Founded in 1978 under the leadership of Marco Antônio Guimarães, a disciple of the Swiss musician Walter Smetak, the group Uakti was named after an indigenous legend of the Tukano Indians from the Amazon Rainforest. The group’s music features an original instrumentation. As well as playing "conventional" instruments - guitars and cellos -, Uakti’s musicians make and adapt their own musical instruments, using PVC tubes, wooden bells, caldrons, etc. Uakiti played on some of Milton Nascimento’s albums. Milton produced their first LP, Uakti - Oficina Instrumental, in 1981. The group’s second LP, Uakti II, was released in 1982 by Ariola-Barclay, and is the first to present the marimba d’Angelim, which would play a major role in the group’s instrumental concept. Uakiti’s 1984 album, Tudo e Todas as Coisas, introduced the group’s new phase, which emphasized the research on improvisation and the use of new instruments, such as the glass marimba and the aqualung, which uses water as a source of sound. Internationally acclaimed, the group has released other albums: I Ching, Mapa, Trilobyte and Águas da Amazônia.