10) Tabla

TABLA

The tabla is a South Asian membranophone percussion instrument (similar to bongos), consisting of a pair of drums, used in traditional, classical, popular and folk music. It has been a particularly important instrument in Hindustani classical music since the 18th century, and remains in use in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The name tabla likely comes from tabl, the Persian and Arabic word for drum. However, the ultimate origin of the musical instrument is contested by scholars, some tracing it to West Asia, others tracing it to the evolution of indigenous musical instruments of the Indian subcontinent.

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The tabla consists of two single headed, barrel shaped small drums of slightly different size and shapes: daya also called dahina meaning right, and baya also called bahina meaning left.The Tabla is regarded as the queen of drums and percussion instruments and is the most popular Indian rhythm instrument. It consists of two drums, the Bayan (big bass drum) and the Dayan.The two of them are almost always played together. Both the two drums as a pair and also the Dayan on its own - as opposed to the Bayan - are called Tabla.

BAYAN:

The Bayan takes on the bass part of the drum duo. The body of the Bayan is mostly made of chrome-plated copper. The Bayan is played by the index finger and the middle finger of the left hand in turns or with both fingers simultaneously. While doing this, the ball of the thumb rests lightly on the edge of the skin or modulats the pitch by slightly pressing the skin.

DAYAN :
The Dayan is made of different types of wood. Please see the explanations on this topic in the next paragraph about the meaning of the wood regarding the quality of a Dayan. It is customary, especially in Kolkata, to hollow out the inside of the body of a Dayan relatively roughly. The tuning wedges that are held by leather straps at the sides are meant for tuning the instrument. Depending on whether the wedges are beaten upwards or downwards by the tuning hammer, the sound gets lower or higher. A fine tuning is done by beating with the tuning hammer on the woven ring around the skin. The size of a Dayan is defined by the diameter of the skin. Sizes of 5 to 6 inches are in use. The standard sizes are about 5 1/4 inches to 5 1/2 inches whose tuning is around C. The measurements can also be given in centimeters. The tuning of a Dayan depends on the skin diameter. The smaller the skin is, the higher is the sound of the Dayan; the bigger the skin diameter, the lower it can be tuned. Specially low or high Dayans are played together with corresponding high or low melody instruments.

Footnotes:
Sources : Wiki and Tabla facts