Four years ago, the vuvuzela was having a moment. An "instrument of torture" alone, a "swarm of angry bees" in a pack, the South African plastic horn droned endlessly in the background of World Cup games. (Having attended a World Cup match with my vuvuzela, I can explain and defend the practice—blowing a big loud horn is really goddamn fun.) While audiences at home complained, officials for this year's World Cup in Brazil had a different reaction—they needed one of their own.

Enter the caxirola. Designed by homegrown musical icon Carlinhos Brown specifically for the World Cup, the caxirola is a plastic shaker with finger grips that was certified by the Brazilian Ministry of Sport and FIFA, international soccer's governing body, as the "official noisemaker" of this summer's tournament. Brown and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff showcased the instrument at an event last year, with Rousseff calling it more beautiful than the vuvuzela. (That's nice, because it's certainly not louder: Researchers at Brazil's Federal University of Santa Maria determined last year that it would take 30,000 caxirolas to produce the same sound pressure level as a single vuvuzela.)

Source: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014...