Buying a good tabla
chri...@gmail.com
http://www.aacm.org/shop/tabla.html but am unsure about which of their
many tabla sets to chose. I was thinking this one:
http://www.aacm.org/shop/product28.html since it's kind of mid-range
price. However, I'm unsure about woods, metals, and heavy bayas vs
regular ones in general. I like the tone of Zakir Hussain, so would
that imply certain woods/metals to get?
chri...@gmail.com
Maybe I should simplfy things a bit:
shishum or rosewood?
copper or brass?
heavy or regular?
Daniel Fuchs
> Maybe I should simplfy things a bit:
> shishum or rosewood?
> copper or brass?
Both can make a good tabla.
> heavy or regular?
Heavy is nice, the Tabla is more stable.
But it's the skin that makes the sound, you can't judge an instrument
just by the above criteria. And it's Zakir's hand that makes his sound
(on more or less any tabla), not the material of his drums.
Daniel
Chetan Vinchhi
Daniel Fuchs wrote:
>
> But it's the skin that makes the sound, you can't judge an instrument
> just by the above criteria. And it's Zakir's hand that makes his sound
> (on more or less any tabla), not the material of his drums.
A slightly tangential question. The AACM site talks about Bombay-style
and Calcutta-style tablas. What is/are the difference/s between the
two?
C
Orlando Enrique Fiol
>The AACM site talks about Bombay-style
>and Calcutta-style tablas. What is/are the difference/s between the
>two?
Briefly, Calcutta tablas use thinner skins and straps and are often made
from lighter woods including jackwood. Consequently, their diameter to
pitch scheme is different than Bombay tablas, which use thicker straps
and skin and are made from heavier wood like rosewood or kher.
Orlando
Chetan Vinchhi
Thanks for the explanation.
This would mean that the tones of the two types of tablas would be very
different. The original poster in this thread should probably find out
which
type is preferred by Zakir (my guess would be Bombay purely on
Geographical grounds) and then go on to secondary issues like the
weight and material of the baayaa.N.
C
bdixit
tablas definitely have thinner straps, thinner pudis and usually they
are made of lighter wood. Banaras tablas are also very good. They are
made of heavy wood, with strong straps and last quite a long time.
Mumbai tablas are made by various craftsmen and tabla players like Zakir
(and his father the late Ustad Alla Rakha, and a couple of his
disciples) usually get their tablas made by a specific person to their
specifications. They are really the best I have seen but are very
costly, and unless you can approach one of these craftsmen through some
one like Zakir they would not sell tablas to just anyone. Tablas sold
in open music shops are usually of "below average" quality. Delhi
tablas are also well made but they prefer pudies made in Mumbai. The
late Shafaat Ahmed always got pudies from Mumbai. A couple of tabla
makers from Pune are very good also. But the bottom line is that if you
can get a custom made tabla from any of these places they are good but
one will have to pay a "good" price for them.
...........................Balwant Dixit
Orlando Enrique Fiol
>This would mean that the tones of the two types of tablas would be very
>different.
Not always. From listening, I can't say I'd always be able to tell the
difference between a Calcutta and Bombay tabla tuned to the same pitch.
But, as a tabla maker, I can definitely tell from appearance.
>The original poster in this thread should probably find out
>which type is preferred by Zakir (my guess would be Bombay purely on
>Geographical grounds) and then go on to secondary issues like the
>weight and material of the baayaa.N.
Zakir-sahib has always used Bombay tablas and I've seen many made by one
of his tabla makers, although I believe he's changed craftsmen by now.
My tabla making "guru" of sorts in Pune, Nisaar Sheikh, was planning to
give Zakir-ji a "promotional" tabla to see if he could get the supplying
gig, but Nisaar started drinking heavily and the project fell by the
wayside. But, when sober and in a good mood, Nisaar's work has always
been worthy of Zakir's highest standards.
Orlando
tatya...@gmail.com
EXCELLENT tablas and they last long however, as Mr. Dixit said, you
cannot order it over the phone. Some times you will get a very good
piece but sometimes the quality is not so good. So if you know someone
who can go and take a look at it then it will be nice. This tabla cost
me around 7500 for K1 tabla and copper Bayan of 4.5KG. Check out this
link
http://www.instrumentsofindia.com/
Adwait
www.adwaitjoshi.com
www.swarganga.org
Orlando Enrique Fiol
> I have had tablas from Banaras, Kolkata, Pune and Mumbai. Kolkata
>tablas definitely have thinner straps, thinner pudis and usually they
>are made of lighter wood. Banaras tablas are also very good. They are
>made of heavy wood, with strong straps and last quite a long time.
A friend sent me some strap and heads from Banaaras to try out, and they
were very similar to the Puneri materials with which I've worked for the
past few years.
>Mumbai tablas are made by various craftsmen and tabla players like Zakir
>(and his father the late Ustad Alla Rakha, and a couple of his
>disciples) usually get their tablas made by a specific person to their
>specifications. They are really the best I have seen but are very
>costly, and unless you can approach one of these craftsmen through some
>one like Zakir they would not sell tablas to just anyone.
Most of what sets apart the best tabla makers is their ability to
"tune" the syaahi by adding specific layers depending on sonic factors.
It is this art that I was privileged to learn in Pune.
>Tablas sold in open music shops are usually of "below average" quality.
Sometimes, one gets lucky, though.
>Delhi tablas are also well made but they prefer pudies made in Mumbai. The
>late Shafaat Ahmed always got pudies from Mumbai.
When I was briefly in Delhi, the great Fayaz Khan loaned me a very good
tabla and showed me many other fine instruments, although I do not know
where the pudis were made.
>A couple of tabla makers from Pune are very good also. But the bottom line is that if you
>can get a custom made tabla from any of these places they are good but
>one will have to pay a "good" price for them.
Nisaar and the rest of the Sheikh clan is related to Bashiruddin Sheikh
from Banaaras, who is renowned for tabla and pakhawaj making.
Orlando
Chetan Vinchhi
Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote:
> vin...@gmail.com wrote:
> >This would mean that the tones of the two types of tablas would be very
> >different.
>
> Not always. From listening, I can't say I'd always be able to tell the
> difference between a Calcutta and Bombay tabla tuned to the same pitch.
Do you mean to say that a thin membrane of a certain diameter will
produce the same harmonics (with the same energies) as a thicker
membrane of a correspondingly smaller diameter so that the pitches
match? Is the physical difference offset by something else (e.g. the
material of the wood)? I find that very hard to imagine. Can someone
throw some light on this?
C
Daniel Fuchs
Chetan Vinchhi wrote:
>
>
> Do you mean to say that a thin membrane of a certain diameter will
> produce the same harmonics
As an aside, the sound of the Tabla practically consists of harmonics
only. There is almost no fundamental, what you hear predominantly is the
first overtone.
Daniel
Orlando Enrique Fiol
>Do you mean to say that a thin membrane of a certain diameter will
>produce the same harmonics (with the same energies) as a thicker
>membrane of a correspondingly smaller diameter so that the pitches
>match?
Depending on the syaahi work, this is of course possible. For instance,
a typical Bengali tabla of 5-1/4 can actually be tuned to B or C,
whereas the corresponding Bombay diameter would have to be between 5-1/2
to 5-3/4.
>Is the physical difference offset by something else (e.g. the
>material of the wood)? I find that very hard to imagine. Can someone
>throw some light on this?
The short answer is syaahi. A thinner head requires less syaahi if it
is to resonate properly. Thicker heads resonate more because they can
withstand more syaahi.
Orlando