Maracas (sometimes called rumba shakers) are a native instrument of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela and several nations of the Caribbean and Latin America. They're simple percussion instruments (idiophones), usually played in pairs, consisting of a dried calabash or gourd shell (cuia - 'kOO-ya') or coconut shell filled with seeds or dried beans. They may also be made of leather, wood, or plastic. Often one maraca's pitched high and the other's pitched low. Some have thought the instrument of prehi… (More on Maraca)