This article is about the Indian drum. For the drum with the same name in Arabic, see Goblet drum. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The goblet drum (also chalice drum) is a goblet shaped Hand drum used mostly in Arabic, Assyrian, Persian, Balkan,
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The tabla (Hindi: तबला, Telugu: తబలా, Urdu: تبلہ tablā) is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The syahi, also known as "gaab" or "ank" is the black spot found on each of the drums that make up the set of Tablas It is made of a mixture of flour In Music, the range of a Musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The Pakhavaj, also called Mardal, Pakhawaj, Pakuaj, Pakhvaj or Mardala, is an ancient Indian barrel shaped percussion instrument The mridangam (மிருதங்கம் is a Percussion instrument from India, especially South India. This article is about khol the Indian musical instrument For the Austrian politician see Andreas Khol. Ustad Zakir Hussain ( Hindi: ज़ाकिर हुसैन Urdu: زاکِر حسین born March 9, 1951, is a famous Tabla Hindustani Classical Music ( Hindi: हिन्दुस्तानी शास्त्रीय संगीत Urdu: ہندوستانی شاستریے سنگیت Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn al-Dīn Khusrow ( Hindi: hi अबुल हसन यमीनुद्दीन ख़ुसरो (1253-1325 CE better known as Amīr Khusrow Ustad Alla Rakha ( April 29, 1919 - February 3, 2000) was a master of the Tabla, a classical Hindustani percussion instrument Trilok Gurtu (born in Bombay on 30 October 1951) is an Indian Percussionist and composer who has also "crossed over" into Chatur Lal (b Udaipur, Rajasthan, 1925 died 1965 was an Indian Tabla player Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. Hindustani Classical Music ( Hindi: हिन्दुस्तानी शास्त्रीय संगीत Urdu: ہندوستانی شاستریے سنگیت The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. A hand drum is any type of Drum that is typically played with the bare Hand rather than a Stick, Mallet, Hammer, or other type of The term tabla is derived from an Arabic word, tabl, which simply means "drum". Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language
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History
The history of this instrument is at times the subject of heated debate. The most common historical account credits the 13th century Indian poet Amir Khusrau as having invented the instrument, by splitting a Pakhawaj into two parts. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn al-Dīn Khusrow ( Hindi: hi अबुल हसन यमीनुद्दीन ख़ुसरो (1253-1325 CE better known as Amīr Khusrow The Pakhavaj, also called Mardal, Pakhawaj, Pakuaj, Pakhvaj or Mardala, is an ancient Indian barrel shaped percussion instrument However, none of his writings on music mention the drum (nor the string instrument sitar). The sitar ( Hindi: सितार Urdu: ستار Persian: سی تار) is a Plucked stringed instrument. Another common historical narrative portrays the tabla as being thousands of years old, yet this is mere conjecture, based on slipshod interpretations of iconography. Reliable historical evidence places the invention of this instrument in the 18th century, and the first verifiable player of this drum was Ustad Sudhar Khan of Delhi.
Gharānā — tabla tradition
The term gharānā is used to specify a lineage of teaching and repertoire in Indian classical music. In Hindustani music, a gharānā is a system of social organization linking musicians or dancers by lineage and/or apprenticeship and by adherence to a particular Most performers and scholars recognize two styles of tabla gharana: Dilli Baj and Purbi Baj. Dilli (or Delhi) baj comes from the style that developed in Delhi, and Purbi (meaning eastern) baj developed in the area east of Delhi. They then recognize six gharānās of tabla. They appeared or evolved in the following order, presumably:
- Delhi gharānā
- Lucknow gharānā
- Ajrara gharānā later followed by
- Farukhabad gharānā
- Benares gharānā
- Punjab gharānā
Other tabla performers have identified further derivations of the above traditions, but these are subjective claims. The Delhi Gharana is the oldest of all Tabla Gharanas and is also the first to establish improvisation rules Lucknow gharānā is one of the six main Gharānās in Tabla. Benares gharānā is one of the six most common styles of playing of the Indian Tabla. Punjab Gharana (sometimes called Punjabi or Panjabi Gharana is a style and technique of Tabla playing that originated in the Punjab region of what is now split in Some traditions indeed have sub-lineages and sub-styles that meet the criteria to warrant a separate gharānā name, but such socio-musical identities have not taken hold in the public discourse of Hindustani art music, such as the Qasur lineage of tabla players of the Punjab region.
