The Bahian-guitar was also the first headless solid-body electric plucked instrument, and nowadays it is usually manufactured to resemble a miniature electric guitar.
, where it is used extensively, especially in Salvador. More importantly though, its creators must be credited with having set important accents in Brazilian popular music, by inventing an 'endemic' Brazilian version of the electric-guitar, and by supplying it with an individual musical language and style, before anything of such could be imported from abroad. In the late 1960s in Brazil during the Tropicalia movement, there was a lot of disapproval from musicians and critics towards the addition of elements from British/American pop and rock into Brazilian music — including the use of electric guitars. The occurred however, is nowadays seen in Brazil as silly protests from those years (by many of the responsible, in fact). Nevertheless, the Bahian guitar was responsible for revolutionizing the carnival in the 1950’s as an essential ingredient of the “Electric trio” tradition (especially on an space-restricted environment), which since then became the single most important trademark of the Bahia/Brazilian street carnival.
History
The instrument evolved from the so called “electric log”, developed in the early 1940s by Adolfo “Dodô” Nascimento and Osmar Álvares Macêdo, in Salvador, Brazil. It was equipped with four single strings mounted across a lengthy slab of wood and the neck of a cavaco (hence the names). During the 1950s and 60s, it was used exclusively to play instrumental music during carnival celebrations in Bahia. By the mid-1970s, when it became popular among Brazilian rock and pop musicians, it adopted its current name. This instrument apparently evolved in isolation from the efforts of contemporary American developers like Les PaulLes Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
or Leo Fender
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short...
, and given that solid-body electric mandolins did not appear in the United States until the 1950s, the Bahian-guitar can be regarded almost as the eldest known electric mandolin, or a descend from its own distinct line of prehistoric solid body guitars. To the degree in which the Bahian-guitar counts as a mandolin (despite the differences in measure and lack of double strings - just like in the case of the Mandocaster), the “Electric Log” constitutes the eldest known solid body electric mandolin. Until its invention, North American developers had not applied the principle of solid or almost-solid bodies to mandolins to the same extend as they had to guitars. The Bahian-guitar was also the first headless solid-body electric plucked instrument, and nowadays it is usually manufactured to resemble a miniature electric guitar.
Carnival usage
This instrument is intimately connected to the Brazilian CarnivalBrazilian Carnival
The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held forty-six days before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival," from carnelevare, "to remove meat." Carnival celebrations...
, where it is used extensively, especially in Salvador. More importantly though, its creators must be credited with having set important accents in Brazilian popular music, by inventing an 'endemic' Brazilian version of the electric-guitar, and by supplying it with an individual musical language and style, before anything of such could be imported from abroad. In the late 1960s in Brazil during the Tropicalia movement, there was a lot of disapproval from musicians and critics towards the addition of elements from British/American pop and rock into Brazilian music — including the use of electric guitars. The occurred however, is nowadays seen in Brazil as silly protests from those years (by many of the responsible, in fact). Nevertheless, the Bahian guitar was responsible for revolutionizing the carnival in the 1950’s as an essential ingredient of the “Electric trio” tradition (especially on an space-restricted environment), which since then became the single most important trademark of the Bahia/Brazilian street carnival.
External links
- Guitarra Baiana at Plate to Plate (archived GeoCities page)
- guitarra-baiana.com On the Pau Elétrico and the Guitarra Baiana.