Claves are concussion idiophones which are pivotal to Cuban
music. They are mainly used to produce a guide-pattern known as clave
throughout a given song. The clave rhythm has been incorporated into western
pieces such as the song “Desire” by U2 or “Mona” by the Rolling Stones but they
are predominantly used in African and Latin-American music.
The instruments are two sticks which tend to be between 20cm
and 30cm long and were traditionally made of hardwood such as rosewood,
granadilla, mahogany, teak or ebony. In modern times they are also made of
fibreglass, metal or plastics. These sticks are hit together to produce a
distinct sharp sound by holding them in such a way that the wood is allowed to
resonate. The technique of holding claves can optimise the sound they produce
and usually involves holding the claves with the fingertips and making a hollow
with the hand holding the bottom clave stick to enhance its resonance. When
playing this instrument, the resting clave at the bottom is called la hembra
("the female") and the one which is striking is called el macho ("the
male") while the person playing the clave is sometimes referred to as
clavero.
Claves can be of equal size or asymmetrical with one of them
being larger and hollow containing a cut-away sound chamber. The hollow claves
are sometimes marketed as “African Claves” although this is a neologism that
has no historical base as all types of claves are believed to have originated
in Africa.