Each gharānā is traditionally set apart from the others by unique aspects of the compositional and playing styles of its exponents. For instance, some gharānās have different tabla positioning and bol techniques. This article is about the Indian drum For the drum with the same name in Arabic, see Goblet drum. A bol, is a mnemonic syllable It is used in Indian music to define the tala, or rhythmic pattern and is one of the most important parts of Indian In the days of court patronage the preservation of these distinctions was important in order to maintain the prestige of the sponsoring court. Gharānā secrets were closely guarded and often only passed along family lines. Being born into or marrying into a lineage holding family was often the only way to gain access to this knowledge.
Today many of these gharānā distinctions have been blurred as information has been more freely shared and newer generations of players have learned and combined aspects from multiple gharānās to form their own styles. There is much debate as to whether the concept of gharānā even still applies to modern players. Some think the era of gharānā has effectively come to an end as the unique aspects of each gharānā have been mostly lost through the mixing of styles and the socio-economic difficulties of maintaining lineage purity through rigorous training.
Nonetheless the greatness of each gharānā can still be observed through study of its traditional material and, when accessible, recordings of its great players. The current generation of traditionally trained masters still hold vast amounts of traditional compositional knowledge and expertise.
This body of compositional knowledge and the intricate theoretical basis which informs it is still actively being transmitted from teacher to student all over the world. In addition to the instrument itself, the term tabla is often used in reference to this knowledge and the process of its transmission.
The smaller drum, played with the dominant hand, is sometimes called dayan (lit. "right"; a. k. a. dāhina, siddha, chattū) but is correctly called the "tabla. " It is made from a conical piece of mostly shesham or teak and rose wood hollowed out to approximately half of its total depth. Teak ( Tectona) is a genus of tropical Hardwood Trees in the family Verbenaceae, native to the south and southeast of Asia The best type of wood for this use is videsal wood which was also being used for the manufacture of sarangi; however, due to its contemporary scarcity, other materials may frequently be used in its stead. One of the primary tones on the drum is tuned to a specific note, and thus contributes to and complements the melody. In Music, a melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing chanting" also tune, voice, or The tuning range is limited although different dāyāñ-s are produced in different sizes, each with a different range. For a given dāyāñ, to achieve harmony with the soloist, it will usually be necessary to tune to either the tonic, dominant or subdominant of the soloist's key. In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously and chords actual or implied in Music. The tonic is the first note of a musical scale in the tonal method of Musical composition. In Music, the dominant is the Fifth degree of the scale. For example in the C Major scale (white keys on a piano starting with C the In Music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the Diatonic scale. The tabla is higher in pitch than the duggi.
The larger drum, played with the other hand, is called bāyāñ (lit. "left"; aka. dagga, duggī, dhāmā). The bāyāñ may be made of any of a number of materials. Brass is the most common; copper is expensive, but generally held to be the best, while aluminum and steel are often found in inexpensive models. Brass is any Alloy of Copper and Zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 WikipediaNaming Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 One sometimes finds wood used, especially in old bāyāñs from the Punjab. Clay is also used, although not favored for durability; these are generally found in the North-East region of Bengal. Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained Minerals which show plasticity through a variable range of Water content, and The bāyāñ has a much deeper bass tone, much like its distant cousin, the kettle drum. Bass (ˈbɛɪs as in base) when used as an adjective is used to describe tones of low Frequency or range. In Music, timbre (ˈtæm-bər' like timber, or, from Fr timbre tɛ̃bʁ is the quality of a Musical note or sound that distinguishes different Timpani (also known colloquially as kettledrums or kettle drums) are Musical instruments in the percussion family
The playing technique for both drums involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different types of sounds; these are reflected in the mnemonic syllables (bol). A bol, is a mnemonic syllable It is used in Indian music to define the tala, or rhythmic pattern and is one of the most important parts of Indian On the bāyāñ the heel of the hand is also used to apply pressure, or in a sliding motion, so that the pitch is changed during the sound's decay. Pressure (symbol 'p' is the force per unit Area applied to an object in a direction perpendicular to the surface Pitch represents the perceived Fundamental frequency of a sound This "modulating" effect on the bass drum and the wide range of sounds possible on the instrument as a whole are the main characteristics that make tabla unique among percussion instruments. The tabla is considered difficult to play because of the range of sounds that may be played. A small mistake in the placement of the fingers will result in a changed tone.
