| Drums and Drumming |
| Musicians use three different
kinds of drum the Hindustani sangit paddhati. |
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The pakhāwaj is a double truncated-cone with a loaded right head (a flour paste is added to left head) played with the hands which is prominent in both the instrumental and vocal dhrupad tradition in both secular and sacred contexts. The drum is related to the mṛdangam, but the loaded head has a different structure. Drummers will obtain harmonics on the right-hand head, but the pitch is much lower than that of the tabla which has an identically structured head. The heads are actually constructed in three layers: a ring that fits against the shell, the principal head that spans the opening, and another ring around the edge. |
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| The naqqāra is a pair of kettle drums generally played with sticks used to accompany śahnā'ī (oboe) and is associated with secular "gateway" music. One interesting aspect of these drums is the playing technique. The sticking, in comparison with most other forms of drumming, prominently features back-handed strokes. That is, when playing the drum on your right, the right hand strikes clockwise, while the left hand strikes counterclockwise. Drums can be made from copper, brass or pottery. Tuning is accomplished by drying the head with a heat source. |
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By far, the most important drums used in north Indian classical music are the tablā are a pair of kettle drums with loaded drum heads played with hands. The tablā accompany many kinds of classical, religious, popular, and folk musics. Drummers obtain harmonics on the right-hand drum (dayan) and can bend the pitch of the left-hand drum (bayan). The right-hand drum is hollowed-out wood. The left-hand drum is commonly brass coated with tin, although some drums are copper or, more rarely, pottery. |
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| In the cases of both the tablā and the pakhāwaj the principles of drumming focus around the manipulation of the harmonics of the drum sound. |