MacUmba are a group of musicians based in Scotland who take a unique approach by mixing the traditional sounds of Scottish bagpipes with the rhythms of Brazilian percussion.

MacUmba began as a batucada (or drumming group) in the early 90's which grew out of a series of drumming workshops held at the Glasgow School of Art. Later they added various combinations of flutes, guitars, bass, voices etc. to the batucada, and performed at many events throughout Scotland.

The inception of the current MacUmba formation was created when they were asked to play at a major football (soccer) cup final. MacUmba decided to add bagpipes to the batucada to be more in line with the football tradition of pipe bands.

This combination proved hugely popular and since then MacUmba have played at many events and festivals all over the World.

The normal instrumentation of the band is three pipers and five percussionists, although they may also be augmented by the addition of Scottish and/or Brazilian dancers.