Making Process

Design Resource

Tabla Making - Varanasi

The Most Famous Rhythm Instrument

Making Process

Making of Dayan:
Another important factor is the density of the wood depending from which part of the tree the wood is taken (upper or lower portion of the trunk) or if the wood is taken from a thin trunk. The thick trunk, which is a good wood, widely used in furniture industry in case of wood like Shesham or Neem.

Once the wood has been selected it is roughly chiseled into the desired shape and is placed on a lathe. The lathe completes the job of shaping the wood. The wood is then removed and the process of hollowing begins. It is hollowed out by using simple gouges and chisels. A large portion at the bottom of the drum is left intact so that the weight of the wood is as great as possible The wood is now ready for seasoning, which simply involves placing the wood in a cool, dry place for a period. The purpose of seasoning is to allow the wood to dry out. This drying process must be done as slowly as possible or cracks will develop.

Making of Bayan:
Body of the Bayan are mostly made of Brass. The other kinds of metals, which are used in tabla making are mostly brass, steel, and rarely aluminum. Brass is the mostly preferred metal for Bayan making. The equal sized rectangular shaped metal is cut and joined together. The two ends are joined by crimping and the next step of making a cylindrical metal into round shape begins by beating it off with mallet. Once it has been rounded enough it is joined to the bowl-shaped bottom, it will be crimped and welded together by applying a mixture containing a metallic powder called dag. The shell is now placed on a lathe and polished until all the dents are gone, then later it is plated with chrome.

Syahi Masala:
Syahi is the tuning paste applied to the head of many south Asian percussion instruments like the dholki, tabla, madal, mridangam, khol and pakhavaj.

Syahi is usually black in color; circular in shape. The black spot on the Indian drum is the most important component in determining its tonal color. This black spot, known as shai (shahi, gaab, or ank) contains a commercially available black powder known as masala. The ink that is smeared on the top of the Tabla is usually a mixture of iron particles, gum, dough (of rice flour) and catechu etc. It is smeared in the center of the skin and is called as GAB. It is a fine art to apply this GAB in the correct mixture, consistency and strength of a paste. Once the mixture is applied, it is let to dry in sun.

Finally it is polished with a stone immediately after the excess paste has been removed, a polished piece of basalt is used to rub the syahi repeatedly.

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Tabla Making - Varanasi