The Rhythms of Luiz Gonzaga’s Phonographic Baião

Abstract

The aim of this study is to unveil the baião rhythm by identifying its instrumental and rhythmic characterization as taken from select phonograms of Luiz Gonzaga’s work who was considered the creator of this phonographic genre of Brazilian popular music. For the study, the method comprises: repeated listening to recordings of Gonzaga’s baiões, the use of audio converters and editors to improve listening quality, and the editing of transcript scores to support the analysis and notes concerning rhythmic tissue. The baião rhythm is usually reduced to (and represented by) a cell considered by many authors to be "standard". A close examination of the phonography reveals that Luiz Gonzaga's recordings of baiões, regarding the rhythmic aspect of accompaniment, present a variety of patterns in playing the instruments that make up the music ensembles. The results of the research show that there is not only one “basic pattern”, “basic pulsation” or “standard beat” as referred to in the music literature. Luiz Gonzaga's phonographic baião configures a plurality of patterns played together, generating diverse rhythmic resultants, which from this bias, create a much broader profile of the genre. Seen like this, from the beginning the baião has constituted an environment conducive to the emergence of hybridism and fusion.

Keywords

• baião. ritmo. luiz gonzaga.