Davul or tupan: Armenia musical instrument

Davul or tupan is a large double-headed drum that can be played with stics. It has so many names that different countries and regions call it. The Gurani call it tupan, Turkish calls it dayul, Bulgarian calls it daul and Macedonian calls it tapan and many more. This musical instrument is mostly used in the folk music of Armenia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Iraq, Romania, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia.

            

source of picture: quavermusicblog.com

These drums which have both a deep bass sound and a thin treble sound due to their construction and playing styles where different heads and sticks are used to produce different sounds on the same drum are commonly used in the folk music of Iran, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and the Republic of Macedonia, also some portions of Greece and Serbia as well as Iraq and Armenia.

            

In Armenia the dhol is played with hands and not with stick. It is not just a folk music; it is also in modern music as well as even having solos in many prominent songs.

            

The rhythm of the tapan is difficult to analyze and makes use of many intonations in many traditional time signature in the Southern Balkans. Tapan is mostly used to accompany other musical instruments such as the zurla and gaida in Macedonia, while in Bulgaria; they often accompany gaida and gadulka. For centuries the tapan has been irreplaceable in the festivities of Macedonia and Bulgaria such as weddings as well as celebrations of patron saints of homes and villages. Few times, toba is used to accompany dances in Romania and Moldova. 

            

The tabl is associated with the dabke, folkloric line dance of the Levant, Saudi Arabia and some other parts of the Arabic speaking countries and the cane dance of the Upper Egypt. Elsewhere in Turkey and Armenia the davul is well and mostly played with the zurna, even though it can be played with other musical material. It has also been in use as a traditional communication means for Turkish mehter.

            

The drum shell is made of hard wood, possibly walnut or chestnut although much wood may probably be in use depending on the region where the drum is being made. In order to construct the shell, the wood is cooked with water to be able to curve after which it is bent to the desired cylindrical shape and fastened together. The heads are usually made of goat skins and the shapes are achieved by wooden frames. One head can be of goat skin while the other could be sheep skin or calf skin or even dog skin as the case may be to provide a higher tone. In a zigzag pattern the rope threaded back and forth across the shell of the drum from head to head holds the head on the drum and provides tension for tuning of the drum into a desired sound tone. The metal rings or leather straps sometimes make connections with the neighboring strands of the rope to allow further tuning.

The typical range of size of this musical instrument is from 60cm to 90cm in diameter in Turkey while in Macedonia it ranges from 50cm to 55cm diameter.

To be able to play this musical instrument, the player should often use a rope hooked to the drum to hold the drum sideways, so that one head can be easily reached with the left hand and the other with the right hand. In other word, each hand is dedicated to playing one side of the drum extensively, although this can vary based on the performance of the individual or local style and tradition. The drummers basically can use two different kinds of sticks to play the drum. The drummer plays the inflected beats with the more important hand on the side of the drum with the thicker skin; he does this using a special stick called Macedonian ukanj, Turkish tokmak or Greek daouloxylo. The stick which is designed to be 440mm long is often made with walnut. It has thick shape and the thickness of the head gives the beats a low and full sound. It can be muted with cloths sometimes to enhance the basic low note of the drum.