Joining the london school of samba batería

To participate in the activities of the LSS you must be a member. To join, simply come along on a Sunday night to the Waterloo Action Centre - complete the membership form and pay the annual membership fee by cash, cheque or standing order. New members who are interested in becoming members of the batería are automatically added to the Mestre's e-mail list and will receive regular news about the Schools gigs, rehearsals etc.

Simply being a member of the School does not entitle that person to participate in gigs and represent the School in other events - the LSS welcomes all musicians to its ranks, but in order to maintain high performance levels in the batería, it is necessary to impose the following pre-requisites with regard to public performances:

(a) New members and beginners should be able to keep time (musically), if they want to perform in public
(b) All members should attend rehearsals held on a Friday, once a month in Holloway, in order to learn the existing repertoire of the batería and new breaks/patterns in the songs it performs
(c) All new members must purchase white shoes and white trousers

The LSS will play anything between 30 and 40 gigs a year. The busiest time of the year is around Carnival in Rio every February & March, and throughout July & August, in the run up to the Notting Hill Carnival.

Structure of the batería

The musical sections of the School are divided into two sections:

Ala da Batería - a large group of drummers led by the Mestre da Batería, who is helped by Assistant Mestres and Heads of Sections. As major concerts, the batería will be accompanied by a Puxador (singer), Cavaco (guitar) and Cuica.

Ala dos Compositores - the people who arrange and write the School's Samba de Enredo (Carnival song) every year. They work with the Mestre in the musical arrangement of the Samba Enredo. The School holds an annual Samba Enredo competition to choose the song for that year's Carnival.

Guide to what instruments are played in the batería

The batería has the following instrument sections which are led by their own Heads of Section:

Surdo Primeira (no 1)	Surdo Segunda (no 2)	Surdo Tercero (no 3)
Repinique	Caixa de Guerre	Chocalho
Agogo	Tamborim	Cuica
Triangle	Pandeiro	Ganza

Members wishing to join the gigging batería

Please note the following recommendations about getting your own instrument:

Caixa de Guerre
The LSS Caixa section does not play Caixa "em cima" (when small Tarols are played up on the shoulder) - we play Caixa "em baixo" - i.e. with a strap with the Caixa at waist level - this has more to do with the traditional patterns used by the LSS - as all our patterns are best played using both hands for emphasis. A 12" Caixa is recommended.

Repinique
New members should purchase a 12" drum.

chocalho/Ganza
New members should purchase a chocalho first, and a Ganza if possible.

Surdo
The LSS Surdo sizes are: Surdo no 1 - 22" to 24", Surdo no 2 - 20" to 22" and Surdo no 3 - 18" only

Commitment

Regular batería members:

• To attend the regular Sunday rehearsals at Waterloo

Gigging batería members:

• To attend also the monthly rehearsals at Backstreet Studios, in Holloway.
• To be available for most of the gigs that we do.