MIT Bhangra's Dhol
and Live Music Page

BUYING A DHOL

• Jas Musicals, Southall, London, UK. We currently have 3 dhols from Jas (they have their own brand), and they are by far the best thing out there. The problem is getting the dhol. Because shipping is very expensive (on the order of 80 pounds) on top of a dhol that can range from 150 - 300 pounds (depending on how good quality you want), its better to get someone travelling there to buy and bring one back. They are very customer friendly and experienced in packing it up. We had no trouble bringing the dhols to the US. (Oct 2002). Jas also happens to be the only seller we know of who sells a dhol case - the hard case is very good and worth the investment. In the US you can buy a good congo drum case, the price roughly comes out to the same thing
• Bang-a-Drum. They sell the Bina brand of dhol, for roughly $280, only one size, no case. Unfortunately the bina brand just doesn't sound as good as the jas. The base side is very weak and even after massively tightening the straps it doesn't sound that great. The one we got also had alot of knots in the wood - unclear whether this affects things much but generally the quality was not that good. However, the bina dholak (nuts and bolts) that I bought from Bangadrum was very nice (nice customer service too, and they have a showroom in Beverly Hills).
• Kala Kendar (Toronto) and Bazaar of India (Berkeley, CA) also sell the bina dhol. Kala Kendar actually sells some smaller size dhols which is nice if you are getting one for practice, at least one person we know oredered their dhol from them. Other than Jas (only jas musicals) and Bina (everyone else), I haven't seen other brands yet, but Kala Kendar tells us that they will be getting some new dhol models from Calcutta in spring 2003. We do have an old dhol from Calcutta Music House (India) that inspite of its age beats the bina dhol hands down. However we have not personally purchased any dhol directly in India.
• Other instruments: Most of these same people sell dholaks. Although the nuts and bolts version is supposed to be more durable, it is much more inconvenient to tune compared to the cord version. The bina dholaks are very nice and cost roughly 60-80 dollars in the US. However, dholaks are also widely available in India and any good music store will carry bina dholaks - I bought one for Rs 600 (approx 15 dollars) just recently (Jan 2003). Other things to get are chimtas which all of the same stores sells, although Jas has them far cheaper than anyone else and several different sizes. Jas and Kala kendar also sell tumbis - the Ektara is NOT the same thing as a tumbi, unfortunately since many websites sell ektaras.

TAKING CARE OF YOUR DHOL

• Buy a hard case. In the absence of a case, place a cloth on the floor and stand it upright, dagga (base) side down. then put a cloth on the tilli side to protect it from liquids etc.
• Keep the dhols must out of moisture at all costs. Store it in a dry place away from moisture. Put silica pellets in the case. Any moisture on the dhols will degrade the skins. Keep liquids away from the dhol.
• Never place the dhol tilli side down. The tilli side is the most fragile part and can easily come out of tune or otherwise be damaged. The tilli side is extremely tight, and even small particles on the floor can cause damage to it. Do not place any object on the tilli side, cups, books, whatever. You can also store the dhol on its side but its worth being careful about potentially warping.
• Always loosen the straps after playing, otherwise the dagga side gets ruined by overstretching. Leaving the straps tightened, and storing the dhol away for days can cause the dagga side to degenerate and there is no way to fix the head once it has been irreversibly stretched, you would have to replace them. This is not to say that you should be extra careful with the dagga side and not tighten it at all, because the dhols are meant to be played. After a lot of playing the dagga side will loosen up gradually and naturally, which is ok. However after playing remember to loosen the straps.

THE MUSIC OF THE DHOL

Web Resources:

• The Dhol Blasters, UK. They have sample dhol beats, as well as a page on describing the various taals
• Dhol Foundation, UK., another great resource although their website won't work unless you have the flash plugin installed. There are also some videos online from a workshop by Johnny Kalsi of the Dhol Foundation.

The Language of the Dhol

The dhol is a two sided drum, with a bass side played with a curved stick (called Dagga) and a treble side played with a thin bamboo reed (called Tilli). The dhol has 7 words. These words and their associated sounds have a direct correspondance to other drums, like the tabla and the dholak.

