The davul, dhol, tapan, atabal or tabl is a large double-headed drum that is played with mallets. It has many names depending on the country and region. These drums are commonly used in the music of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. These drums have both a deep bass sound and a thin treble sound due to their construction and playing style, where different heads and sticks are used to produce different sounds on the same drum.

Names

Some names of davuls include: *''dhol'' ( hy, դհոլ) *''dawola/davola'' ( syr, ܛܲܒܼܠܵܐ) *''

dohol A dohol( Persian:دهل) is a large cylindrical drum with two skinheads. It is generally struck on one side with a wooden stick bowed at the end, and with a large thin stick on the other side, though it is also played with the bare hands. It is t ...

'' ( fa, دهل dohol) *''doli'' ( ka, დოლი doli) *''davul'' ( tr, davul, lit=drum) *''dahol'' ( ku, dahol, sdh, Dîweł) *''davil'' ( ta, davil) *''davula'' ( Sinhala: දවුල) *''tupan'' ( Goranian: tupan) *''daul'', ''tǎpan'', ''tupan'' ( bg, тъпан, тупан) *''goč'', ''tapan'', ''tupan'' ( sr, гоч, тапан, тупан) *''tapan, tupan'' ( mk, тапан, тупан) *''tobă/dobă'' ( ro , tobă) *''tabl'' ( ar, tabl or ''tabl baladi'') *''tof'' ( he, tof תוף) *''daouli'' () *''lodra'', ''tupana'', ''daulle'', ''taborre'' ( sq, lodra) *''moldvai dob'' ( hu, moldvai dob) Other

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

names for this drum include Davouli, Argano, Toskani, Tsokani, Toubi, Toubaki, Kiossi, Tavouli, Pavouli, Toubano, and Toubaneli. Additionally, other names for the daouli, depending on the area, include toumpano, tymbano, or toumbi, which stem from the (); this word exists in English in the word tympani for the drum section in the modern classical orchestra and the tympanic membrane for the eardrum.

Traditional uses

In the southern Balkans, the rhythm of the tapan is complex and utilizes many accents in numerous traditional time signatures. In Macedonia, tapans are most often used to accompany other instruments such as the zurla and

gaida A gaida is a bagpipe from Southeastern Europe. Southern European bagpipes known as ''gaida'' include: the , , (), () () or (), ''(')'', , also . Construction Bag Gaida bags are generally of sheep or goat hide. Different regions have ...

, while in Bulgaria they usually accompany

and

gadulka The gadulka ( bg, гъдулка) is a traditional Bulgarian bowed string instrument. Alternate spellings are "gǎdulka", "gudulka" and "g'dulka". Its name comes from a root meaning "to make noise, hum or buzz". The gadulka is an integral part o ...

. They are also played solo in some Albanian, Bulgarian and Macedonian folk dances and songs. For centuries the tapan is irreplaceable at Bulgarian village festivities such as weddings and celebrations of patron saints of homes and villages. In Romania and Moldova the toba is sometimes used to accompany dances. In the regions of Moldavia, Maramures and Bihor there are also some varieties with a small cymbal mounted on top. They are generally struck with a wooden mallet on one skin and with a thinner stick on the rim or cymbal. In Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, the dhol/davul is most commonly played with the

zurna The zurna ( Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian: surle/surla; Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian: зурла/сурла zurla/surla; Bulgarian: ''зурна/зурла''; Serbian: зурла/zu ...

, a wind instrument, although it can be played with other instruments and in ensembles as well. It has also traditionally been used for communication and for Turkish

mehter Ottoman military bands are the oldest recorded military marching band in the world. Though they are often known by the word ''Mehter'' ( ota, مهتر, plural: مهتران ''mehterân''; from "senior" in Persian) in West Europe, that word, prop ...

