Thanks! If I could ask for just a little more clarification please...
Okay, so the person I bought the set from bought them from India when he was over there. He never tuned them up, besides just sliding the gatta up and down (which, I've found, doesn't do very much...more on this later). So, the heads are still in "untuned" condition, despite being a few years old. For the maiden voyage of tuning these things, I find that the head of the dayan won't tune up to the C# or D it should be at. At best, it will only get up to a G. I assume this means I need to add an extra strap. Is this correct?
Another tidbit of knowledge I have come across is that sliding the gatta down the drum, while having the ability to slightly raise the pitch of the drum, is mostly meant to secure the position of the rim. Like, you slide the gattas up, tune the head, and then slide the gattas down to secure the tuning (and also to "fine tune"). Is this correct?
Also, the "always tuning" part...I know about this from being a conga/bongo/djembe/doumbek player. From my reading, I've discovered that the fundamental note of the dayan needs to be tuned to the fundamental of the song, traditionally. Is there any specific relationship the bayan needs to be to this tuning?
Don't worry, there's more...
I'm more worried about the torque put on the straps by the claw, and having them snap. So, pulling slowly and cautiously is the way to go, eh? I'll try this if I can't hammer the tasma up to pitch on its own. I'm still a little too cautious to apply too much force to the drum.
I noticed that the braided strap around the tasma has some loose ends sticking out. Does this mean that the straps that encircle it are snapped, or is this just a part of the construction? I haven't seen it in any pictures of tabla online. In watching tabla-making videos (I've watched a few now), I noticed that the braided strap around the tasma is made up of several strands, but I've never seen what is done with the ends of those strands once the wrapping of the tasma is completed. Did the maker of my drum just forget to tuck them neatly away?
Thanks! Lots of questions, I know...
As I am certain you have figured out. These are some pretty complex drums, and actually, I had the same questions when I started.
There is definitely both an art and a science to Tabla tuning. It is always more time consuming and difficult when trying to tune a set that is new or has never been tuned. The good news is once this is done on your set, it should only be fine tuning most of the time. The Gatta do have an extremely limited tuning range, but once you've got an idea of tuning the drums up, the narrow tuning range the Gatta and tuning with the hammer will be all you'll hopefully need. You are correct that the Gatta do hold the Tasma in place, the Gatta serve a few different purposes in tuning. You can sometimes get more tension out of them with one strap above them by positioning them diagonally to the drum head. (if your Dayan isn't a perfect cylinder). You can strike one side of the Gatta with a hammer to get a diagonal setup. I can usually get a little more tension from making a "W" pattern around the drum with the Gatta, but it really isn't very much more than horizontally positioning them. Still...it helps sometimes.
If you've set the Gatta down a below half the drum's length (They should be stored as close to the head as possible to put no tension on the head while stored), adjusted them all the way to the bottom, hammering them down for the last few bits, and it still will not tune near pitch, there are two things that can be done. Strap Pulling (lets call this "Method A") where more one or more straps are raised above the Gatta to add further tension to the head. Honestly, pulling an additional strap above the Gatta is a scary process at first. Some players will choose to pull all four of the straps above their Gattas. I never understood this, I find that two all the way around puts enough stress on my Dayan's, and I am able to tune it correctly. The straps can handle much more than they appear. Your Tabla was designed for this technique. The keys to pulling a strap over a Gatta are gentle pulling, pulling at the point of least strap tension, and constant pulling pressure. Inconsistent pressure can yield stretched heads. That said, you're much more likely to split a head than a strap with Method A, especially if the tension on the head is too low already to tune to pitch. This does depend on Dayan size, only so far as tuning is concerned. Not that you shouldn't worry, it just seems crazier than it really is...
If two straps won't do it., I'd recommend taking your set (for that matter I'd recommend it anyway if possible.) to a Tabla instructor. Tabla instructors are generally happy to assist you if you ask nicely
The second type of Strap Pulling, (lets call this "Method B") Is much more drastic, and absolutely requires a Tabla master. Sometimes the Dayan's heads are ill-tightened to begin with. In Method B, the straps are unwrapped from the ring on the bottom of the Dayan, and the straps pulled tighter and re-tied. I don't recommend doing this unsupervised, as each Dayan is a tad different. Some have metal rings, some just tie a braid on the bottom. Either way, improperly stretching and tying from the bottom can cause problems...
You asked about the Bayan tuning. You may get different responses from different players. There really isn't a lot of set rules in my school of Tabla about Bayan tuning. In traditional Indian music, the Dayan is usually tuned to the drone key of the Sitarist. The Bayan generally is assumed to be tuned for anything already. How you tune it is more of a personal taste sort of thing. I have a box of Bayan Gattas gathering dust that I will likely never use. When your Dayan is tuned, the Bayan is simply tuned to whatever sounds pleasing when used in conjunction with the Dayan. Most of the time, you are using your left hand to glissando the pitch of the Bayan up and down to make pitch changes. Sometimes, the two drums seem dissonant when the Dayan is tuned up. If that is the case, lower or raise slightly via the tuning hammer to taste. If you want a higher sound, add Gattas to the straps. I personally avoid adding Gattas to my Bayans, since it can really mangle the heads. Not to mention I have two extra Bayans from old sets that are a little larger and smaller than the one that I use most of the time, and I can switch to taste.
With regards to the braided wrap on top looking a bit frayed, I really can't say without seeing how bad the fraying is, although if they snapped, I'd sure be surprised. They're strong! Strong enough to take hundreds of tuning hammer hits. The difficulty with good Tabla sets is none of them are uniform. Each one is unique. There are tons of Tabla makers in the world, and they all have different methods. Some braid decorative elements in, some tuck the strands under, some finish them in place, some others use Some tend to cater towards the needs of certain Gharanas, but for the most part, they all have different takes on the drums.
-The Rhythmystic