• Tilli (treble) side
  • Ta (or Na) = a closed hit close to the upper side border, very sharp high sound
  • Thin = lighter and open hit onto the lower part of treble side
  • The
  • Ta-retroflex
  • Dhoom
• Dagga (bass) side
  • Ka
  • Ga = base hit on center with Dagga
• Both sides together
  • Dha = combination of Ta and Ga.

The Different Taals

Taal Keherva: This is the basic bhangra taal. Many chaals such as Pehlwani are done to this beat. Keherva is always 8 beats long, but it comes in many different variations and can be played at many different speeds. Gidda and punjabi wedding songs also use variations of keherva, explained in the dholak section. Here is the basic dhol keherva. It sounds like "Dhatin Dhatin Natin Natin" when you play it.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Dha	Thin	Na	Thin	Na	Thin	Dha	Thin

Transition 1: Between changes in taal or to mark the end of a dance section, you can play a transition beat. Here is one of the commonly played transition beats. This sounds like "Dhanana Dhanana Dhana Dha" when played.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Dha	Na	Na	Dha	Na	Na	Dha	Na	Dha

Transition 2:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Dha	Ga	Ta	Dha	Ga	Ta	Dha

Punjabi Chal 2: This chal has a caesura (|) and melody is fast until the caesura, then the next ta is soft and light and the remaining words swoop act to the beginning.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Dha	Ga	Ta	Ka	(|)	Ta	Ga	Ta	Ga

THE MUSIC OF THE DHOLAK

The two-sided dholak is played at punjabi weddings and other occasions, but usually in a much simpler manner than professional dholak. Often one woman plays while the other woman sits accross from her and plays a 4-4 constant beat with a spoon on the wood of the dholak. When dholak is played by a single person, usually the person wears a ring on one finger and uses it to play some beats on the wood of the dholak. Like the dhol, one side of the dhol is a bass the other is a treble. Many of the punjabi songs on our website take on a whole new sound when you sing them while playing a dholak. There are good books on how to play the dholak properly; you can get one from Jas musicals.

The Dholak has some of the same language elements as the Dhol. And most punjabi songs are based around Kehrva beats. The difference is what the words correspond to. Here is one version of how the beats can be played, everyone I meet seems to have a different way of playing the dholak. If you are right handed, wear a ring on the thumb of your right hand. The right hand plays the treble side and the left hand plays the base side.

• Treble side
  • Ta (or Na) = hit wood with ring-thumb
  • Thin = hit center with three fingers
• Bass side
  • Da (or Ka) = hit with flat hand
  • Ghe = hit with curved hand (hard to explain)
• Both Hands
  • Dha = Ghe + Ta (can replace Ghe with Da)
  • Dhin = Ghe + Thin

With these words you can play the simple kehrva beat Dhatin Dhatin Natin Natin.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Dha	Thin	Na	Thin	Na	Thin	Dha	Thin

Here is a variation that is played by many women at weddings. It goes very well with songs like Jind Mahi, Bhangra paon nu jee karda, Dupatta tera satt rang da, Laong Gavacha and Ambarsar de papard (very fast).

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Da	Thin	Ta	Thin	Ta	Thin	Da	-

It is almost the same as the previous kehrva but you never play both hands together and you drop one beat. This increases the emphasis on the first/last piece, so it sounds like "Da Datin Tatin Tatin". Two things to notice are: (1) Da Da Ta Ta basically form a constant 4 beat rythem and this is what your partner would follow with a spoon (2) you always start with one Da, even though when you sing it you might sing beats in the order 34567812. Here is an example of how the beat goes with a popular song.

Dupatta             tera     sat(Da) rang(Ta) da(Ta), kurdi(Da) ye(Da)
Du(Ta)patta(Ta) tera(Da) sat(Da) rang(Ta) da(Ta), kurdi(Da) ye(Da)

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Dha	Na	Na	Dha	Na	Na	Dha	Na	Dha

By mapping the words to the dholak hands, you can play many other beats like Khemta or Teen Taal, etc. The trick however with both dhol and dholak is learning how to make the beats sound right and that is hard to do from a book or webpage. Hopefully some day we can organise group lessons to learn the dhol and dholak.

Acknowledgements