Both drum shells are covered with a head (or puri) constructed from goat skin. The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Cow skin is not used because the cow is a sacred animal in India. An outer ring of skin (keenar) is overlaid on the main skin and serves to suppress some of the natural overtones. These two skins are bound together with a complex woven braid that also gives the entire assembly enough strength to be tensioned onto the shell. The completed head construction is affixed to the drum shell with a single continuous piece of goat or camel hide strap laced between the braid of the head assembly and another ring (made from the same strap material) placed on the bottom of the drum. The strap is tensioned to achieve the desired pitch of the drum. Additionally, cylindrical wood blocks, known as ghatta, are inserted between the strap and the shell allowing the tension to be adjusted by their vertical positioning. Fine tuning is achieved by striking vertically on the braided portion of the head using a small hammer.
The skins of both drums also have an inner circle on the head referred to as the syahi (lit. A drumhead is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a Drum. The syahi, also known as "gaab" or "ank" is the black spot found on each of the drums that make up the set of Tablas It is made of a mixture of flour "ink"; a. k. a. shāī or gāb). This is constructed using multiple layers of a paste made from starch (rice or wheat) mixed with a black powder of various origins. The precise construction and shaping of this area is responsible for modification of the drum's natural overtones, resulting in the clarity of pitch and variety of tonal possibilities unique to this instrument. The skill required for the proper construction of this area is highly refined and is the main differentiating factor in the quality of a particular instrument. The weight of this piece also adds to the different tones that are possible to create. Without this piece, the tabla would not have such a vast range of sounds.
For stability while playing, each drum is positioned on a toroidal bundle called chutta or guddi, consisting of plant fiber or another malleable material wrapped in cloth. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. Sometimes scrap bits of cloth are wrapped around a bamboo or other type of wooden frame. Bamboo is a group of Woody perennial Evergreen Plants in the True grass family Poaceae, subfamily This is then covered by a long strip of decorated cloth.
Related Instruments
Similar regional instruments include the Punjabi dukkar, the Kashmiri dukra, the duggi in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and the mrdangam (pakhavaj), which is the principal drum in South Indian Carnatic music. Also, the dhol (dholak) of eastern Afghanistan is related in terms of both construction and playing style. The main distinction of the tabla is the pairing of two different types of single-headed drums, where as the dukkar, dukra, and duggi are pairs of the same type and the mrdangam and dhol are double-headed, barrel-shaped drums.
See also
External links
- [1] Cassius Khan, an extraordinary Tabla/Ghazal phenomenon
- Tabla Book by Pt. Sudhir Mainkar
- Tabla Site -Hindustani Music Resources
- Intro and links by "Toronto Gharana"
- Virtual Tabla - Try playing the Tabla online
- A Brief Introduction to Tabla and Indian Tal-s
- Instruments in Depth: Tabla: Drums of North India, an online feature from Bloomingdale School of Music (March, 2008)
- Info About Tabla from Rhombus Publishing
- Papers and musical excerpts by ethnomusicologist James Kippen
- Tabla.com - including streaming audio, listen to the tabla.
- Article on making the tabla
- Ravi Shankar teaches about tabla
- [2]
- - Learning of Tabla in U.S.A
- Tabla and Indian Classical music site with Rich Internet Content
- Tabla Artist - UK
Dictionary
tabla
-noun
- (music) A pair of tuned hand drums; used in various musical genres of the Indian subcontinent