Tabla तबला

The pair of drums that keeps time in Hindustani music. Pick a taal, tune the dayan to your Sa, and see where every bol lands.

Tanpura

Click the dayan at its centre, maidan or rim, or the bayan. Shift-click for a closed stroke.

Theka: तीनताल Teentaal

    1. Dha 1
    2. Dhin 2
    3. Dhin 3
    4. Dha 4
    1. Dha 5
    2. Dhin 6
    3. Dhin 7
    4. Dha 8
    1. Dha 9
    2. Tin 10
    3. Tin 11
    4. Ta 12
    1. Ta 13
    2. Dhin 14
    3. Dhin 15
    4. Dha 16

X is sam, the first beat. Numbers are taali (a clap) and 0 is khali (a wave), where the bayan rests.

Play a bol

Press the key on each pad. F and J together make Dha.

Taal

The most common taal, for khayal and instrumental music.

Laya
120 matras a minute

Medium (madhya)

30%

Small changes in timing and force from stroke to stroke.

Mix
Even
20%
80%
Dayan

The dayan is tuned to A♯3, Kali 5 on a harmonium, at 233.1 Hz.

0¢

Tapping the gajra with the hammer moves the pitch by a few cents.

Firm

A crisper strike brings out the upper harmonics of Na and Tin.

50%

How long the dayan sings after an open stroke.

Bayan
116.5 Hz

The bayan is loosely tuned, usually near Sa an octave below the dayan.

55%

How long and deep Ge resonates.

Up 1.3 semitones

After Ge the wrist presses into the head and the pitch rises.

Play the theka or a bol to see its overtones here.

Frequencies over time, low to high. Na and Tin show evenly spaced harmonics above Sa, which is what gives the dayan its pitch. Ge sweeps up with the gamak.

How it works

Every stroke is built from decaying vibration modes. On the dayan, the syahi pulls the head’s modes into near-harmonic groups at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 times Sa, as C. V. Raman showed; where the finger lands decides which of them ring. The bayan starts slightly sharp at the strike, settles, and bends up under the wrist for gamak. Each stroke flashes where the fingers land in the standard technique, and the head shimmers for as long as it rings.

Sources: Harmonic and timbre analysis of tabla strokes, Tabla basic strokes (Chandrakantha), Tabla and Tala on Wikipedia.

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