Bangladeshi Musical Instruments - Tabla, Bansuri, Ektara, Dotara (Paperback)

Chapters: Tabla, Bansuri, Ektara, Dotara. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 22. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The tabla (or tabl, tabla) (Hindi:, Kannada:, Telugu:, Tamil:, Bengali:, Nepali:, Urdu:, Arabic: ) is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. The term tabla is derived from an Arabic word, tabl, which simply means "drum." Playing technique involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different sounds, reflected in the mnemonic syllables (bol). The heel of the hand is used to apply pressure or in a sliding motion on the larger drum so that the pitch is changed during the sound's decay. The history of this instrument is uncertain, and has been the subject of sometimes heated debate. Rebecca Stewart suggested it was most likely a hybrid resulting from the experiments with existing drums such as pakhawaj, dholak and naqqara. The origins of tabla repertoire and technique may be found in all three and in physical structure there are also elements of all three: the smaller pakhawaj head for the dayan, the naqqara kettledrum for the bayan, and the flexible use of the bass of the dholak. Sitar player Shahid Parvez Khan at a concert accompanied by the great Tabla wizard of the Benaras Gharana Pandit Samta PrasadA common legendary account credits the 13th century Indian poet Amir Khusrau as the inventor by splitting the single South Indian mrudangam drum into two. ('toda, tab bhi bola - tabla': 'When broke, it still spoke' - a fairly well-known Hindi pun) None of his writings on music mention the drum, but this apparent tradition of late inv...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=21787554