creative percussion
Renato Martins uses creative and inventive percussion sets. He created new techniques (melodically) for traditional instruments, for example, the UDU (clay pot) and developed new techniques for the peruvian wooden box, the CAJON. Those are the percussion instruments largely used by him at the moment and it's with those instruments that he has been fascinating audiences all over the world with his virtuosity and creativity.
Renato has been a drummer in the past. Now he mixes both percussion and drums parts for composing the ideal set destinated to a specific project.
He also has his WORLD PERCUSSION SET with congas, bongos and hand percussion instruments from different parts of the world.
He also applies kitchen utensils as percussion instruments. The piece "SAMBA DE MESA" was presented at "The 1st Visa Award" and at the project "Instrumental Sesc Brasil" in São Paulo with great response from the public and the media.
UDU
The UDU was originated by the Igbo and Hausa people of Nigeria. Actually being a water jug with one more hole, it was played by women for ceremonial uses. Usually the Udu is made of clay and stone.
The word Udu means both pottery and peace in the Ibo language of Nigeria. Some believe the deep hauntingsound particular to the drum is the "voice of the ancestors "when used in religious ceremonies. Originally it was used strictly for women’s ceremonial purposes.
All around a typical Igbo community you can see large udus in the shade; these act as fridges. Adults and children use hollowed gourds to scoop out cold water to drink.
The instrument is played by hand and produces a special and unique bass sound by quickly hitting the big hole. Furthermore the whole corpus can be played by fingers. Today it is widely used by percussionists in different music styles.
In Brazil the Udu is also known as a Moringa
Renato Martins is a LATIN PERCUSSION artist
Visit the Latin Percussion Website
Cajon
The cajón is the most widely used Afro-Peruvian musical instrument in the 20th century. The instrument has been officially declared "Cultural Patrimony of the Nation" by the Peruvian government.
Slaves of West and Central African origin in the Americas, specifically Peru, are considered to be the source of the cajón drum; though the instrument is common in musical performance throughout the Americas, especially Cuba. In Cuba, the cajón is associated with the Afro-Cuban drum/song/dance style known as rumba, while in Peru it is associated with several Afro-Peruvian genres.
The cajón was most likely developed in coastal Peru during the early 1800s. The instrument reached a peak in popularity by 1850, and by the end of the 19th century cajón players were experimenting with the design of the instrument by bending some of the planks in the cajón's body to alter the instrument's patterns of sound vibration.
Knowing that the cajón comes from slave musicians in the Spanish colonial Americas, there are two complementary origin theories for the instrument. It is possible that the drum is a direct descendant of a number of boxlike musical instruments from west and central Africa, especially Angola, and the Antilles. These instruments were adapted by Peruvian slaves for the Spanish shipping crates at their disposal. In port cities like Matanzas, Cuba they used cod-fish shipping crates. Elsewhere, small dresser drawers became instruments.
Another theory posits that slaves simply used boxes as musical instruments to combat contemporary Spanish colonial bans on music in predominantly African areas. In this way, cajóns could easily be disguised as seats or stools, thus avoiding identification as musical instruments. In all likelihood it is a combination of these factors - African origins and Spanish suppression of slave music - that led to the cajón's creation.
In contemporary times, the instrument became an integral important part of Peruvian music and Cuban music.
In the 1970's the instrument was introduced to Flamenco music by guitarist Paco de Lucía.
World Percussion Set
This image demonstrates part of Renato's World Percussion show set as used during his time with Cirque du Soleil for the show OVO
Samba de Mesa
Renato Martins presented inovations with rhythm and percussion. In his musical research, he explores new ideas like using kitchen ware, like pan pots and steel trays as percussion instruments.
Renato became known in Brazil with the performance of the piece SAMBA DE MESA at the 1st VISA MUSIC AWARDS and at the project INSTRUMENTAL SESC BRASIL. Both venues were broadcasted on TV with big audiences.
SAMBA DE MESA is a samba piece and it was composed by him to be played by a trio of percussionists using only objects from the kitchen.
Renato Martins has also used kitchen ware when playing and recording with many artists in São Paulo and he has added some of this "kitchen instruments" to his percussion sets.