, or

janissary A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...

music. In Iraq and the Levant, it is predominantly used in

Assyrian folk dance Assyrian folk dances are sets of dances that are performed throughout the world by Assyrians, mostly on occasions such as weddings, community parties and other jubilant events. Assyrian folk dances are mainly made up of circle dances like ball ...

and Assyrian folk/pop music, among Assyrian people, which are mostly accompanied by a

. In Armenia, the dhol does not have as large of a circumference and is usually played with the hands, although a wooden, spoon-shaped drumstick is also used sometimes. It is frequently heard in Armenian folk music, usually along with other drums such as the dap, the dmblak, and native woodwinds such as the tsiranapogh, the sring, the

shvi The shvi ( hy, շվի, "whistle", pronounced ''sh-vee'') is an Armenian fipple flute with a labium mouth piece. Commonly made of wood (apricot, boxwood, or ebony) or bamboo and up to in length, it typically has a range of an octave and a-half. ...

, the , the

parkapzuk The ''parkapzuk'' ( hy, Պարկապզուկ) is a droneless, horn-belled bagpipe played in Armenia. The double-chanters each have five or six finger-holes, but the chanters are tuned slightly apart, giving a " beat" as the soundwaves of each inte ...

(Armenian bagpipe), and some stringed instruments like the , the , the and some of foreign origin, like the Iranian kamancha and the Arabic

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. Not only is it in folk music but also in modern music as well, even having solos in many prominent songs.Dauli - Davul of Turkey.

Construction

The drum shell is made of hard wood, perhaps

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

or chestnut, though many woods may be in use depending on the region where the drum is made. To make the shell, the wood is boiled in water to make it bendable, and then it is bent into a cylindrical shape and fastened together. The heads are usually goat skin, and they are shaped into circles by wooden frames. However, one head may be goat skin to provide a higher tone, while the other head can be sheepskin, calfskin, or even donkey-skin to provide a lower tone. Some say that wolf skin and even dog skin are preferred. Rope threaded back and forth across the shell of the drum, from head to head in a zigzag pattern, holds the heads on the drum and provides tension for tuning the drum. Sometimes metal rings or leather straps join neighboring strands of the rope in order to allow for further tuning. Two rings are sometimes attached to the main rope where a belt-like rope is threaded through to hold the drum. In the former Yugoslavian republics and Bulgaria, the tapan is made in two dimensions, bg, golem, at about 50 – 55 cm diameter, and bg, mal or tapanche, at about 30 – 35 cm diameter. In Turkey, davuls typically range in size from 60 cm to 90 cm in diameter. Cow hide is used for the bass pitch drum head side, while goat skin is used for the thin, high pitched side. In Greece, daouli can be 12 to 14 inches for the toumbi up to 3 to 4 feet for daouli. Commonly the drum is about 20 to 30 inches.

Playing style

Players often use a rope hooked to the drum to hold the drum sideways, so that one head is accessible with the left hand and one with the right. Each hand is usually dedicated to playing one side of the drum exclusively, though this can vary by local style and tradition. Drummers of this drum typically uses two kinds of sticks. The drummer plays the accented beats with the dominant hand on the side of the drum with the thicker skin, using a special stick known as the bg, kukuda or ukanj, tr, tokmak, or el, daouloxylo (daouli stick). This stick is a thick pipe-like stick about 440 mm long, which is often made with walnut. Its thick shape as well as the thickness of the head give the accented beats a low, full sound. Sometimes the drumhead played with the thick stick is also muted with a cloth to enhance the fundamental low note of the drum. Unaccented beats are played by the nondominant hand on the side of the drum having the thin skin, using a thin stick or switch called bg, pracka, tr, çubuk, or el, daouloverga (daouli switch). This thin stick is often held cross-grip, and the drummer can quickly hit thin accent strokes by gently twisting the wrist. These thin sticks are often made from soft wood such as willow or cornel. The Balkan school of tapan playing presumes the playing (not the accompaniment) of a melody, where the non-dominant hand is used to express all that the player wishes to say, while the dominant hand is only used to accentuate certain moments in the melody.

References