Rob Scallon Explores His ‘Roots’ With Original ‘Berimbau Metal’ Song

YouTube sensation Rob Scallon just won’t stop being metal in bizarre situations! The musician’s newest clip features Scallon rocking a berimbau, a one-stringed Brazilian instrument.

A berimbau is basically just made out of a gourd and an arched wooden bow. One steel string called an arame (often pulled from an automobile tire) is tightly secured at both ends of the bow. The string is hit with a wooden stick called a baqueta and a small coin called a dobrao is pressed against the string to change a berimbau’s tone. A small rattle dubbed a caxixí also helps to create a wider dynamic range.

In the metal world, the berimbau was popularized by Sepultura on the band’s experimental and iconic Roots album. Max Cavalera busted out the instrument on the record, as did guest musician Carlinhos Brown on “Ratamahatta.” Scallon took a different approach, however, asking one of the most important questions of metal YouTubers — “Does it djent?”

Scallon threw some electricity into his barimbau’s sound backed up by drumming. The somewhat primitive instrument actually proves to be kind of versatile with some modern manipulation. The result could even pass for a dubstep song, which Scallon explores in a separate video with YouTuber Andrew Huang.

Check out Rob Scallion rocking a berimbau in the clip above!

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