As demand for berimbaus grew, diversification of the instrument followed.

One of the pioneers of these changes, and also a great early craftsman of the berimbau , was Mestre Waldemar Rodriguez da Paix?o of Salvador. According to Shaffer (197 7), Waldemar began the commercialization of the berimbau in Bahia, and he taught the art of crafting berimbaus to one of our informants. Waldemar's works were i n considerable demand; to purchase one of the berimbau, capoeira players needed to go directly to his neighborhood, or to the old Mercado Modelo in the lower ci ty, or the Pelourinho district. One informant (Chupa Molho) recalls that many ea rly capoeira masters purchased berimbaus from Waldemar, even the late Mestre Bim ba. According to Z do Len?o, another capoeira master and berimbau craftsman, Wald emar baptized and even named his instruments - Ace [?s] de Ouro, Ouro Fino, and Campeste. After reviewing a number of photographs of Mestre Waldemar taken by Br azilian photographer Marcel Gautherot, we noted additional names that Waldemar a pplied to his berimbaus, such as Rei do Campeste, Campo, Flor do Campo, and Caci que. Z do Len?o suggested that Waldemar used the nicknames as propaganda to sell his berimbaus. He noted further that Mestre Waldemar's personal berimbaus were m ade of taipoca wood, which is light, flexible, and resistant. Waldemar stated th at he was the first to develop the painted berimbau, which is fas and away the m ost popular with tourists (Abreu 2003). Waldemar eventually had a shop of 15 local boys, including Chupa Molho, assistin g to make berimbaus. He recalls watching Waldemar make berimbaus and play at the barrac?o, the same open-air room used for his wife's Candombl celebrations. Each child worked on one part of the berimbau construcion process, for example, wash ing the bottle gourds, scraping the rubber off the wires cut from car tires, or painting the gourds or vergas. At 53 years of age, artisan Chupa Molho continues to make berimbaus near Mercado Modelo (J. Sera and R. Voeks)