My Music Project, the Cuica

For my music project, I have made a Cuica out of recyclable objects. A Cuica is a Brazilian instrument used to play in Brazilian carnivals and in Samba music. It makes a loud barking or squealing sound when you play it. It was supposed to be made like this; normally six to ten inches in diameter, made of animal skin on the top. A thin bamboo stick is attached to the centre of, and perpendicular to, the drum head, stretching into the drum's inside. This is also how it should look like.
I, on the other hand, made my Cuica out of; a Nesquik can of chocolate powder and a bamboo chopstick in the middle. It doesn’t sound exactly like the Cuica, but its close enough.
The instrument is held under one arm at chest height with the help of a shoulder strap. To play the Cuica, the musician rubs the stick up and down with a wet cloth held in one hand, using the thumb of the other hand to press down on the skin of the drum near the place where the stick is attached. The rubbing of it and putting your thumb off and on the top makes different kinds of pitches. Oh yeah, and about the Halloween blog yeah... um I kinda forgot that one...