Firstly I want to congratulate Jim on a very clear and concise article on maths and music that is accessible to all, with or without a university degree!
However I would like to comment on the description given on making the Tabla patch, as Jim calls it. I have played Tabla for almost 40 years and spent many hours with tabla makers watching them create these amazing drums. The 'patch', or loading, is called 'syahi' in India, and as he says is made up of many layers of a paste mixture consisting mainly of boiled rice gluten and powdered manganese, not clay as described. Each layer is allowed to dry for a short while before burnishing with a smooth stone, and the layers are slightly reduced in size to form a slightly convex patch. From my observation there are only 10 to 15 layers, which are visible by the concentric overlapping rings. A skilled craftsman will tune the membrane to the desired pitch using this loading, more weight for lower pitch and less for a higher pitch. Minute amounts are added or removed for accurate fine tuning to get a balanced harmonic series to sound, adding brilliance and volume to the 'voice' of the drum. I might add that the volume of air within the drum body is also an important factor in determining the optimum pitch for the instrument.
The Tabla is truly one of the most sophisticated of all membrane percussion instruments, allowing a huge palette of sounds from a single membrane that no other drum can produce. Today's Tabla design has evolved from centuries of grass roots research and collaboration between musician and artisan without the aid of scientists or mathematicians, powered by that ubiquitous desire for perfection that good instrument makers and musicians share.
Keith Manning - tablamann@gmail.com
Firstly I want to congratulate Jim on a very clear and concise article on maths and music that is accessible to all, with or without a university degree!
However I would like to comment on the description given on making the Tabla patch, as Jim calls it. I have played Tabla for almost 40 years and spent many hours with tabla makers watching them create these amazing drums. The 'patch', or loading, is called 'syahi' in India, and as he says is made up of many layers of a paste mixture consisting mainly of boiled rice gluten and powdered manganese, not clay as described. Each layer is allowed to dry for a short while before burnishing with a smooth stone, and the layers are slightly reduced in size to form a slightly convex patch. From my observation there are only 10 to 15 layers, which are visible by the concentric overlapping rings. A skilled craftsman will tune the membrane to the desired pitch using this loading, more weight for lower pitch and less for a higher pitch. Minute amounts are added or removed for accurate fine tuning to get a balanced harmonic series to sound, adding brilliance and volume to the 'voice' of the drum. I might add that the volume of air within the drum body is also an important factor in determining the optimum pitch for the instrument.
The Tabla is truly one of the most sophisticated of all membrane percussion instruments, allowing a huge palette of sounds from a single membrane that no other drum can produce. Today's Tabla design has evolved from centuries of grass roots research and collaboration between musician and artisan without the aid of scientists or mathematicians, powered by that ubiquitous desire for perfection that good instrument makers and musicians share.
Keith Manning - tablamann@gmail.com