Tabla: India musical instrument

The tabla or tabl is also called other names in many languages Hindi: तबला, Urdu: طبلہ‎, Arabic: طبل، طبلة‎, Persian: طبل‎. The tabla is a membranophone percussion instrument that is similar to bongos. It is used in Hindustani classical music and in well-known and devotional music of the Indian sub-continent. The musical instrument is made up of a pair of hand drum of contrasting sizes and tone qualities. The term tabla is derived from the Arabic word table which means ‘drum’. This musical instrument is used in some other Asian musical cultures outside the India like the Indonesian dangdut genre. The playing method of this instrument requires extensive use of the finger and palms in many configurations to create wide types of different sounds that are reflected in the mnemonic syllables. The heel of the hand is used to mount pressure on the instrument or in sliding motion on the larger drum so that the pitch cab be changed during the sound’s disintegration.

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The tabla is estimated to have been invented by the sufi  poet and musical talented Amir Khusro in the 13^th century coming up from the need to have drum that can be played from the top in the sitting posture to enable the more complex rhythm styles that were needed for the new Indian Sufi vocal patterns of chanting and Zikr. Its discovery would also have completed the complex early sitar melodies that Amirs Khusrov was composing. This musical instrument uses a method played form the top unlike the Pakhawai which mainly use the full palm and are sideways in motion being more limited in terms of sound complexity.

Rebecca stewart also has suggested that the tabla is a product of experiment from the already existing drums like pakhawai, dholak and naqqara. The tabla has similar qualities with these musical instruments.

The similar drum that is played with the dominant hand is often called dayan. It is made from a conical piece of mostly teak and rose wood hollowed out to almost half of the total depth. The drum is tuned to a particular note which could either be tonic, leading or subdominant of the soloist’s key and as such complements the melody. The tuning range is limited even though different dayans are produced in many other sizes, each with differing range. Cylindrical wood blocks that are also known as ‘ghatta’ is put between the strap and the shell permitting tension to be accustomed by their vertical positioning. The fine tuning can be achieved while hitting vertically on the braided portion of the head with the use of small hammer. The larger drum that is played with the other hand is called bayan or sometimes called dagga. The bayan has much more deeper bass tone than its distant cousin known as the kettle drum. The bayan may be produced of a number of materials of which brass is the most common, copper is more expensive but collectively known to be the best while aluminum as well as steel are usually found in the inexpensive models of the instrument.  The wood is also used sometimes especially in the old bayans from the Punjab. Clay can as well be used but it is not guaranteed for durability.