What is Agogô?

Agogô Bell is a musical instrument that has first evolved in Africa, and perhaps after their migration to West Africa, perhaps made tribes of the Bant. It is used in Nigerian music in Yoruba, but its origin also shows that this double bell, or sometimes the only bronze bell, also had a practical purpose. Joachim John Moteiro, who wrote intensively about traveling in Angola and the Congo River at the end of the 19th century, described the inhabitants such as the use of Agogô or Engongui to signal access or send warnings of joining agogs, especially in agogón. Afro-Caribbean music, especially samba, is heavily leaning on a double-wheel metal instrument. Early African examples show two bells of significantly different sizes, but modern Agogô is more likely to have bells that are distinguished only by a inch or two (2-5 cm). In a stick to hit the tool with a wand, the bells can be pressed together to ring each other. Modern Agogô tends to ring on a higher, lighter note while the African version MA lower tone and is a resonant, reminiscent of a cow bull. Examples of both types can be heard online.

Early African bell models are designed in a slightly different way, with a long bell and a short bell that are connected to each other. Brazilian agogôs are usually connected together with a long piece of metal. The bells do not touch if they are not compressed together. More often, both bells or sometimes three bells are played with a wooden wand.

While you hear Agogô in Samba, Yoruba Music from Nigeria and in various other Latin American types of music or Afro-Caribbean music, you will also hear this instrument used by different modern musicians. Neil Peart, probably one of the best rock drummers of the 20th and 21st century, which is part of the band Rush, uses an instrument in some of its drum solos, which can be exceptionally long, sometimes eight to nine minutes. Modern Jazz Guitarist Pat MethenyIt is also known for the use of tools in its compositions that come from different countries. You hear the sounds of Agogô in one of its most famous pieces "first circle".