The agogô bell is a musical instrument that originated in Africa and was most likely created Bantu tribes after they migrated to Western Africa. It is used in Yoruba music in Nigeria, but its origins show that this double bell, or sometimes a single bronze bell, served a practical purpose. Residents used the agogô or Engongui bells to signal an approach or send warnings about rough travel ahead, according to Joachim John Moteiro, who wrote extensively about traveling in Angola and the Congo River in the late 19th century.
Many instruments, particularly percussion instruments like the agogô, were exported as a result of the slave trade, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. The double-belled metal instrument is heavily used in Afro-Caribbean music, particularly samba. Early African examples show two bells of significantly different sizes, but modern agogô bells are more likely to differ only an inch or two in size (2-5 cm). The bells can be squeezed together to ring off each other in addition to being struck with a stick. The modern agogô has a higher, lighter tone, whereas the African version has a lower, more resonant tone, similar to a cowbell. On the internet, you can hear examples of both types.
Early African bell models are built in a slightly different way, with a long bell and a short bell that are connected to each other. A long u-shaped piece of metal is usually used to connect Brazilian agogôs. Unless they’re squeezed together, the bells don’t touch. The two bells, or sometimes three bells, are most commonly played with a wooden stick.
While the agogô can be found in samba, Yoruba music from Nigeria, and a variety of other Latin American or Afro-Caribbean music, it is also used a number of contemporary musicians. Neil Peart, arguably one of the best rock drummers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and a member of the band Rush, employs the instrument in some of his drum solos, which can last up to nine minutes. Pat Metheny, a modern jazz guitarist, is also known for incorporating instruments from various countries into his compositions. The agogô’s sounds can be heard in one of his most famous works, “The First Circle.”