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Allahabad

In Brief Of All Subjects

Home > Study Notes > In Brief Of All Subjects
Published in: Art & Craft Designing | Bollywood Dance | Drums | Guitar | Harmonium | Singing | Tabla
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A basic detail about what each subject at Ishaan entails

Ishaan M / Noida

year of teaching experience

Qualification:

Teaches: Mathematics, Bharat Natyam, Bollywood, Kathak, Western Dance, Art & Craft Designing, Drawing / Painting, Guitar, Indian Classical Music, Tabla

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  1. Dholak Ishaan Music College Dholak is a very popular folk drum of northern India. It is barrel shaped with a simple membrane on the right hand side. The left hand is also a single membrane with a special application on the inner surface. This application is a mixture of tar, clay and sand (dholak masala) which lowers the pitch and provides a well-defined tone. There are two ways of tightening the dholak. Sometimes they are laced with rope, in which case, a series of metal rings are pulled to tighten the instrument. Sometimes metal turnbuckles are employed. It is said that this instrument used to occupy a position of considerable prestige. Today it is merely relegated to filmi and folk music. The difference in diameter of the high skin and the bass skin is relatively small. In order to still get a powerful bass tone, the bass skin is made heavier by a special paste. Contrary to many other Indian drums, the Dholak has simple smooth skins on both sides. This makes it playable not only by using the differentiating finger techniques common in India, but also by using the whole hand like many African and South American drums. Both skins are tautened by a cotton cord that runs through movable metal rings. The Dholak has been built since about 1300 AD and has been used in folklore, opera, kawoali, for simple songs and also in film music. For instance, it is used in Punjab, in Bihar and in Uttar Pradesh in folksongs; in Bengal in the opera and in poetic songs. Playing style The drum is either played on the player's lap or, while standing, slung from the shoulder or waist or pressed down with one knee while sitting on the floor. In some styles of playing (such as Punjab) an iron thumb ring is used to produce a distinctive "chak" rim sound. In other styles (such as Rajasthani), all fingers are generally used. Dholak masters are often adept at singing or chanting and may provide a primary entertainment or lead drumming for a dance troupe. On large dholaks, known as dhols, the high-pitched head may be played using a thin (1/4" / 6 mm or less) long (over 14" / 30 cm) stick of rattan or bamboo (rattan is preferred for its flexibility) and the low-pitched drum head using a somewhat thicker, angled stick.
  2. Variants The dholki is often a bit narrower in diameter and uses tabla-style syahi masala on its treble skin. This instrument is also known as the naal. Its treble skin is stitched onto an iron ring, which tenses the head before it is fitted. The bass skin often has the same structure as in ordinary dholak, being fitted on to a bamboo ring, but sometimes they have a kinar and pleated Gajra, as seen in tabla, to withstand the extra tension. Sri Lankan dholkis have high quality skins with syahi on both sides, producing a sound like a very high-pitched tabla and using a simplified tabla fingering. Steel tuning rings are not used - instead, wooden pegs are twisted to create a very high tension. The heads are created with triple stitching to withstand tension. Similar dholkis are in use in Maharashtra and elsewhere. Heavy hardwood dholaks are said to produce better sound than those carved of cheap unseasoned sapwood. Similar drums with similar names are found elsewhere in western Asia.

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