One of the most popular percussion instruments in the rich musical culture of South Asia is the tabla. It originated as far as 300 years ago. Its name came from the Arabic word tabl meaning drum. It is said to be a mixture of characteristics of pre-existing drums such as dholak, naqqara, and pakhawa but its exact history is still unclear. This instrument is commonly used in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In its earlier evolutions, tabla is just one drum. It is just the dayan. It means right in Hindi and is named as how it is played - with the right hand. Its body is small and made of wood. The tabla we have today now includes the one played by the left hand called bayan, which is translated as left in Hindi. It is larger and is made of metal.
The head of the drum, called the puri, is made up of goat hide. An extra ring of hide is laid over the head as well as on the bottom of the drums. These rings hold the lacings, or tasma, on the side of the drums, which in turn control the tension and pitch of the drums through a number of wooden cylindrical blocks called ghatta. These are placed between the body and the lacings. There is a black circle in the middle of the drum heads called syahi made up of gum, soot and iron fillings. The syahi of the bayan is positioned closer to the side unlike the dayan’s which is in the middle.
The characteristic bell-like timbre of the drums is made possible by the syahi. The tuning is different for each drum. The dayan is tuned to the tonic note of the vocalist or the instruments accompanying it. It has the higher pitch between the two. The bass tone of the instrument is produced by the larger bayan. The bayan’s tune can be easily shifted with the position and pressure of the left wrist on the syahi. Thus it is not in monotone as in most percussion instruments and can cover a whole scale and also produce sliding notes.
Learning how to play the tabla can be challenging to some since the principles are a little different from the Western styles of music. The beats are conceptualized through mnemonic syllables called bol. To be able to play well, one has to understand how the basic Indian rhythm is conceptualized.
Table can provide not only the beat and rhythm but also some melody, and just as the Western style has the beat, measure and cycle, so does the Indian style. The only main difference is that the latter focuses more on the cycle unlike the former which focuses on the measure and the beat. Timekeeping when playing the tabla is based on claps and waves. These claps and waves basically describe the measure of Indian music. It is important in the conceptualization and execution of the whole song as the other instruments also follow this rhythm as a guide. The cycle is constant but the syllables played throughout the song may vary depending on the player.
When the rhythm and melody of the tabla are executed perfectly, it produces a rich and exotic sound that can stand on its own as a song but will also do very well when combined with vocals and other instruments. Learning to play may take time and dedication and will require a good understanding of Indian musical concepts but the fruit of it is rewarding to one’s artistic satisfaction.
If you want to listen and feel the beat of ethnic musical instruments, you shuold try celtic bagpipes. It has a distinct sound that creates music to hear. Or you may want to try bodhran.