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SOUND PLAY

FOLK ASSOCIATION: Dholak or Dholki

Cylindrical in shape, the dholak is held horizontally. It has two playing heads, the right side being the treble side and the left the bass. It is played using the palms and fingers of both hands. The player may be seated on the floor with the drum placed in front, or stand with it slung round the neck using a rope. In North India it is also sometimes referred to as a dholki.

Usually made of seesham wood, the hollow body is covered on the two sides with goat leather. In the simple dholak, the leather covering is held to the body with ropes, with metal rings towards the centre of the instrument that serve to tighten the ropes for tuning. The more sophisticated dholak uses metal fixtures — turnbuckles — that tighten the two heads separately and offer more precise tuning. The left, bass, membrane has a paste applied to the inside which lowers the pitch. This paste is called dholak masala.

The dholak produces basic rhythms and sounds and displays varieties of playing techniques. Sometimes a drumstick is used.

The dholak can also be seen in percussion ensembles. It was introduced to Carnatic music during the time of Serfoji Maharaj. The instrument used here is somewhat different in construction from the folk dholak.

The dholak and the harmonium, history tells us, travelled with the indentured labourers who were taken to the West Indies. Thus, in places like Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, etc., the dholak is a part of the devotional music of the community of Indian origin.

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