Project File: Draw & Label One Percussion Instrument MCQs Quiz | Class 10

Understanding Indian Percussion Instruments: Diagrams and Labeling

Percussion instruments are the heartbeat of Indian classical music, providing rhythmic structures and accents that are crucial to performances. For students of Hindustani Music, especially when preparing project files involving diagrams and labeling, a clear understanding of these instruments’ anatomy is essential. This section delves into the structure and key parts of prominent Indian percussion instruments, helping you visualize and accurately label them.

Key Instruments and Their Structural Components

1. Tabla

The Tabla is a pair of drums, central to Hindustani classical music. Understanding its parts is crucial for both playing and accurate diagramming.

• Dayan (Right Drum): The smaller, higher-pitched drum, usually played with the dominant hand. Its shell is typically made of wood.
• Dagga / Bayan (Left Drum): The larger, bass-pitched drum, usually made of copper, steel, or clay. It produces the deep resonant sounds.
• Pudi (Drumhead): The membrane covering the opening of each drum, usually made of goat skin.
• Syahi (Black Paste): The central black circle on the drumhead. This unique component, made from iron filings, rice paste, and other ingredients, is critical for producing the distinctive pitch, resonance, and overtones of the Tabla.
• Gaba / Maidan: The central playing area around the Syahi.
• Kinaar (Outer Rim): The outermost edge of the drumhead.
• Chanti: The area between the Syahi and Kinaar.
• Baddi (Straps): Leather straps that connect the Pudi to the bottom ring, providing tension to tune the drum.
• Gatte (Wooden Blocks): Cylindrical wooden blocks placed under the Baddi, used for fine-tuning the pitch of the Tabla by adjusting strap tension.

2. Mridangam / Pakhawaj

These are double-headed, barrel-shaped drums, often played horizontally. While Mridangam is prominent in Carnatic music, Pakhawaj is its Hindustani counterpart, typically accompanying Dhrupad music.

• Body: Usually carved from a single block of wood (e.g., jackwood) or sometimes clay.
• Pudis (Drumheads): Both ends are covered with multi-layered membranes. The right head produces higher pitches, and the left head produces bass tones.
• Syahi / Karan: The permanent black paste on the right drumhead, similar to Tabla’s Syahi, for pitch and resonance.
• Atta / Sore (Temporary Paste): A temporary paste (e.g., flour and water) applied to the left drumhead before playing to enhance bass resonance.
• Valan: The outer rim of the drumhead.
• Chapu: The central playing area on the left drumhead.
• Baddi (Straps): Leather straps crisscrossing the body, connecting the two drumheads and allowing for tension adjustment.

3. Ghatam

The Ghatam is a unique South Indian percussion instrument made of clay, played by striking its surface with hands and fingers.

• Body: The main globular, pot-shaped part of the instrument.
• Mouth / Neck: The open top of the pot, which can be struck or covered to alter sound.
• Bottom: The base on which the Ghatam rests, also used for striking.
• Clay Composition: Made from special clays mixed with iron filings, copper filings, or even brass filings, giving it a unique timbre.

4. Kanjira

A small, shallow frame drum with a single pair of jingles, primarily used in Carnatic music, but its presence can extend to fusion.

• Wooden Frame: A circular frame, usually made of jackwood.
• Pudi (Membrane): Traditionally made of lizard skin, stretched and glued to one side of the frame.
• Jingles / Discs: A pair of metal discs (often from a bell-metal alloy) loosely attached to the frame, producing a shimmering sound when the drum is struck.

Quick Revision Points

• Syahi: The permanent black paste on Tabla/Mridangam drumheads for pitch and resonance.
• Atta/Sore: Temporary paste used on the bass side of Mridangam/Pakhawaj.
• Pudi: Refers to the drumhead or membrane of an instrument.
• Gatte: Wooden blocks used for fine-tuning the Tabla.
• Dayan & Dagga/Bayan: The two drums making up a Tabla set (treble and bass respectively).
• Ghatam material: Primarily clay with metal filings.
• Kanjira: Small frame drum with jingles and lizard skin membrane.

Practice Questions for Self-Assessment

Test your understanding further with these additional questions (without options):

1. Name the two distinct drums that constitute a Tabla set, specifying their relative pitch.
2. What is the function of the ‘Syahi’ on a Tabla drumhead, and what materials is it typically made from?
3. Which Indian percussion instrument is a double-headed, barrel-shaped drum, often played with a temporary paste on its bass head?
4. Identify the unique material used for the main body of a Ghatam.
5. Describe the key components of a Kanjira, including its membrane and sound-producing attachments.