Izzo Castle primary samba pack for 30 players

Introducing the Izzo Castle primary samba pack for 30 players

The Izzo samba pack is designed for group use and contains everything you need to play and teach samba music, all in one convenient package.

The samba pack is great for classroom use, providing students with an immersive and engaging musical experience, encouraging teamwork and collaboration, while also opening the door for students to explore and appreciate the diverse cultural elements embedded within this genre.

To make teaching samba even more efficient, the pack comes with a copy of The Beatlife - Playing and Teaching Samba book, which covers different samba instruments, rhythms and arrangements, along with guided tutorials on how to effectively teach samba in the classroom.

The Izzo brand

The Izzo brand represents authentic Brazilian percussion and is widely regarded as one of the top instrument manufacturers in Brazilian samba. Hailing from São Paulo, Izzo have been producing a wide range of instruments for over 60 years, and we are proud to be the sole importers of Izzo products.

What’s in the pack?

1x Izzo Castle surdos set of 4 nesting samba drums - 12in, 14in, 16in, 18in

The surdo is the biggest, deepest drum and plays the heartbeat of samba music. This set of four practical Castle surdos includes one blue 12" drum, one green 14" drum, one yellow 16" drum, and one red 18" drum.

Unlike the other ranges from Izzo, these drums have a skin on one end only, meaning they can be stacked away inside one another to save space and ease transportation. This makes them particularly suitable for classrooms with limited space.

Of course, removing one of the drum heads causes the tone to become brighter and more resonant. To compensate for this, each Castle drum is fitted with black Napa rather than standard synthetic skins.

Rubber feet are also supplied to protect the drums (and the floor) when being played on the ground. Take a look at the links on the right hand side of this page for sticks and straps.

8x Izzo ABS 6in tamborim - various colours

The shallow tamborim is traditionally hit with a double or triple pronged plastic stick, and plays the distinctive high pitched syncopated rhythms in a samba band. As it's quite small, you’ll probably need more than one to cut through the texture.

This model has a single 6" white synthetic skin that can be tightened by using the supplied key to adjust the hook tuners. Unlike most larger samba drums which are traditionally made of aluminium, these tamborims are made from ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) a hard rubber also used to make Lego and clarinets among many other things.

6x Percussion Plus medium double agogo bells

These traditional agogo bells from Percussion Plus are a great addition to any existing samba outfit and are also good for developing rhythm in primary or secondary education. Their sturdy construction mean that they will withstand use in the classroom.

This instrument consists of two tonally matched bells which are constructed in the traditional U shape design. They produce clear and bright sounds which are similar to two different sized cowbells. Play by hitting the bells with the supplied beater, or with any other beater to explore different sounds and tones.

6x Percussion Plus 7in colourful claves pair - Green

These colourful Percussion Plus claves are made of solid wood and are great value for money. They are very versatile instruments, providing the perfect percussive addition to many styles of music. They’re also incredibly easy to play, making them ideal for classrooms and young percussionists.

Play by simply hitting the two claves together, producing a bright clacking sound with impressive volume. Plus, their smooth surfaces make the claves comfortable to hold and lots of fun to play.

6x Percussion Plus metal shaker - Black

The Percussion Plus metal ganza shaker is simple in design and of a good build quality. It produces a wonderfully crisp sound when shaken and is lots of fun to play.

The instrument is made of durable metal which allows it to withstand use in the classroom. It is ideal for samba music but would also fit a range of percussion settings.

4x Liverpool wooden bass drum beater - Red

This beater has a long wooden handle with a plush head, making it ideal for striking bass drums in orchestras and bands. With a hanging cord for added convenience, the mallet is a great option for symphonic bass drums, surdo drums and gongs, making it a versatile tool for your school orchestra or marching band.

The soft fluffy beater head provides a very deep thudding sound, opposed to the sharp crack of a plastic beater head, making these mallets great for creating the core heartbeat of samba music.

8x Izzo double plastic samba stick

These double pronged plastic samba sticks are particularly suited to the smaller tamborims and pandeiros but can be used for most samba drums in general. Their shape and the light flexible material are used to ensure a fast-whipping action that produces a crisp attack and loud clear tone. These are durable and effective sticks and make playing even easier and more fun!

Important: Colours supplied at random unless specified

1x The Beatlife Book - Playing and Teaching Samba

This book is primarily an educational resource for teachers and workshop leaders. However it is full of advanced rhythms which are useful to drummers and musicians looking to learn more about Brazilian grooves, playing styles and instrumentation.

Split into 4 sections - this book covers the different samba instruments, rhythms and arrangements, how to deliver a workshop and appendices which contains a teachers' guide, glossary and pages to make your own rhythms.

The audio download contains recordings of each highlighted instruments: ganza, tamborim, agogos, caixa, repinique and surdo reposta. There are also 6 different samba rhythms broken down into basic and advanced versions, with step by step recorded examples.

Please note: this book was previously supplied with a CD, however the 2021 edition is instead supplied with free access to MP3 downloads:

Before and after playing

We recommend wiping the drums and beaters down with a damp cloth, as well as inspecting the tuning adjusters on each drum to check for any loose nuts. As a part of this process, you can also monitor the tension of the heads. If you find that an adjuster has come loose or a head seems slack, loosen off the entire head to thumb-tight and then re-tune using the included mini spanner. The best way to do this evenly is to tune opposite pairs, and the following diagram will give you the correct order in which to tune various sizes of surdo, caixa, repinique and tamborim:

The schematic above demonstrates the correct order for tightening the nuts onto the hooks of a Surdo. This way the tension is spread most evenly. Start with all the nuts just finger tight and then tighten each nut in turn by half a turn starting with nut number 1, then 2, then 3 etc. When you've tightened all the nuts, check the tuning. If a higher pitch is needed, repeat the process again starting with nut number 1 by a quarter turn at a time and carry on until you're happy with the sound.

When tuning a set of three surdos 14", 16" and 18" start with the 18" and tighten it until the sound is nicely resonant not flat. Then tune the 16" until the pitch is higher than the 18". Finally tune the 14", again to a higher pitch than the 16".

If you're tuning more than one surdo of each size, tune all the 18" first, then all the 16" etc. Use the same order for tightening the nuts on the Caxia, Repeniques and Tamborims.