Suggestions for Brazilian Music

August 10, 2012 7:26 AM

I'm looking for a Brazilian piece of (folk?) music to use with a short video I'm making on football/soccer.

Has anyone got some recommendations for a Brazilian instrumental piece of music. It will need to be subtle, stirring and relatively quiet as the background for a narration.

Of course, I'll be looking to secure the proper rights for this. It's for an internal presentation and won't be distributed online or in any other way. Nonetheless, I don't want to use this without permission if permission is required. Many thanks!

posted by brynnwood to media & arts (12 answers total)

I put a bossa nova track on ccMixter years ago, and a Hawaiian restaurant podcast used it as their intro. So, that's a common way of finding Creative Commons music. (MeMail me if you're interested in that track - it may not work well for narration, though.)

You can also do a Creative Commons search on Sound Cloud for "samba", "bossa nova", or "Brazil".
posted by ignignokt at 7:47 AM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you don't mind going a little classical -- but with a modern sound -- try anything by Heitor Villa-Lobos. The Bachianas Brasileiras series alone (not just the Aria from #5) is magnificent, and available in various arrangements for, say, guitar as opposed to full orchestra. The Preludes are lovely.
posted by Madamina at 8:02 AM on August 10, 2012

Tell us more. How fast should the tempo be? How spare vs. ornamented? Are you envisioning it as acoustic? With or without percussion?
posted by umbú at 8:03 AM on August 10, 2012

On the folk/forro side, Asa Branca is a pretty standard tune. There are some nice instrumental versions around. This one is kind of rousing, though just from a television performance.
posted by sagwalla at 8:05 AM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks for these suggestions, all! I like Ars Branca if I can find a way to use a version of it.

The video is 1 minute or maybe a little more. I want a build. Spare to begin with, so the music doesn't distract from the narration initially and building to a joyful but not frenetic end. Hope that's not too vague. Overall, I'm looking for a happy feeling and music that mimics the bringing together of people around the football/soccer field.

I think accoustic is going to be best although Percussion is fine. How to say? I don't want so pronounced a beat that the narrator is going to have to beat box to be able to get through her part.
posted by brynnwood at 8:22 AM on August 10, 2012

I'll just throw this possibility out there, because it seems to fit your criteria of folk-derived and instrumental. I also think it might fit the tricky combination of subtle, stirring and relatively quiet.

As soon as I heard this interesting record by Caçapa, it struck me that it sounded like a soundtrack. Caçapa uses the 10-string guitar and is influenced by old harmonies played in a troubadour tradition in Northeast Brazil. There are moments that sound a little blues-y as a result.

Check out Baiano-Rojão no. 2 by clicking on Elefante da Rua Nova and then Ouça o disco. The beginning is a little drone-y so make sure to give it a chance to kick in around :50-1:00.
posted by umbú at 8:26 AM on August 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Plus Caçapa is a very sweet guy, so I'm sure he would be cooperative in terms of permission and rights.
posted by umbú at 8:29 AM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Have a listen to some of the stuff by Papete: for example Maraca or Berimbau.
posted by rongorongo at 8:31 AM on August 10, 2012

Cacapa is fantastic. I'm going to have to take some time and listen to the whole album. Apologies if this seems nitpicky, but the music is a bit insistent. Listen to me! In a way that makes it really engaging, but may overwhelm the other parts of the project. I'm definitely going to try some of this though. Thanks!!
posted by brynnwood at 8:41 AM on August 10, 2012

No apologies necessary! Only you know what images and voices it has to work with and under. It's a really harmonically unusual record, with notes that are common in rural music from the area, but can sometimes sound like wrong notes in this 'updated' context. I picked that particular track because it some of the more minor key tunes could sound a little too ominous for a uplifting mood.
posted by umbú at 8:57 AM on August 10, 2012

Does it have to be folk?

The Secrets of the Floating Island by DJ XRS, this is from the late 90s / early 00s São Paulo drum 'n' bass scene, something of a crossover between liquid funk and samba.
posted by Tom-B at 9:32 AM on August 11, 2012

Or maybe have a listen to the Caipirinha Appreciation Society podcast, they play ecletic Brazilian music with commentary in English, all the songs and artists are listed in their site. They recently had a sports-inspired episode.
posted by Tom-B at 9:54 AM on August 11, 2012